911Jetta

http://www.evo.co.uk/videos/supercar...11_gt3_rs.html

Part 1


Part 2

CC911

Awesome, thanks for posting. At his stage of my life I could not imagine more fun than the "analog" Porsche ....

triode

Harris rules, and despite some conflicting opinions I find the 458 visually stunning.

gmolinari

This is real interesting - personally I have a '11 GT3 RS that I had ordered back in February for June delivery, but then an opportunity to get a build slot for a 458 in July came up, and I took it. I am pretty sure that I will pass on the GT3RS and have to cede it to another rennlister but there is definitely a large part of me that wants to do the crazy thing and take delivery of the RS and really see what its all about before the 458 arrives (probably in september). My wife and my bank account will have my head on a stick though so probably not realistic. But I do think that it is a bit of a dilemma ..

eab3@bellsouth.net

Describing the feel of a GT3 is like trying to describe sex to someone who has never been there.

gmolinari

What are you implying?

I owned a 996 GT3 for 3 years. I am still curious about the RS

10 GT3

Wow. This is the first time I have seen a Carrera White/White Gold. It actually looks very nice, in fact if you ditch the poser stripes it is really appeasing to the eyes. Very subtle and just right for the car. If I were to order one with standard colors (not PTS), I would go with this color combination with stripe delete and call it a day.

micahbones

Evo comes through again with outstanding auto journalism. Love the end of the second vid when Harris says something like "this shot more than anything else probably describes the difference between these two cars better than any words."

No question which would be in my garage if I had the means: the RS baby!

Wilder

Here's the first part: http://www.evo.co.uk/videos/supercar...11_gt3_rs.html

A very good attempt at describing that je ne sais quoi of the GT3, much of which applies to all 911s.

Carrera GT

Entertaining videos! I guess Evo has to pander to the "gratuitous oversteer" readership just because Top Gear has set the expectation that every review involves rampant wheel spin. I guess the context of the review was to be first to print with the cars and that meant finding a customer car (the black Ferrari) and going for a hoon around the countryside always watching the rearview mirror.

I look forward to the day a reviewer takes both cars to the track with pro drivers from teams campaigning the two cars -- they set up the suspension and alignment, they dial in tire temps and they work on setting lap times, segment times, apex speed, braking points and we see a comparison that will really have some meat to it.

I have to say I was hoping for great things from Ferrari -- at least on paper, the 458 should have been a tour de force and a car, as Chris Harris advises, worth selling the house to get one. But my hopes for owning a new Ferrari were extinguished with the global economic depression bringing the final death knell to Ferrari -- depreciating resale value of their most sought-after cars. Now that Ferrari can no longer demand high secondary market values, it has lost its place. I hope they recover that ability (for the used cars to be more expensive than the new ones) but I don't hold much hope. Well, Ferrari can take their time as far as I'm concerned because as of now, with only the Italia and California to sell, they simply don't have a car worth buying regardless of the sticker or the depreciation.

It seems to me the (simply grotesque) Ferrari is a next generation car at an exorbitant price -- something technology can create to allow rank amateur drivers to hack about on the street or the track and know the car will compensate for their incompetence. In black, the car is rather less offensive to the eye, but that's not okay for a Ferrari -- it should be a feast of outrageous excess and Italian style from all angles, but even this black 458 is just ugly. A Ferrari should be gorgeous from any angle or perspective, but this Ferrari, well, if you try very hard, you can find an obscure viewpoint (say directly overhead) where its bulbous, slab-sided shapes can be seen in a positive light. And that's not okay.

If you gave the Ferrari it's dual-clutch advantage, but restricted the power to be equal to the Porsche -- which car would be able to turn the faster lap or finish ahead in a 24 hour race? Will the Ferrari be at Nurburgring?

The RS arrives with a factory roll cage option. I wonder what Ferrari offers? The RS will be seen at the track and seen driven hard by skilled amateurs, some of whom will have owned 911's for decades. The Ferrari will be seen at the expensive real estate addresses and sold with negligible miles by the status conscious. The RS will be coveted in the "stripper" options (the lightweight battery, lightweight brakes, lightweight seats, lightweight headlights for Pete's sake!) and the Ferrari will be ordered with "resale value" in mind.

The two cars couldn't be more different. The two respective buyers couldn't be less alike. Anyone buying both is just saying they can afford both -- and we'll leave it for a year or two to see the Ferrari depreciate $100K and the Porsche to lose perhaps $20 or $30K.

The 458 Italia looks dated and silly before it's even in the showrooms. At least to my eye. Some would say it's the role of high fashion to be a moment in time. I'd say you need only look at the F40 to say that's simply not true of a great Ferrari and the 911 shape is the very definition of timeless. And this reviewer makes comments in reverence of the RS as the apex of a long heritage of superb race cars and street 911's while the 458 is new car unlike the 430 and 360 before it. Any and every Ferrari must be held to the highest standards and wildest expectations, but the two new Ferraris, the Italia and the California both could have been built by Hyundai or Fiat -- they're both lifeless technological products, they're heavy and they're only as impressive as the stack of money required to buy them.

The Porsche and the Ferrari -- there's just no comparing the two.

Nizer

Except in their single largest market. And you can't blame DOT for this one. It's just the chicken solution on Porsche's part.

micahbones

Very well written post Carrera GT!

I suspect that in the specific comparison aboove, given its superior power/weight and downforce levels + significantly quicker shifts, the Ferrari might prevail on the stop watch only. Evaulated on the experiential component of car/driver interaction, the Porsche wins in my mind. Wickedly programmed electronics, dual-clutch automatic transmissions, and "schwanky" futuristic interiors hold no appeal for me, and I suspect to many who really want to drive and experience their cars on the road and track.

Targa Tim

RS for me all the way.

Will consider the Ferrari only if it is the same price or cheaper.

gmolinari

How could that even happen? The level of materials, technology and handcrafting is significiantly higher on the 458. It is plainly a more expensive car to build not to mention the volume the company as a whole puts out compared to Porsche is on an entirely different scale.

Ronan

I am picking up 2010 RS at the factory in Zuffenhausen next Tuesday. The car suits me, and will join my 2008 RS in the garage. I do think the 458 is indeed a much more versatile car and would prefer it, but not at the price charged (i.e. I can't afford it:.......

Very good video,that.