ebanzero

[QUOTE=Alan Smithee]Um, it's a whole lot like the regular GT3, which is an improved version of the 996GT3 (which has not "retained its value").


You forgot the 2 magic letters that the 996 and 997 GT3 don't have - RS
makes all the difference.

Alan Smithee

If you think it's "like no modern car Porsche has built", great. To me, for the US market, it's a paint and body kit with no performance advantage over the 997GT3.

Carrera2kid

My dealer believes if the cars were "allocated by PCNA", as was described in the original post (the one that got hijacked), and only distributed by the dealers, it would be a violation of the dealer agreement! Makes sense to me.
Therefore, if this newest piece of info is, in fact, true...everyone who wants one should be all over your dealer.
Perhaps it won't be a waste of time, after all.

Ray
'07 RS

Bluehinder

I doubt that it will change resale values in any way. Still can't get a car for most people.

kjslider

I have a 14 month old Golden Retreiver pup. She's a doll and everybody, or so it seems, who also has a Golden wants to come by and swap a story.

I've had my white RS for a couple weeks and it's the same friggin thing. I've never seen as many teenage kids taking cell phone pictures of anything the way this wicked looking car does.

Furthermore I've yet to see one other on the road and I live in SoCal. Looking forward to seeing one of the Orange or Black RS's. Maybe they should make 170 more .

pdxjim

What exactly is the performance difference between the RS and the plain old, vanilla version GT3? I have the vanilla model coming in soon. Thanks!

eclou

Objectively, for the US there appears to be no measurable differences noted by any reviews. Kind of like there being no measurable sound differences between high end stereos using zip cord vs $1k speaker cables.

Subjectively, the RS is reportedly racier and handling is more deft. Most of the differences may be secondary to the ltw flywheel and the added rear track width. Kind of like the way J. Alba raises most men's blood pressure.

Somewhere between objective and subjective lies the truth.

02_996_C2

I think the LSD on the RS has a more aggressive lock settings....

kjslider

I couldn't tell you that I'm not a good enough driver nor have I driven the GT3. Just my RS.

Most of us guys who bought RS's probably paid 3 to 5 times more to Porsche and the Dealerships than we could have paid any reputable aftermarket tuner shop to eek out the same kind of "performance difference" you're refering to.

I bought mine for many reasons. Certainly one of which was the uniqueness compared to its already awesome sibling the GT3. That big wing and sexy wide rear end is nearly priceless.

JJJ911

I think what some people are saying is on par with what I think which is the 997 Gt3 or RS will hold its value better in the long run then any other 997. My GT3 was completed on 5/4 and this will be my first porsche. This has been a dream since I saw the 993 when I was 18. I love cars in general and I know for sure that the GT3 will be a car that I keep forever right along with my 93 Rx-7 another keeper. I probably will buy another porsche some day but the 997 GT3 will always have a stall in one of my garages. I do think that someday I will be watching Barrett Jackson with my kids maybe 20 years from now and we will see a nice 997 Gt3 cross the block at a nice price. Call me crazy but I can see this, in todays world 1,000 cars is nothing

amaist

It doesn't make sense to anyone who uses their brain for more than just controlling their jaw when chewing food.

Assuming an asset like real estate will appreciate in the near future while beating the interest rates is risky. Dumping that risky money into an obviously depreciating asset that carries tons of other risks (even if insured) and has big carrying costs (again insurance + gas + maintenance).
People who think it will cost them almost nothing to own a high dollar car are either deluded or don't drive that car at all. But why buy it then?

I hope they do bring extra RS cars. I am not looking for one now. But who knows what I will want to do in 4 or 5 years. I'll let guys like Bob iron out all the bugs out of them.

Carrera GT

I think you need to spend less time chewing -- to free up some extra cycles to think this through just a little further.

F'rinstance: Owning and driving a GT3 is a relatively fixed cost, let's say around $2,000 per month, give or take variables in insurance and incidentals. That cost does not change, regardless of how you choose to pay for it. You might care to add or subtract percentages if the money is from a home loan equity (a relatively cheap source of money) or if its idle capital taken out of a portfolio. No matter the source, the cost is much the same.

With that in mind; it becomes a simple decision to either accept the cost or not. There's no fiscal "high ground" if the source of the funds is secure assets or if it's eked out of a paycheck.

Carrera GT

The GT3 and the RS are mechanically all but identical. The RS has 38mm wider rear track, shim adjustment for rear camber, lightweight flywheel and a modified engine map. US or ROW spec, the cars are the same. I've read the straight line acceleration is better by a smidge perhaps associated with reduced curb weight or the faster rpm gain of the engine.

Of course, there's a short list of real differences in the body and bolt-ons right down to the yellow "straight ahead" tape on the RS steering wheel, but all that stuff, including the lightweight flywheel, engine map and rear suspension components can come over the counter at the parts department. I've heard tell the part number on the rear springs is different, so I hope someone can check their RS and post the part number.

Even with the extra production, as someone pointed out in this thread and others, those two letters will stand the test of time. I would like to think that either year, '07 or '08 will hold value and over the long term, say ten years, could even appreciate.

If I were keeping an RS with a time frame of decades, that would be interesting to me. As I'll likely keep the GT3 only a short period (less than 24 months) long term resale isn't even on the radar. But I do like that wide body and I think I'll have to do a sunroof delete in the GT3 ... : )

You can learn more about how the investor market treats limited production vehicles in magazines like Sports Car Market. And the current issue of Forza has a nice, succinct examination of the Ferrari "super car" lineage. Which only rubs salt into the wound that I didn't buy a scruffy but 100% mechanical F40 for a preposterously high $180K in 2000 ... now that there back to half million territory ... it's still one of my favourites of all time alongside the E Types and RSKs. And let's not talk about the perfect '73 RSL that was insanly priced at $50K about the same time. Yeah, I sure know how to pick 'em ... : |

stuka

I see it all the time. Office workers making a mere 50K that bought their house years ago in LA that suddently think that they are "rich." All of a sudden they bought a boat, a Benz, 50" plasma, 100K kitchen remodelling, etc.

You will be surprised at how people treat HELOC.

As far as the whole resale. I will say it again. Since Wide King took over, there is really no resale left in the P car brand. Want to check the price of a nice 993 Turbo againt the price of a nice 996 Turbo? Or hell, the price of a nice 993 anything against 996 anything. Same is true for a nice 964 Turbo.

It's a whole other company now. But I am glad that they are doing the BMW model, so that there are more cars for all of us. Wll, except the VW truck, which both the market and I still think is a mistake.

Carrera GT

From what position do you "see it all the time?" You're a mortgage broker or a liquidator?

I tend to agree that the 993 is "proving" itself in a sense, but I don't see a lot to compare Porsche with BMW.

As for the Cayenne (which is wholly a Porsche development and product, whatever its weaknesses) what do you see in the market that says it's a failure or a mistake?