forklift

New Motor Trend (4/04) revisits GT3 vs. Stradale. In the end they prefer the Stradale, but note the cost difference.

Here are some numbers:

road course: nothing, this is what I like to look at.
"mini"? road course: GT3 23.9, Ferrari 24.2
1/4 mi. GT3 12.07, Ferrari 12.53
100-0 braking GT3 318, Ferrari 298
600ft slalom GT3 71.6, Ferrari 72.7
Skidpad GT3 both .95

No revelations, but 1/4 for the GT3 is faster than most I have seen. They like the engine, handling and price of the GT3 and disliked the low (scrapes) front spoiler, flat seats, and "twitchy at high speeds."

brh986

Any 0-60 times?

Interesting that the ferrari had the better braking with a ceramic disc system similar to the controversal PCCB. Did the GT3 have PCCB? Does anyone have numbers for a GT3 with traditional brakes if so?

Wondering how the GT3 won on the road course when braking is worse and slalom is worse.

Steve in FL

One doesn't often brake to a stop or encounter a slalom on a road course.

Jack

PCCBs work great!

In fact, in the recent Turbo shootout reported in European Car, the sole Turbo equipped with PCCBs came in first in their braking test -- ahead of the stock brakes and the Brembo GT setup (15" rotor/8-piston caliper front and 14" rotor/4-piston caliper rear).

wahoo

First time poster, long time lurker. I'm treading in virgin territory and realize that most of you have years of experience driving these fantastic cars. Granted the imperfections of the testing with respect to different set-ups, testing procedures etc., is it likely that anyone here wrings all the performance out of the GT3 in current form? Once again, trying to tread lightly here but seems to be a lot curiosity about a relatively subjective take on a car by ppl. who flog phenomenal cars on a daily basis--> just my observation.

Has anyone here flogged their GT2/3 to realize its capabilities? With respect to throttle response and the Ford GT--->intuitively, a supercharged 8 has a hella lotta torque---->translation-seat of the pants 'feels' throttle response.

regards
j

privates8

brh986,

They did report 0-60 times of 3.9s for the GT3 and 4.3s for the Stradale.
The GT3 tested did not have the PCCBs.

brh986

That's certainly contradictory to previous test results and owner reports.

brh986

Wow that's blisteringly fast. If a gt3 can do sub 4 sec 0-60 I wonder what's the best a turbo and gt2 can do not to mention CGT.


Uh not stop no but braking is certainly extremely important and it would appear the ferrari has the better brakes from the test.

Steve in FL

brh986: The important thing with braking on track is consistency and fade resistance, not minimum possible stopping distance. Not that you don't want good brakes but a 20ft difference in 100-0 doesn't translate to a 20ft advantage on the track when braking for a turn.

macfly

I love the GT3 (and most Porsches for that matter), but after recently driving the Stradale, I would have picked it over the GT3 too
Damn, if I could have afforded one, and its insane running costs, I would have bought one instead of the GT3, but I couldn't, so I'm happy making do with what I can afford. If you are spending twice the cash it's nice to know you are getting something a little extra!!

forklift

I guess the GT3 is about twice as expensive as the Z06, and the Stradale twice as much as the GT3.

I have not been lucky to even ride in any of them, but am die hard Porsche, and if I had $200,000 I would buy a GT3 put in the Recaro GT3 seats, roll bar and harnesses, then add the 9M 450 NA hp upgrade to my RSA, and use the rest for track events over the next few years. Nice to dream.....

NJ-GT

Hey Macfly:

Didn't you have that "twitchy at high speeds" feeling in your GT3 before you did the alignment?

I know the 996 likes toe in at the rear wheels. As far as I remember you got toe out at the rear with the factory alignment, right?

macfly

Didn't you have that "twitchy at high speeds" feeling in your GT3 before you did the alignment?

Indeed I did, the car didn't feel stable at all in faster 70+mph corners (Willow 2 & 8). It felt like the rear wanted to drive wide around the car under steady power. Since this car feels like it works best under power this created a conundrum, go faster, and have it go wider, or back off, and have it pendulum around on you. That was my what my feeling of discomfort at speed was.

Since having the alignment and corner balancing done the car feels very different, it is predicatble and stable in the same two fast turns at Willow, and seems to be very close to neutral. Judy Ray, who is one of my main instructors (and raced Pcars for 6 years) also drove it at the track post alignment, and she felt that it handled exactly as a well set up Porsche should.

The difference in feel of the before and after was very pronounced in terms of my confidence in the car. In terms of absolute lap times I'm not sure how much of a difference it made, but it has transformed the car from something I didn't really like into something I now like very much.

The car still feels a little wobbly at 110mph going thru turn 8, but here, at McKenna's and at Johnson's that has been attributed to the side wall flex of the MPS tires. I already have the MPSCup tires here, and will put them on as soon as I've used up the last few mm's of the OEM tires learning the car a bit better.

CodeRed

Jack the ripper,

How do yo compare the Stradale to the GT2? I am very interested in that comparison. I must say the Stradale is pretty spetacular.

Hamann7

Given a skilled driver in both cars, GT2 would beat a Stradale around most courses.

The Stradale should not be compared with a GT3, it should be pit against the GT3-RS (considering price and product positioning), which would hand the Ferrari its *** on a platter.

Put Corsas or Cups on a GT2 and watch it do the same.