zellamsee

The new issue of Excellence has a detailed review of the 997 GT3 (the review is available on their website at www.excellence-mag.com). They logged 2,400 miles on the car, and even ran it at Infineon. I found the review somewhat troubling, though -- they clearly don't like PASM and miss the "purity" of the 996 GT3. I think this is the first somewhat negative review of the new car. Excellence says the car is "better" but at the end of the day I got the sense that they don't love it. For those of you who have now driven the new GT3, do you concur with the Excellence review? Will the 997 GT3 RS have the same PASM settings as the "regular" GT3?

mitch236

I read the article as well. The one point that should have been stressed is that they were comparing an "out of the box" 997 GT-3 with a "tweeked" 996 GT-3. I'm not saying that the 996 had aftermarket racing parts but the alignment was better tuned (from what I am told, and will find out this weekend is that most 997's delivered are out of alignment). Also if you read the sidebar Overbeek (sp?) says that the rear tires of the 997 had too much air. He also said the 997 is almost a second a lap faster.

Is the 997 GT-3 with its sunroof, PASM, TC etc as pure a sports car? Definately not. For me, the sunroof is unfortunate but is a non-issue. The PASM will most likely be replaced by most track drivers just like most 996 GT-3's. TC seems to be a non-issue as well since if it does prove to be too intrusive, I can completely and permanently disable it.

Let's see what a properly tuned 997 does against a properly tuned 996....

trumperZ06

Nice read, thanks !

XSpeedFreakX

Thanks for the link. Amazingly informative article. It really had some great things to say about the 996 compared to the new car. Some memorable quotes on the 996 GT3:

"The surprise is that I remember the 996 GT3 as a more predictable tool for track work, despite having no traction control and a narrower track. The valving for its fixed-rate dampers was a master stroke, balancing reasonable comfort against ultimate wheel control as few dual-purpose cars ever have — leaving the driver with a superbly predictable chassis."

"It could — and will — be said that the new GT3 is arguably better in every way. We won’t disagree. Still, emotional connections aren’t subject to logical argument and the truth is I seem to remember being more excited throughout my weeks in 996 GT3s than I was at any point during these ten days with the 997 GT3."

frayed

Good article. It doesn't surprise me at all with one exception. That is, the citation to weird rear end antics in the 997. Never read anything at all about this.

The 996 was 200lbs lighter, better tires (the real PSCs), and an aggressive alignment, but the 997 was still faster. I agree with the 2-4 second gap with the cars in the same trim.

While my enthusiasm for the 997 car is not damped at all, I must say that the move to Motons or JRZs is likely inevitable. Probably not in the first year, but eventually.

The article cites purity of execution and emotional attachment. I get this, though I'm not swayed enough to pick the 996 over the 997, even while pocketing a good deal of change in the process.

Noteworthy, the editor definitely reads the web boards.

Carrera GT

What makes you think so?

frayed

Quotes:

"Finally, the U.S. GT3 can’t be had without a sunroof this time around, this despite howls of protest from purists"

- Where are these howls besides the web boards? Most sunroof howling is done here, 6 speed and rennteam. Perhaps a few letters to Excellence, but you aren't going to make a statement like that unless you have a sense of what the online community is complaining about

"And what about the sunroof? . . . . .. Frankly, we suspect we’d be hard-pressed to tell the dynamic differences between a GT3 with a sunroof and one without. That said, it’s a matter of principle, a matter of concept. And we’d prefer an option to delete it."

- This looks to mirror what many have said about on this forum about the sunroof. Long ago, even I pointed out that nobody here can possibly discern the difference b/t a hole/nohole car, but the issue isn't about performance, but about 'purity'.


Also:

- Pete definitely reads and posts on rennteam. I discussed PASM with him in this thread: http://www.rennteam.com/showflat.php...rue#Post172249

No big secret excellence reads these boards, after all, probably some of the hardest core types post on these boards.

- I used to moderate a forum bimmerforums.com. BMW did watch the board, but never posted. Just as Porsche watches this board and others.

frayed

BTW, no offense to those involved with the test, but I was told a little over a month ago from a fellow close to the testing that set up on the 997 was suspect, in terms of tire pressure and alignment. We all know how crucial those adjustments are on Porsches, and especially GT3s. I'm glad Excellence saw fit to mention at least tire pressure and camber. It is unclear whether toe was measured, but rear toe on these cars is terribly critical.

I also point out that Excellence seems to have somewhat flip flopped on the 997 GT3 stance, as their prior reviews proclaimed the 997 GT3 king of the hill.

Hank Cohn

Wow! Another tremendous article by Excellence. That is be best article I’ve read about the new car yet, and one I’ve been waiting to read for quite some time. For me, the article probably raises even more questions than it answers, however, it is a great baseline to begin to understand the quantitative differences between the two cars.

I’d love to see a follow-on article with detailed alignment and ride height specs that have been optimized for both cars. I also wish they had the 997 GT3 aligned to its Owner’s Manual published track spec instead of its delivery spec. All in time..

Thanks for posting the link, Zellamsee!
Hank

PS. Carrera GT – Were you present the day of this test or was your test completely independent? I remember you had van Overbeek drive your cars – or something like that.

VERBOTN

Talk about perfect timing. Last night I got home after ordering my MY08 and Michele had the Excellence magazine on my nightstand. Only 14 short months to go.............................................

AllanJ

14 months! ACK! We had to wait 7 months for the wife's SLK32 AMG and that was bloody annoying. BTW, the TC on the SLK32 is a PITA. Very intrusive and it's active for way too long. Since it's her car, the wife wouldn't let me push the little button to disable it so I had to buy the GT3. It couldn't have worked out better.

Riz

It's obvious that the 997 GT3 is a little "soft" compared to the 996 GT3. The mere thought of the sunroof, TC, PASM confirms this. A Porsche magazines view is not overwhelmingly spectacular either. Each successive Porsche gets faster than the previous version anyway. Even the 997 GT3RS is a softer version compared to 996 GT3RS. The 997 GT3 is merely the best drivers car in Porsche's current lineup. The 996 GT3 will be the classic, first water cooled race derived street flat 6, no sunroof, no traction control, no navigation system, no gimmicks.

Mad Manx

What do journalists know.

I just browsed through the February issue of Top Gear magazine in the supermarket.

Jeremy Clarkson did a two page review of the 997 GT3 and I only read the highlights and final paragraphs. He says the opposite of everyone else.

Comparing it with the 996GT3 he suggests that the 997GT3 is probably better on track, but couldn't tell the difference on the road.

Mind you, he did admit that the day he drove it he was nursing a hangover from the night before.

Carrera GT

You mean the Mark I from '99. It might not be a classic, but it certainly marks an important change.

Carrera GT

The 997 GT3 is far from soft. It's heavy and overladen with accessories and technology that goes against the grain of the first GT3.
Once you own one and put a few days on the track, let's see.