usctrojanGT3

They've already built over 4,300 GT3s/Tourings for North America so far so the whole rarity spin is just dealer BS.

ipse dixit

Rarity is a two sided equation, right? At least the perception of rarity.

It's not just supply, but also demand.

You could have 100 cars, and if only 1 person wanted them. Not rare.

You have the same 100 cars, and if 10,000 people wanted them. Rare.

Every since the 991.1 when the PDK was introduced, the demographics for Porsche GT cars increased almost exponentially, so the numbers that historically might have been "holy ****, that's alot of cars" is now more like "damn, that's barely enough cars for Kalifornia."

Manifold

I think demand will drop on the GT cars, even if we don't have a bad recession. The stimulus effect will eventually fizzle out, and these cars are getting pricey and big and digital and too stiff for the road, and we know that the majority of buyers aren't regularly tracking them.

usctrojanGT3

True it's all relative but the numbers support the thoughts of many that Porsche keeps increasing production of GT cars with every version because there is money to be had. People can determine if the 992 GT3s/Tourings are "rare" but they definitely are not collector cars and should be driven and enjoyed not stuffed in some garage or warehouse collecting dust.

DodoBrd

was it really the PDK that made demand exponentially increase? Maybe somewhat but I think more people caught on to “hey, I can drive a GT3 for a couple years and lose very little $”… that’s an easier sell to the wife than buy a McLaren or whatever and lose $50k off the lot. Covid money just added fuel to the fire and made people go crazy.

ipse dixit

No, it was the PDK.

The "hey, I can drive a GT3 for a couple of years and lose very little $" was an effect of the PDK

poofyo101

social media boom as well.

ipse dixit

Again, that's just fuel on the fire.

There needed to be a spark to begin with.

PDK is that spark.

If GT3/RS were still all manuals (like the 997 and earlier generations), none of this would be going on.

I don't want to turn this into a PDK v. MT debate, or bash on PDK owners, but I would venture that over half of the people (if not more) who buy a PDK GT car (just PDK cars, not all GT cars) do not know how to drive a manual transmission.

Manifold

PDK was surely factor, but the 991 cars are also a lot more capable than the 997 cars.

DodoBrd

you seem so sure. What’s your evidence?

if it were solely due to PDK, wouldn’t we see vastly more PDK GT3s and PDK cars selling for a premium over MT?

AlexCeres

hmmm. I hadn’t given a lot of thought to that, but it certainly opened up these cars to a much larger market of drivers. The number of people in America who even can drive manuals is shrinking rapidly. Less than 2% of total cars sold are MT now. And Porsche has stated the US market has a much higher MT rate than RoW for the gt3. 40% vs 25% iirc.

Porsche demand and brand reputation has really sky rocketed over the last 10-15 years, too. They’re completely dominating the low 6 figure sports car market in a way that feels quite different from a generation ago.

poofyo101

PDK was a huge factor for sure. I have friends who have owned RS's that cannot drive a manual. Yes I know odd.

welikethetrack

If this was true the 996/997 turbo would not have sold as well as they did.

I have a theory that essentially the 996/997 turbo buyer of the decade 2002-2012 has turned into the GT3 buyer of the last decade 2014-2023 as the cars have got much bigger and more livable day to day.

the 997 GT buyers have turned into the RS and 718 GT buyers.

Reasoning: i grew up seeing 996/997 turbos everywhere on the road and at the racetracks you would see them, but you saw more GT cars and almost never saw them on the road. Now you see GT3’s everywhere and rarely see new turbos or gt4’s and at the racetrack i mainly see a lot more gt4’s and RS than gt3’s. My dad who custom ordered 2007 gt3 brand new is really only interested in RS or GT4 manual these days as he thinks 992 is too big and luxurious which was the exact sentiment of 997 turbos back in the day to the track enthusiast crowd…

that’s my 2 cents that I’m sure will offend many for no good reason, just my perspective. I also loved the 997 GT cars and always liked the more than the turbo which AT THE TIME was not the general sentiment. Just as today I (as well as Matt Farah and Doug demuro it seems) like the gt4 or gt4Rs more than the gt3 of today which is NOT the general sentiment right now. I have a feeling in 10 years this will shift

edit: I think the 991/992 GT3 will be seen as the 996/997 turbo of yesteryear. Thats not a bad thing at all as those are legendary cars as well and mainstream Porsche fans of that decade liked them most at the time

wingless

Would love to special order a 992 Turbo or Turbo S, but only if it was available w/ a manual transmission, even though the PDK is an amazing "automatic" transmission.

Manifold

In manual mode, PDK is closer to a regular manual than an automatic.