micahbones

As found on Evo mag's blog. Impressive collection of properly raced/driven cars, rally & otherwise, including a 2001 GT3 street car & mention of an RS of some variety in his quiver. I dig the way he drives WRC, properly ballz out.

Solberg garage

911SLOW

He has the greatest GT3 of them all and in the best color in his garaze. Excellent ! : )

FTS

He is one of my heroes, the coolest WRC driver IMHO; "never give up!"

786

love it, thanks

Mike76

Black Mk1 and a Lotus 7. If only I could steer them as well as him.

micahbones

Indeed, the 996.1 GT3 so highly touted by Evo mag as one of the top 3 driver's cars of all time. Have you driven one John?

micahbones

Word. It will be real shame if Solberg is not back in WRC this year. If I were team principal for a manufacturer team, I'd sign him up in a second.

911SLOW

Extensively


If I could pick one car to save from all the P cars of the last 20 years it would be a mk1 gt3. No doubt.

cfjan

John,

Why do you think the 996.1 GT3 > 996.2? I understand that it being the 1st GT3. So it is special in the history of Porsche. But in terms of feel, it is not like moving to the 997 platform (different platform, traction control, etc.), right? You gain more rev, more power, more brake, but it was not made softer, I think??

I'd think the most special one would be 996.2 GT3RS?

911SLOW

Yes it is the most important car in the newer Porsche history IMO.
Knowing that "better" will mean different things to different people here is my take talking about the driving feeling experience here, not speeds or times or specs.

The 6mk2 and the 996RS are very close. If blindfolded and the mk2 has a LWFW you can't tell which one you are driving if the road is not terrible.

Then the 997.1 GT3 and RS are quite close to the 996 and extremely close to each other. Nothing major but the design, if you forget the not so "clever" (sic) suspension then the driving feeling was close.

The 997.2GT3 is quite different than the above and has all the charisma without the misbehaviors of the previous cars. But it feels like a stronger 997.1 GT3 with a better suspension and aero package. The 2010RS pushed everything even further this time in relation to the older cars and to its current based GT3 brother and probably is the most complete and more competent GT3 ever created.

But none of them and this is very interesting, and quite unexplainable for me till this day. can match the way the mk1 feels drives. turns or sounds. Fluid comes in mind. This car feels fluid ; Sorry I don’t have a better word to use. It also feels so agile and extremely lightweight and small.

I did try to rationalize it in terms of ok the mk1 has no drive by wire gas pedal , different springs, less weight, different engine management, different track widths, wheel widths alignment etc etc but then came to realize that all these things were evolved in the mk2 996 gt3 and on the following gt3’s and became better and better on paper. Engine became more reliable, the ABS is quicker, the DME is better the springs are more suitable for the car, the wheels are wider, the body is stiffer etc etc.

So why in the hell this car feels so different and so brilliant? The only plausible explanation that I have come up with is that either it’s all in my head, or that this car had one quality that always makes some things be above all else. Every part on this car was a perfect match for the part next to it and all of them worked together so bloody well. It had mechanical “equilibrium”.
So I guess sometimes balance, can beat excellence..


Cheers.

cfjan

So the MK1 6GT3 and MK2 actually has quit a bit of difference in the chassis? (you mentioned different springs, track width, etc.)

I just thought that the MK2 simply gets a bigger brake, more engine (more rev).. and all are about the same.. hence I was expecting the "feel" to be similar.. I guess that's not the case.

911SLOW

Yes quite a bit, about 4 pages just to list them here. One day I will make a mk1 thread : )

micahbones

Here is a sample of what evo wrote on the subject in issue 135, 100 Greatest Drivers' Cars from Oct. '09, at which time the 997.1 RS was in the equation, 997.2 RS was not.

"The second thing that really stands out is the steering. There is a lot of talk about steering feel and how important it actually is, and plenty of people say that as long as steering is accurate, feel isn't really necessary. I sort of know what they mean. But when you drive 100 meters down the road in the [996.1] GT3 and feel the rim of the wheel subtly moving in your hands you know that while you might not need it, feel is a truly wonderful thing to have if you can.

Those of you with a keen eye and a worryingly deep knowledge of evo's history might recognize this car as the very one that we took to Sicily back on issue 028. Every subsequent GT3 has been faster and grippier, but the delicacy of this mk1 version has never been matched. The damping, as Barker said, is a thing of wonder...An important point made by Mark Hales is that the GT3 is still small enough and narrow enough to be usable on all types of roads too."

Sounds beautiful to me, and definitely reinforces some of John's sentiments expressed above. Find myself saying this a lot, but I wish we had access to this iteration of the GT3 on American shores...

Nordschleifer

While we are discussing differences between the different 6GT3s - John, how different is the US MK2 to a Euro one ? (Apart from little exterior and interior details) I will be returning home to Porscheland sometime later next year and wonder how similar my car is to the native 6GT3s over there.
Murat

jlasuncion

reading your posts about the Mk1 makes me feel so good about my car...
John...please start a Mk1 thread

Got me a bit worried, Im about to install a LWFW kit I got from a fellow rennlister, will this affect the 'equilibrium'? Im also planning to replace my sport seats to the 997 gt2 seats but still keep the originals as guest chairs in my office.

Other upgrades in the pipeline once consumables are worn is the mk2 front brakes and michelin cup tires of same size.

The rest will be stock.

Will doing the above affect the car negatively or what should I consider and not consider doing?

Will appreciate any feedback. Thanks.