guys, I have been thinking about the FCar switch for awhile. So Sunday my Buddy and I went to Meet Rand (rand on this board) for a little goofing off in the desert. I drove my GT3 down to meet him and we look at the cars for awhile. He hasnt seen my GT3 except in the dark. So here are my impressions. Randys 360 is a 2000 with the capristo exahust. OH MY!! the thing sounds like a F1 car. In fact I had the opening ceremonies from the Olympics tivoed and Randys car sounds like the F1 car in the ceremony. Beautiful the whole car is a work of art. the color a gold titanium type (whats the Ferrari name?) the interior was like new. I would seriously consider parking it in my living room and call it art. Just stare at it. I drove it and it was quick. I had problems negotiating the gated stick. but it seemed like it was quicker than my 04 GT3. But once we took both of them out the 360 could not take the GT3. they were that close to 145 mph. It would seem like in different parts of the power band one car would be quicker but the other would be quicker in the other part. The 360 was quicker in the lower RPM and the GT3 quicker in the higher part. Both great cars. I would love to have a 360 in my garage!! But I dont know that I would part with the GT3. But man what a sound!! and what a car to look at!! Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Thanks for the report! I would have thought the GT3 would be quicker than the 360, most road tests comparing it to the CS call those two about equal. And I would have thought the GT3 advantage would be at the low end, so there's two assumptions proved false! A couple of beautiful cars, by any standards. Gary
same, I thought the GT3 was more torquey, but the CS made it up in the upper reaches of the tach, and the 360 should be slower....
We didnt get to do a real test like around a track, I followed Randy and stayed on his tail. My V1 was going off and I was a bit afraid to do anything else but go down this deserted road. We were real close to Edwards AFB so it could have been an aircraft. Is the capristo worth some horsepower? We both had passengers. Still it was just a hoot. After I drove his and he drove mine we both thought the Fcar might be a bit quicker. Love the Fcar.
I got my first ride in a GT3 a couple of weeks ago. The person who took me driving is a much better driver than I am. This was the most amazing ride I have ever been on. This car is awesome. It's raw, it's fast, it's an amazing piece of machinery and art. I wouldn't mind having this car.
NICE CARS! GT3 suffers from a very long 1st gear. other than that the car is perfect & should take 360 easy. when i had both CS & GT3 i actually found the GT3 is a bit faster & pulled harder when u in the right gear/RPM range. Ferrari always wins the look though.
I was fortunate to have a good 2 hour passenger ride in a GT3 and here are my thoughts... Firstly the route, mainly country roads, national road in, surfacing isnt too bad, I would say fair. Got into the car, first thing that impressed, was the seat, supported in all right areas.. then there was the sound of the motor, sounded great. Well car felt very stable on the smoothish tar, emphasize this point because when we hit a bump the car did a jump to the left, very hard ride, under braking the car sought out any pump and corrogation that was there and bumps tended to make it jump all over the road. In this respect I feel the ride is too race track focussed, or maybe our 3rd world roads are too bumpy... Acceleration was good but I was somewhat suprised at the lack of low down power, especially when overtaking trucks, there really wasnt sufficient pull in 5th gear, but boy beyond 5500 rpm she pulls very nicely indeed. Now for the twistys, car sits well on the road, one can feel the weight in the rear which for me was a bit strange...but again hit a bump mid corner and the whole car darts off course.. can be a more than a little scary. Stability at speed, well thats dependant again on road surface, the road we were one is in a very remote area thought trucks can be a problem, despite the bumps and darting we managed to get to 284 km/h but both the driver and myself thats its not an experience to repeat at least not on this particular road, having said that though we sat at between 230km/h and 250 km/h for about 35 min....the joys of remote 3rd world country roads.... My impression was of a race car that perhaps isnt at home on roads that arent totally smooth, I am sure on smooth roads the handling and ride are awesome....but I still remeber that sound....
For those of you making comparisons and using 360 and CS as the same cars, it's not true. The CS while 360 in looks is much higher performance in having more HP and 300lbs less weight and lighter wheels and bigger tires. The GT3 engine likes more revs to be competitive in pulling the weight around (3000lbs). Top Gear did a test on the same track with the Stig driving and the GT3RS was identical to the CS in lap time even though it costs 60000Lbs less (about $90000). The GT3 should be faster than the regular 360 and all other impressions gained from these personal test drives are purely subjective and the F car probably gives the impression of more performance just from looks and sounds alone. This is true of most modified cars leads the owners to believe that their mods have been justified from the racier sounds and harsher rides when the dyno and lap times actually reveals poorer performance as a result of their tampering with the factory setups.
And the C6 Z06 is faster and cheaper than the GT3 and RS, and I'm certain there are modded Subies out there faster and cheaper than the Z06...the fun just never stops. Which is why the wisest heads say buy what you want after you try them all. Gary
