speedread

With a good race shop set up,
what mods, if any, will make the 997 GT3 at its best as a track car, while still being able to drive it on the street and to the track?

Ritesh

How many DE's have you done?

If you haven't done that many then I would just make sure you have a good alignment. Otherwise, If you are itching to mod the car then I would just do harness, and 5 point restriants.

mitch236

If you are going to track this car, I would definately put in a roll bar, proper racing seat, at least a 5-point harness with a HANS device and leave it at that for now. Oh, and 18" wheels with MPSC's or something similar. Learn the car. Let others figure out what works (that is the most expensive part) and then when most people have figured out the suspension, maybe you would want to upgrade that.

Safety first!

RSRRacer

Buy a trailer and get some lessons.

speedread

Thanks for the above.
I should have said that I've been driving in the fastest group, in the middle to upper portion of it for a couple of years. I'm definitely not the fastest, but I get moving. I do about 20 DE a year, and have been driving on track about four years. I'm an instructor. My last student had a GT3 RS. That was really fun, but it seemed a little soft, but then again, being a student's car, I didn't really push it, so it could have been ideal.
So anyway, I'm looking for a hot set up to try to figure out what it would cost.
You can see in my signature what I've been running. Thanks.

doc2s

replace PASM with motons or the likes. this will give you the biggest improvement to the car's handling. PASM is very reactive and feels artificial.

Nordschleife

best track mod - sell the car and buy a Cup

the GT3, be it plain or RS, is a street car, the Cup is a track car. If you try and turn the street car into a track car you wil be disappointed and you will do serious dough when you sell it.

R+C

Bob Rouleau

speedread - the only mods I suggest are:

Track alignment - I posted a set-up which works pretty well for the 997 GT3. Without the proper alignment the car understeers horribly at anything over 7/10ths.

GT3 seats, roll bar and harnesses. The 996 GT3 seats fit perfectly and come with the rails. They are comfortable and adequately supportive for DE while still useful on long trips (to the track?).

The Tequipment roll bar is a straight bolt in. While not approved for racing, it is engineered by Porsche to work with the aforementioned seats. In a variety of "incidents" the roll bar has been shown to protect the occupants.

The Schroth harness which comes as part of the Clubsport kit along with the seats, the bar and the under seat mounting bar for the anti-sub straps is a joy to use. It operates smoothly and never jams.

So what does this get you? Based on my personal experience and that of a half dozen other GT3 drivers who are active in our region, you get a street legal car which can lap about ten seconds slower (1:50 versus 1.40) than a GT3 race car driven by a pro. Not bad for a car with AC, cup holders and other amenities. Note the times quoted are for Le Circuit Mont Tremblant and are based on 996 GT3 equipped as above running on Michelin Cup tires. The 1:50 represents the fast lap for a half dozen of us. The 1:40 was the qualifying time for Johannes Van Overbeek at the Rolex race on the same track under good conditions. A pro driving a 996 GT3 with a passenger was 2 seconds a lap faster then the 1:50 I quoted - that was JF Dumoulin who has a rather nice collection of Rolex watches including the one he got at Daytona this year. With a propere alignment the 997 GT3 promises to be a bit faster than the 996. right now they are about equal but the 997 is handicapped by the street-tread Michelin Cup tires it comes with.

Best,

Greg Fishman

Absolutely! +10000

mooty

of course, i HAD to learn it the HARD way.
this one is staying stock other than safety eq.

Greg Fishman

Mooty,
Get a ride or drive in a Cup car and you may well change your mind about tracking a street car.
Of course beating up on other cars in a DE with a Cup car would not be that fun IMO.

speedread

All safety items noted and I agree.
There's no Cup car in my future.
Resale is not an issue
For performance I am hearing: Switch PASM for Motons; limited slip; dial our understeer with a good set up; 18' wheels (?).
Do you agree, disagre? What else? Lightweight flywheel? Thanks.

Greg Fishman

Why not get a 996GT3 for less money that is already set up.

doc2s

997gt3 has lsd.

frayed

speedread, my guess you know pretty well the parts needed to go fast in general given your track experience. My interpretation of your question is that you are looking for advice on something unique to the GT3. Beyond regular stuff that you already know about (pads, seats/harnesses, wheels/tires, alignment etc), I can't think of one thing that's really unique to track prepping a GT3 vs. what you have.

Ltw fly is fun but not essential, as I'm sure you already know.
Maybe cup car toe links? I did them cup car toe links out of toe-change-paranoia.

Hmmm. I think the GT3 is the one car in need of less special chit than any other car that you can buy today.