812 to 488 pista, madness ?

I recently (ish) moved property and i am having a new garage constructed, but it will only have two decent sized spaces. I currently have three 'toys' which need garaging, a 2019 812 Superfast, a 2018 Porsche GT3 991.2 touring and a 1992 Porsche Carrera RS (964).

I will not part with the old Carrera, to me it is Porsche spirit distilled.

Both the 812 and the GT3 perform a reasonably similar brief, except the GT3 gets occasional track use (maybe once per year at Spa, Nordschiefe and Silverstone) - clearly the 812 is not suitable for track use. So i have three options really. 1. sell the Ferrari have have just two Porsche. 2. store one of these cars off site, which i currently do anyway, but that way i hardly use the stored car. 3. sell both the 812 and the GT3 and buy a 488 pista, which can be used both on the road and track.

If i go with option 3, will i find the pista too raw for the road (i doubt it, but) or will i find it a little flat after a series of V12 Ferrari's (i have never owned a V8 series car) ? Also i don't like my toys too 'shout', but i guess a pista painted in a subdued grey won't be too 'shouty'.

Or maybe thanks to lock-down i have too much time to think about this kinda of conundrum ?

 

I had a 812sf and traded it for my Pista. The Pista is VERY raw and a totally different animal than the 812. The Pista is a track car and drives like a track car. It is very difficult to take out when the tires are cold and forget about driving it in the rain. You hear every pebble under the car Due to the lack of insulation. The longest I can drive In The Pista is about 30 minutes, after that my back is hurting and my ears start to hurt from every loud noises. With that being said, my Pista is only used for the weekend for short fun trips. It is awesome and I’m very happy I traded it. The V12 in the 812 was a monster and just keeps on pulling. However it looks very similar to a corvette and when i had the opportunity to get the Pista I jumped on it. Not sure about the UK but 812 pricing has plummeted ( before COVID-19) and even worse now. You may get killed trading out of it, so I’m not sure if that matters to you or not. Good luck!

 

I own both a 812 and a Pista. I have also owned a 991GT3 RS and a 964 RS so I guess I am qualified to opine!

You are right not to sell the 964 RS. In my humble opinion it is even better than the 993 RS in its expression of the 911 spirit. Simply an amazing car

The Pista will more than replace the GT3 RS. It is too fast for the road and almost too fast on track. I drove it for 2 days at Fiorano and it is so good that you tend to drive it far quicker than the track will allow. I ran out of road on several occasions . I didnt think Ferrari could produce a more exciting track car than the Speciale, but the Pista is a revelation. I don’t think it is uncomfortable for road use -I use it all the time - but it is not a car to take your partner out to dinner in (he or she will hate the noise and suspension) and the seat does get a little uncomfortable (I am not a teenager any more) after an hour or so.

If you want to own a usable Ferrari, keep the 812 and use the GT3RS on track. I love mine; it is no slouch on a track, but it is supremely comfortable on the road and fantastic on long trips. Also the sound (I assume it is pre-GPF) is much better than the uninteresting V8 turbo drone of the Pista. I am now on my second 812 and I am still amazed by the all-round capability of the car

It is a very hard choice, but if I were you, I would keep my current collection!




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Keep the 812...epic V12. You go to track once per year and you’re letting that factor into your thinking? You can track an 812 once per year, as well as your GT3....and your 964....

 

storage is the answer ...1992 Porsche Carrera RS (964) .. how often do you really drive it? and when you do it will make more of an occasion to go and collect it !

 

thanks for all the replies, from some sage and wise counsel. ultimately i think i'll keep all three, but i feel bad about not using them enough and of course if i decrease the fleet to 2 cars, both on site, they will get more use. and if i am honest the pista looks like an entertaining track car, a scratch i might find difficult not to scratch. i think i'll keep an eye out for the right spec pista, if it comes along then i can always do the math. meantime i will try and use the 812 more as when i do it makes me smile, and the one upside about it's value tanking is that putting miles on it becomes even less of a worry.

and yes the 964 RS is a very special car, i've had pretty much all the RS 911's over the years, from the 1973 2.7 RS up to and including most of the modern GT3's variants and the '64 is the one that excites me the most, on the road at least, and thus why i have a mint maritime blue example tucked away as my forever 911.

 

1550 kg for a track car...!!!??? I don t remember a track car was so heavy....

 

The Pista is a superstar! BUT, so is the 812! Tough to choose between those two! Good Luck & Keep us posted...

 

Agreed. Pista (and all the other hardcore variants) are road cars first and designed to be fun on the road. It's why they are so wonderful to drive. They inject just the right amount of that track magic/feel where it feels like an occasion, but not to the extremity of an actual track car. Driving a real track car on the road, even spiritedly, is not an enjoyable experience for most people.

 

Yes a track car that is road legal. It is not a track car like a 488 gt3 that isn’t road legal. Don’t think there is any question about it. Even the name says track. Watch Robert Mitchell’s newest video on the ring to see what it does on the track. Have you driven one on the track? Do you consider a gt3 rs a track car? The difference in weight is like have a passenger in the car.

 

Add more storage, then add the Pista...

 

I’ll tell you what, I dropped off the Pista to get PPF and picked up the 812 from the same place. I thought after driving the Pista the 812 would be a let down in some way. Not at all, and I think I enjoyed the drive back more than down there.

 

On the ‘shouty’ front, my Pista in argento with black stripes draws significantly more attention when parked than my blu elettrico 812. The blu elettrico is also a bit shouty on any car. The Pista still gets more attention with its straightforward spec than the 812. But this is when the cars are parked.

Now, while driving at slow speeds, the attention is equal. People just hear the 812 engine. At highway speeds, more attention goes to the Pista, where it is harder to hear the 812 engine sound if you are in another car.

in terms of comfort for me , the 812 is more comfortable. Some mornings, I just want to hop in the 812 and drive instead of the Pista. It’s just easier, more comfortable, and less road noisy. When I am in the mood for “the driving” experience, I will take the Pista.

The 812 is a monster of kinetic mass. Smooth inputs with steering at speed are rewarded. The Pista is a fighter jet of road/ track superiority. I have driven both on the track. Both great. The 812 can be mastered I believe for great results. The grip is incredible at speed. To get results, I needed to pay more attention to here than the Pista.

Another idea is to buy a Challenge car and track that. $365K for a new 488 Challenge and $275K for a used one. 458 Challenges are half that price now!

 

If ground space is limited for the new garage, can you go a little higher (if planning allows) and install a rack that will allow you to store one car above the other to create space for all three? Or if garage is height restricted, can you dig basement to garage and install a lift/rack?

 

R J - interestingly when the builders knocked down the old single garage and started the ground works they discovered an old coal bunker/store underneath, but because of the utilities (gas/water/electric pipework) next to said bunker it was too complicated to dig down. i should manage with height for a lift, so yes that is an option i can look at.

 

Yes , i ve driven the Pista for 3 cessions at the Castellet during a track day , coming and coming back by the road for about 400 kms.
The car is perfectly balanced, powerful, reactive ...The sound is disgusting, but that not a news.
However, it s too heavy for he track... I consider max is 1300/1400 kg for a good feed back.
I ve made 50 000 kms with my ex 355 Challenge,visiting all the beautiful and magic Italians tracks. So i m always thinking CS, Scud,F40,F50 and Enzo remains much appropriate for such an exercice, with differents sensations for each ones.
Personnaly, i prefer emotions and feed back than just hp by hundred.
GT3 RS 991.2 is much extreme than the Pista, with a real roll bar,lower ground clearance, enduring brakes...and much more focus and connected to the track.