NickC4S

I am contemplating the switch from 993 C4S to 996 GT3 Mk2 and was wondering if this is a practical everyday ride?

Also, my kids quite like to ride in the back. Anyone retro-fitted seats and belts? Any issues here with insurance, etc?

Thanks, Nick

mjb

I know some owners swear the GT3 is an acceptable daily driver but I can't see using a 996 GT3 as an everyday ride. Occasional/weekend drive + track duty...sure. I love mine for that usage. Save yourself the trouble of trying to figure out how to retrofit seats in the back for the kids and buy a 997S.

Nordschleife

in the UK, its an acceptable everyday car. Unless your kids are American. You must be comparatively price insensitive, just have a decent shop mount a pair of kids seats in the rear. They will love you. (I have found US kids to be picky, in these matters)

R+C

fhp911

I use my '04 GT3 as both my daily driver and track car.

It is 100% reliable and has never given me any trouble. I mount snow tires in the winter and it is great in the snow. IT WILL NOT MOVE AT ALL IN THE SNOW ON THE STOCK TIRES.

I can't comment on retro-fitting rear seats and belts.

The ride is quite poor for a street car, IMO. ex: my wife will not ride in it. Also, the front spoiler gets ripped off the car over driveways and road bumps. I no longer use it.

Personally, I don't mind the ride, but it is sub-acceptable for most people.

ps: I love the car.

Fred Pack
'04 GT3

Carrera GT

I have an '04. It's reliable and fun, but uncomfortable on the road. I found it generally a bit tedious and even it a bit boring as a daily proposition because you know you're grinding along using 1% of the car and just wearing out the tires (assuming you're running enough camber to make it work well on the track.)

It's just a matter of ordering the parts to install seats -- the tub has all the fixtures and threaded mounting points etc. Given you're mentioning kids in the back, I'd advise against the GT3. I tried it as a daily driver to ferry my six year old but it wasn't working all that well and I wouldn't allow food in the car, so late runs to school meant taking a different car so nobody missed out on coffee and breakfast.

stuka

I drive my GT2 to work a few days a week.

If you just get a 6 pack of the lower chin spoiler in your garage, you should be fine.

The radio is not much use for music, but fine for AM talk radio, which is what I use it for.

The suspenstion is hard, but I don't mind it.

The car is loud enough that you will have to turn up the volume on your cellphone to be able to hear it.

Other than that, it makes boring drives to clients quite interesting.

Nordschleife

I think the posters have made the point about it being different in the US and UK - if you will be driving the car in and around London/Home Counties - its totally different from the US, its not valid to extrapolate the US experience.

Seek the opinion of others who live in Britain. In my experience in London, if you work in the City you are at work too early to do the school run, for example.

R+C

stuka

I actually enjoys the stiff clutch. I had the Turbo as a daily driving about the same number of days as my GT2 (2 to 3 days a week), and it sucked because the soft clutch on the Turbo actually makes driving in traffic a pain in the ****. The GT2/3 clutches are way easier to get going without guessing where the bite might be this time because it's so damn over assisted POS.

The ride is hard, and I even have the GT3 seats. But I don't mind. From time to time on my commutes, I get to drive on interesting freeways with off camber decreainsg radius turns, and it is quite fun in the GT2.

Just buy a 6 pack of chin spoilers because you will go through them like water. Or at least I do anyway.

My wife also drives it to work from time to time, and it really is a nice car for work because in traffic, no one can be jerky to you and close the hole on you when you try to merge. Our beater E30, well, that's another story. 160HP is teh suck in traffic.

stuka

Well, in London, only the super wealthy get to drive a GT3 to work.

My wife worked at one of the top law firms there that only takes Oxridge and top ivy graduates, and was also drawing U.S. salary. But if we had stayed in London, there is no hope of us getting anything remotely close to a 996 or 997 GT3.

Ever wonder why a nothing special M5 is considered a toy for the super rich in the U.K.?

But getting back on topic, I don't think driving in London will be a problem, if you are used to the ROW suspension of the 993. The scraping of the lower lip is a damn problem.

Marv

I have been using mine for almost two months as a daily driver and don't think twice about it.

I traded in my 993 C2 for this car and kick myself for not doing this sooner!

As for the kids, I would not bother putting either seats or kids back there. Sorry.

Mr. C4

this has been discussed over and over again, look here for most recent thread.

Holger B

Mine's a daily driver and it's got GT3 seats, muffler bypass pipes and r-comps with stiff sidewalls. You need to be nuts, hardcore or a bit of both to enjoy it...and I love it! Biggest drawbacks to me are the low ride height and finding low risk (i.e. door ding free) parking.

If rear seats were a must have, I'd go with 997S.

Mr. C4

Sounds like a turbo is more for you.

Nordschleife

you remind me that rich and wealthy are relative terms.

R+C

AVoyvoda

I agree. On the embankment, at 6:30 pm, going from the City to the West End you'll see more Porsches, Mercedes, Lambos and Ferraris than you can count. So, why not a GT3? The only reservations I'd have, is feeling sorry for that beautiful engine crawling along at 5mph in 1st gear... and the fact that these cars are a magnet to vandals, if left parked on the pavement outside a restaurant etc.