wanna911

I agree with Rad on this one, however I think the same blind sheep will not be as attached to pdk. The biggest competition for new 911 will be the older 911's

Mike in CA

My orange hand Rolex Explorer II, a Xmas present from my wife, keeps time to within 2-3 minutes a month and has for over 30 years. She bought it for under $800 new; I've been offered $15K for it (would never sell it; will leave it to my son.) Owned 3 quartz SA watches in the same time; they all crapped out. Wonder what they're worth now?

As to the original point of the thread, some cars fit certain people and others don't. Ferraris are beautiful and fast, for example, but price aside, just too much "hey look at me". Nothing against anyone who owns one, it's just how I would feel driving one, and they make a statement that's not me. Porsches are in my comfort zone; not too ostentatious, technically interesting, fun to drive, classic, and built for the long haul. Kind of like my plain old stainless steel Rolex. Does that makes me one of those Zombie Cult or blind sheep buyers that Porsche marketing is selling to?

-eztrader-

If gt3s are no longer reliable, eventually the blind sheep will stop buying them. One of the allures of this car is its reliability and track worthiness.

aussie jimmy

911Jetta

+1 Well said!

stevecolletti

For people over 30-35, Porsche has a stellar race history, too. They've been living on it for a while. I think even they have realized that not racing for outright at Le Mans has been hurting them. And, IMO, a GT3 that can't trace a clean line to a racing lineage will be a harder sell than the pdk will be.

BTW, my Tissot T-touch gains ~1 second per month - best watch I've ever owned.

aussie jimmy

1968 - 1998 golden years of porsche racing; here's hoping they can bring them back.

Mike in CA

I agree. I also think that when the 991 GT3 is raced, and it will be, the clean line will be intact.

BTW, a good quartz watch like the Tissot should keep that kind of time and will always beat a fine mechanical watch on sheer timekeeping. But like top speed and cars, there's more to it than that. Wheels, springs, and gears have more charm and fascination than a vibrating crystal and a battery, for me. Again, like cars, TEHO.

Carrera GT

By any measure -- except raw performance -- the 4.0 is wildly overpriced. Over time, I full well expect that aspect and impression of the 4.0 to rise and fall with the fickle wind of the "investment grade" market for Porsches. It might be a decade or two, but surely one day it will be recognized as one of the great ones, even without a racing chapter to its volumes of history. Preuninger is perhaps more marketing than engineering in his role at Porsche, but he was entrusted with a practically unique task -- to close the book on the 911 as the world has known it and put a fittingly perfect final model at the end of the line. He delivered.

If you take off the ***** emblem from the paint, if you unbolt the six screws holding on the wing and carefully store it for track visits, you have as understated a 911 as most any other.

Having seen the 4.0 put to purpose by an exceptionally capable driver recently and even taken a passenger seat session -- a rare thing for me, the first in most of a decade -- in my mind, there is no doubt about that engine and the car as the complete and very real deal.

If the 4.0 raises a high bar and, on paper, for the technical specifications, the numerical analysis of lap times, speeds and G forces, it will be bettered and probably sooner than later. The changing spreadsheets of horsepower and high speeds long ago exceeded the limits of human performance in an analog world. If a human is in control of the machine, it is a matter of human limits and endurance. In the coming digital age, the human experience begins an inevitable change and I am but one of many who will live to appreciate the past and let the future find its way without me. I have no doubt that future generations of car enthusiasts and earnest drivers will look back on our time as "the good old days" of real sport, just as we today look back on decades of motorsport last century in awe.

Can we expect the very first new Porsche 911 to be perfect? I am sure everyone reading will let their lips move just enough to say "no." Can we expect excellence and demand it? There is no substitute.

BBMGT3

You know, its funny about the "racing" lineage to the GT3. Actually, if Porsche really keeps the road car as "racy" as possible, then it HAS to go PDK. GT3R's now come paddle shift standard. Cup cars are being fitted with paddle shift kits for endurance races. It happens.

The 4.0 is/was overpriced. Super-overpriced. And the 3.8RS is kinda overpriced right now because of production. But - as soon as the 991 GT3 shows up - the 997 gt3's are going to look slow and outdated. I'd expect prices to come down nicely.

HiWind

porsche has been one of the most successful miners of the Pro-sumer trend ie normal consumers buying cutting edge tech like North Face or Rolex or Nikon or P just because the cost of the tech came down enough relative to that groups earning power. Most of them don't need that level of performance but want to have it. Of course being Trak rats we need it but as many have said before we aren't the key target market - Trakers/Racers are actually helping P build the brand ... They shd be paying us!

Ps - on the lineage issue I expect/don't see how they can avoid 1. Paddles and 2. More cylinders in the battle for GT2/3 supremacy.

Bill_C4S

Indeed....Porsche hooked me at the Geelong store in 1980...with a silver 928S and a guards red 911SC on the floor....

(that said...was at the McLaren London store on Monday.........i do believe the bar has been raised.)

wanna911

Yes, only PDK isn't a race transmission.

rodsky

Disagree completely. What other measure is there for a GT3 RS 4.0?

wanna911

I assert that it's overpriced based on it's relative performance. Let's be frank, even dollar for dollar, it's not even reasonably priced for a Porsche if performance were the determining factor. They priced that car based on everyone expecting it to be the last and only 4.0 liter Merzger engine. A collectors vehicle. I don't think an NA flat 6 could make that car match it's performance with it's price if it were on a sliding scale.