991 GT3 on hold?

Does anyone have any inside information regarding porsche stopping sales of the 991 GT3 in North America today(2-12)?? It my understanding that there is some engine "flaw" and that this must be corrected?!? This will further delay delivery of cars. What a bummer

 

TOP ONLINE: Porsche in Gossau ausgebrannt

This in Germany, and on a Porsche forum a total of 5 cars including one in Italy are reported to have burned.

Porsche Ag is investigating.

Apparently (or allegedly) the problem is related to the oil coolant bracket, and there may have been an issue with their the quality of the component.
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Bring Mezger back.

 

+1!!

 

For some of us, he never went away
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Bravo!

 

Lets see a production motor with fast go bits inside, so not really a racing derived powerplant, what could go worng. Then even on the last Gt3's we had hub failures and oil lines blowing.

As appealing as the performance on a 991 GT3 may sound to me this car is a cycnical marketing excecise. As the tubo went from being ahot race derived car to an AT school mom/dentist psecial, so the GT3 is now becoming a DD for stockbrokers, a more expensive 911 if you will.

Putting aside the whole PDK debate, and the size of the thing, its just changed into somethigng else. Namely the 4 wheel steer and a whole bunch of other doodads does not lead one to belive that this will be a robust trackable car for 5 years of ownership. That is what the GT3 was, and out the box track capable car maybe not the fastest on paper, but consistently fast all day without wilting, a car that woudl run 5 years of track days and street driving without failure, not to mention a tactile machine. The enw one seems liek amarketing excercise, like the fake engine noise on new M series BMWs.

Personaly I think the germans have spent too much time doing Harvard MBA's and have lost the plot. Wea re fast approcahing the point where for a driver a vette will be abteer choice.

 

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In all fairness, it appears the issue is minor, and as with any new model, there will be teething troubles! Once again, patience is a virtue, and if you want to be one of the "first", you might also take on the role of development engineer! Meanwhile, I'm sure Porsche Ag will get this sorted in no time at all.

Whilst progress is always good, no question the manual gearbox cars represent the significant end of a special era.

 

Joe its not just the loss of the manual, that is debatable. Its really the bloating weight and tech for paper number, while loosing specialness and robustness. The GT3 was always considered a light robust car, something tactile and very trackable out the box, that was its Mo, a turbo was always "faster" in fact a comprable ferrari was faster.

the GT3 was not about nth drgree speed but it was about nth dgree experience in a robust package. I feel the new car has gone in the direction of paper speed and a wider audience but the cost is robustness for those who track.

Yes the new motor is lighter and that is good, but the old one really was a race motor, and was tough as nails as well as being worth the $$. I notice porche does not race with the new motor. Then there is the 4ws system, apparently if you put slicks on it the warranty is voided, so what has the GT3 become actualy.

As to the fires, yes new models need bugs ironed out. But even the 997 had unforgiveable faults, like hub failures and oil lines, indicative of bean counter cost cuttiin in areas that affect durability and safety. The new run of fires seems to be indicative of this same mentality, which is not a build it right and then cost it mentality, its a how can we build it cheaper, add some gimicks and charge more mentality.

At least the vette and viper guys are trying to do it right. The last track day I was at a 997 Gt3Rs 4.0 the nee plus ultra failed half way throught he day, nothing tragic just a plastic piece in the gear linkage breaking. Lets face it VW has a crappy reliability reputation, I can tell you from first hand experience that besides the promise of the badge Mercedes actualy sucks and BMW has struggled to build a really quality prodct since 06.

The Germans are trading on past glory and reputation, a promise which their products dont keep. My arguement is not so much the design or concept(which is debatable) so much as the execution. Yeah they are making money now, but the consumer is not dumb and when they realise the promise is hollow there will be tears, just look at honda.

 

First glad nobody has been hurt.

I have a Gt3 on order with production to start this month.

Spoke to my local dealer. He confirmed delivery has stopped and dealers are waiting for parts. What he was told several parts are breaking down causing the oil leak and the oil is dripping on the exhaust system.

He did not think production has stopped but nothing from Porsche.

If others speak with their dealers please post responses.

If a long delay not sure I will wait.

 

Here is the official word from Porsche. Rumors arent all true....


There was a case with one car in Switzerland. Production was not stopped but there was a stop sale on the ones that are on their way to the US and in dealer inventory now.
The stop sale is on until each dealer inspects the GT3’s for any fault codes and once they pass they are ok for delivery.
We have to send the inspection results to Germany and once they say all clear we can release them.

 

Good to hear, and I should correct this post http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/142918671-post2.html and say Switzerland and not Germany.

 

The problem that I've found going back to the 986 series is the component quality is what leads to be desired. The overall execution was very nicely done, but one team would rely on one O-ring versus 2. That O-ring aould last 5 years and then a leak would occur. They've pushed the sfaety factor on the individual plastic components too far to the limit compared to the over-engineered cars built prior to Wiedekind.

+1 on the MBA comment.. any no-talent can cut costs to improve profitability. The IMS failures, oil leaks, Cayenne coolant tubes, and decline in brand reputation etc. are the result of that.

 

That's good to hear

 

Uh Oh, I guess my last post and that from Davidcbrown were made too soon. Here is the latest official news from Bloomberg:
Apparently Porsche are recalling the 991 GT3 according to Bloomberg:

"Porsche Recalls High-Performance 911 GT3 After Fires"

20 February 2014 (Bloomberg) -- Porsche AG is recalling the 911 GT3 sports car and advising owners not to use the high-performance model after two vehicles caught fire following an engine failure.

The recall affects all 785 Porsche 911 GT3 vehicles from the current model year, the Stuttgart, Germany-based automaker said in a statement. The price of the GT3 version of the iconic 911 starts at 137,303 euros ($188,000).

“There have been no accidents or personal injuries,” the Volkswagen AG brand said in the statement. “The internal examinations of the reason for the engine failures aren’t finalized yet.” The two vehicle fires happened in Europe.

Recalls in recent months by carmakers, including VW, Chrysler Group LLC and Toyota Motor Corp., highlight the challenges of adding increasingly sophisticated technology to new models.

Porsche Chief Executive Officer Matthias Mueller said this month that the marque plans to exceed 200,000 in annual deliveries in 2015, three years earlier than first targeted, on demand for the Macan compact sport-utility vehicle going on sale later this year. Porsche’s deliveries rose 15 percent to a record 162,145 vehicles in 2013 as demand for the Boxster and Cayman models more than doubled.

Source: Bloomberg

 

Reuters link Porsche recalls all 911 GT3 cars made this year amid fire probe | Reuters

I think Porsche Ag is just being cautious, and this will be sorted swiftly.

 

I hope so. Contacted dealer. No word back.

 

latest from the dealer....

"Still have not stopped production…they are now sending out a letter to the GT3 owners that have taken delivery and are offering to bring their vehicles into the local dealers and check it out before driving…

All at Porsche Cars PAG expense for the safety of the customer.
This is there attempt to see every GT3 that has left the factory"

 

That's a good first step, but it would be even better if they would let everyone know what was the cause of the fires as well. Perhaps some owners may check into it themselves before bringing their GT3s back to their local dealers for inspection?
I wonder what happens in these cases if someone purchased on the grey market? Is Porsche not responsible in that case?

 

My 2004 GT3 is very much older then 5 years and runs track and street without any failure whatsoever. The very last real sports/track production car from Porsche.

If I accepted your opinion I wouldn't even buy it in a first place because it was older the 5 year old already and supposedly .... worn out??

I also have another Porsche which is 36 years old and runs like a scalded cat and runs flawlessly.

 

This video explains the whole 991 GT3 fiasco...well, not really but it is pretty funny.

Caution: NSFW

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2x0IwfxEF0A]Hitler cannot pick up his new GT3 - YouTube[/ame]

 

Not supposed to happen... if you read above, the Dealer picks the car up and flatbeds it back. Not to be driven under any circumstances.

 

Could not happen to a nicer guy.

 

I think you have misunderstood me. I was being kind to more modern porches in only expecting 5 years. We seem to agree as you say the 996 Gt3 was the last "real sports/track production car from Porsche"

We could probably also agree that betwen hub failures on the 997.2 and oil cooler lines 5 years was already an issue. But the 997 was at least faily easily modifyable into a car that would go 5 years or more. Nevertheless the idiotic knockoff hub system on the .2 Gt3 showed porche the way to more $$$ for BS at the expense of the real sporting driver.

I seriously doubt the 991 Gt3 wil go 5 years if, the 4ws is from what i hear now warrantied for slicks, so maybe 5 days is the new standard.

Somehow in the pursuit of more $$$ and raw paper spec the real posche has been lost.