roberga

just like every statment from everyone on this topic.... opinion. If I guess wrong I guess wrong. However since Porsche is in the business to maximize ROI to shareholders, not to make a tiny demographic happy I will not hold my breath. Look how they handled RMS and PCCB. Just ignore it and save as much money as possible. I will say if they bring a true RS I will buy one if the price is within reason. Again, I do not expect it to happen as they will let the aftermarket guy do the job.

MetalSolid

PORSCHE HAS GONE SOFT! Just because a vehicle has improved speed and driving dynamics does not make it better - take the Cayenne Turbo S or the fact that the quickest 911 is a Tiptronic... Sure Porsche has gone soft, but only because it's so called enthusiasts that can afford to buy new have become a bunch of metrosexual wussies.

cosmos

Noel......whwhahahaaa, it's funy cause it's true It's also very sad

billatlanta

I assume you spent ample time with the original 996 GT3 and it's
succesor to come to that conclusion.

LastGT3

Nothing mentioned here in Canada except the new GT3 stock - just got the brochure and saw a video - they are seriously emphasising the programmers skills with TC and PASM - nice touch - I'll have to congratulate the odd programmer for my next lap times ala IC and firmware - since I know I'll be able to dive deeper with upgraded drive&forget parameters and algorithms.

To be clear, these improvements have NOTHING to do with improving the car, and has everything to do with improving (ie taking away) driver inputs - the car may be faster, but we will never know as we can driver faster with less fear & respect.
I'll keep the 996GT3 until they sell a sans-e-interuptus version\

By the way, you should now expect tuners to sell you re-flashed PASM and PSM code to improve your driving - we should all be proud of ourselves as enthousiasts at that point. I am ecstatic at the prospect - just lovely.

Nordschleife

its good to see that F U D is alive and well in the land of the free....

03-turbo911

I just sat with Hans Stuck, no less, and he seemed excited that the new BMW Z4 racer that they're getting is coming with traction control. I understand where some of guys are coming from but I can't figure out why you're not embarcing modern technology that is, clearly, making the cars faster and safer in the hands of more people. A friend of mine raced in the Super Cup series here during the F1 race, and his power steering quit on him during a practise session. He got blisters on his hands the size of grapes. It's a nice notion to have a car that has no creature comforts to speak about, but in the real world of street/track/racing, you take advantage of every little piece of modern invention.

Nordschleife

Khalid
When it comes to cars, there are a lot of people who can talk the talk, but not all of them can walk the walk.......
if people want a raw car, then probably Porsche is the wrong car for them. A nice little Caterham would do very well, and be far faster on most road circuits, as well as cheaper. In fact, in Porscheland, they keep banning the Caterhams from race series, because they keep winning, and are mostly friven by sons of some other fatherland, and their lap records at the Nürburgring don't gedt recognised. If you think about it, these are high tributes to the cars involved.
R+C

DanH

Racing is about winning. Trackdays/DE are about having fun and learning car control - electronics can undermine these things. I can't 'walk the walk', but I don't think traction control is going to teach me much if I can just mash the throttle coming out of a corner with no consequences! I'll feel like a hero on trackdays though, cruising past all these people with cars that demand some driver skill

Lets not have this argument again though, its fairly tedious and nothing will have changed since we last had it

AlanN

Yes it will, I'll join in this time.

MrBonus

You should be driving an open wheeled, barely street-legal race car instead of your soft, air-conditioned "driver's car."

MrBonus

I would be hard pressed to believe Porsche would build a slower car to follow up the original GT3.

03-turbo911

You make some valid points. Caterhams are as barebones and as race-ready as any car out there.

MJSpeed

Not all is opinion, some are confirmed facts (granted very few), never the less I don't disagree with your profitability logic.

However I will say this, IF they bring an "RS" that is the 997 equivalent to the 996 GT3 (MKI or MkII) but no more than I wouldn't consider it a "wussies" or "posers" car, regardless of whether or not they call it an RS.

I personally don't car what they call it, RSA (RS America) for all I care, as long as they bring it. If they have an even better (based on my philosophy of less is more meaning a more involving, driver oriented car) version for the ROW market called the RSR then so be it...we'll just end up buying the parts to make our cars more like those. Hence the reason so many 996GT3 MkII owners bought and installed the RS rear spoiler, GT3 seats, front bumpers and in some cases the RS suspension.

It is unfortunate that so many US drivers, more importantly potential buyers, are more concerned about creature comforts than to have a car that follows the manufacturer's original philosophy (which is what makes Porsche legendary) of building lightweight cars that require driver skill and involvement, making them more rewarding...

I believe it was Nigel Mansell that said of the All Conquering Williams Renault FW-14B with all its e-gadgets and driver aids that he drove to win the 1992 World Drivers Championship, "even a monkey could've driven this car to a championship and unfortunately this is the future of the sport, driver skill is no longer a high priority!!"

MetalSolid

Hmmm... don't recall accusing the GT3 of being soft, 997 or otherwise. Actually, the GT3/RS, GT2 and Carrera GT are excellent very recent examples of Porsche-ness in a street car; but three hardcore cars out of twenty models from a company that made it's name from making hardcore sports cars, to me means they've gone soft.

BTW: I hear AMG make some really nice "driver's cars" - German too.