ca86108

I am interested in picking up a GT3. The 997.1 clutch is too hard for me. I know it doesn't have hydraulic assists. I have a lot of foot and ankle injuries from soccer, so this stiff and super heavy duty clutch will aggravate my foot. I daily a manual s2000 and that seems fine. Is the 997.2 gt3 clutch a bit lighter? What about the 991.2 clutch?

noro78

I recently had my 997.2 clutch replaced and the new one feels a lot lighter, while still a bit heavier than my 3 series. The older 997.2 was too heavy.. I don't have ankle issues and even still it would have been a pain to drive on a daily basis. I don't think anyone is going to give you a definitve answer, you kinda have to find a car that you can play with for a few hours.

ca86108

What clutch did you replace it with? Was it an aftermarket clutch?

adi_d

From my experience both the 997.1 and 997.2 clutches feel identical. When the clutch is new it feels relatively light and gets stiffer as it wears. When I first got my car the clutch was insanely heavy. I replaced all the parts with the 4.0 conversion and relatively speaking it become day and night lighter. In either case, light or heavy, for me, the car's transmission and clutch engagement are less than idea for daily driving. It's tolerable but not that fun, certainly nothing like a Honda S2000 gearbox.

Now the new GT4 and 991.2 GT3 gearboxes feel way smoother and the clutch is incredibly light compared to 997.

Jrtaylor9

All 997 clutches are going to be varying degrees of heavy.

I agree, if you want a lighter clutch, look to gt4 and 991.2 manual gt3.

cgfen

.2 clutch is at least as "heavy" as the .1 in my experience.
Too much for my knee..

Saru385

clutch in my 997.2 is definitely heaviest of any car i've owned, but i've gotten used to it to the point that i don't like the feeling of lighter/normal clutches. i've been pretty much daily driving my GT3 the last 6 months though.

flsupraguy

+1

Auto_Werks 3.6

I've found my .2 clutch to be one of the stiffest clutches that I've owned. When I get out of the GT3 and straight into my dodge cummins, the clutch in the truck feels so light I almost think the truck is broken because in general its supposed to feel pretty stiff. I never test drove a GT4, but when I checked it out on the lot, the clutch (from my memory) was stiff like the GT3, and much heavier than any of the non GT cars I looked at. The clutch weight doesn't really bother me, and once the gear box is warmed up It's pretty buttery. You guys should try some 911s with the 915 gear box if you don't think the GT drive train is sufficient to daily. On a side note, I do recreational partner acrobatics, so it's safe to say I don't skip leg day and might not be the best judge of what's reasonable.

noro78

Yes... I think it may get tighter with age.

Hella-Buggin'

I'm pretty sure the gt3 clutch has hydraulic assistance. Am I wrong?

Auto_Werks 3.6

Clutches aren’t like brakes, which are hydraulic with a vacuum assist.

I don't know what the release mechanism is like on the GT3, if it uses a hydraulic throw out bearing, or a slave cylinder like the old cars. In theory someone could engineer a solution. The pedal effort is a result of a combination of the ratio of the piston sizes at master and slave as well as the lever ratio of the pedal. If someone wanted to go full custom they could certainly make some changes. It may result in a longer pedal throw.

noro

Yes hydraulic, but apparently lacks some part that makes the non GT3 clutches much more user friendly.

Jon H

I recently had my 997.1 clutch replaced with the RS 4.0 clutch, much lighter, relatively speaking than before.

JB911

The Turbo 997.1 and 997.2 clutch systems are completely different than the GT3 cars. The Turbo has a hydraulic system with a pump to provide boost and uses Pentosin CHF hydraulic fluid. The GT3 hydraulic clutch is a much simpler brake fluid system, no assist and that's why it feels heavy-
The Turbo system is quite complex- there's a fluid reservoir both on the pump in the engine compartment and also one in the frunk(#2). From images it looks like it changed from 997.1 turbos to 997.2, newer pump first pic. So this hydraulic pump on Turbo cars seems to be 2 pumps in one, for power steering and a separate tandem one just for the clutch. #4 for steering, #3 for clutch on first pic-If the system malfunctions I bet it's a hefty bill to fix from what I see...
Normal aspirated cars will have a hydraulic pump for steering only.

On the GT3 997.1 there's something slightly different from the 997.2, but both mechanical with brake fluid, feel the same(heavy/no assist). I think it's the slave cylinder that was improved on 997.2. Clutch and brakes share the fluid from same reservoir.

Turbo "easy feel" hydraulic clutch: