Thinking about trading my GT3 Touring for an F12. The latter has come down in price enough to make it a consideration. Two things are giving me pause: first I'm a little reluctant to put up with the shenanigans of maintaining an extra Ferrari (keeping my Speciale); second I'm a little concerned that my Touring actually drives better than an F12 and thus may be disappointed in switching. The attraction to the F12 is mainly the engine - never had a V12 F car before. Just not sure it's worth it. Any advice from those with similar experiences?
Had a GT3 and an F12. The F12 is still in my garage. The GT3 is long gone and forgotten. Added an 812 to the stable.
I have a GT3 touring and an F12.... The GT3 is pretty exciting but is different then the F12 ... I have had the F12 for 3 years now and am considering selling it .. plan to keep the GT3touring I think that is a pretty special 911.. I have not driven the F12 since I got the GT3 for whatever that is worth.....
Test drive needed. It's like apples and oranges. Maybe you could say the GT3 and Speciale are similar enough and the F12 could give you something different. I still say you need to test drive an F12 first.
Can’t say enough about the F12 and the incomparable wail of its V12. I just love the car and everything about it. Hyde when you want it to be, Jeckyl when you mash the pedal. It has a unique white knuckle flavor to it. Maybe it’s just me (relatively novice driver), but it rewards on every drive with more and more of its personality being revealed each time. I also love that it’s relatively discreet. I can hide in traffic (can’t do that in my Huracan Performante). Perhaps the best part of the F12 is that it is now the world champion for best automotive value. I mean what other car provides this much for such relatively modest money. It’s such a bargain now that I might just keep it when my 812 gets here late spring.
I'm assuming since your GT3 is Touring, you don't intend to track the car? I don't own an F12 but I do have an F12 Tdf, as well as 991.1 GT3 and 991.2 GT3 (both PDK). What I can say is that the teutonic personality of the GT3 isn't as involving for me -- though I will say that since addition of Sharkwerks exhaust to my .1, I find it a bit more entertaining. I know it's not exactly apples to apples since my F12 is a Tdf, but what I can say is if I had t0 choose between Tdf or a GT3, hands down I'd keep the Tdf. The drama, beauty, and excitement of V12 has me smitten. I've sold two Porsches this year (another .1 GT3 and a '59 356) to use them as "Ferrari currency." I guess that tells you the direction I'm headed.... But I don't think you should contemplate any further without first taking an F12 for a test drive. After said drive, hope you'll report back to us.
Same here - have both a TDF and 991.1 GT3. Eilig has already captured my feelings on this perfectly. +1 Hard to give up the V12 - it’s automotive crack Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Personally the only similarities I see between a Ferrari F12 and the Porsche GT3 is the fact that both are fast cars, have four wheels and a combustion engine. Styling wise to my eyes they are almost like the zero and the infinite. The Ferrari represents innovation and sophistication at the high fashion end "haute couture" but the Porsche, with a very "déja vue" working wardrobe, is more or less the opposite. Because of the way it looks and screams the F12 never gets unnoticed anywhere it goes and very often is the centre of attention. The Porsche GT3 by comparison is a discrete car and to the eyes of most passers-by just another 911. The F12 is one of the fastest existing GTs even for today's standards and has a superb V12 engine that sounds even better. The car can also be used and enjoyed on long journeys without the need to see the chiropractor afterwards. Despite being a very fast GT the F12 driving dynamics were not designed for the track environment, therefore for someone who is more track minded, the race car feel of the GT3 is a better option since it can also handle quite well most GT tasks. If we lived in a perfect world my advice to anyone who likes Porsches and Ferraris would be to own both enjoying that way the pleasures of each car idiosyncrasies.
Based on the cars you are used to I'd say keep your GT3. The cars are night/day different. The 731hp 8700rpm NA V12 is one of the best and powerful engines created and the song is mesmerizing. You will have to test drive to decide what makes for a better ride to you though.
You will want the F12 and forget about the GT3 very soon once you get to 7k rpm. If my FF engine can make me do that, I am very sure the F12 will do that to you easily, as long as you know F12 is not a track car and it's front engine. As much as the gt3s were good to me, I never looked back.
to me main difference is stick shift in gt3t. obviously, keep the Porsche if want a stick or go for the v12 if like paddles. all the other differences pale in comparison to that
Same topic came up on Rennlist last week, and I made the following post to try to convey my feelings about both. I love my wife. Her name is GT3. She is nice looking but not too over the top. Intelligent, easy to live with on a daily basis. She is logical, practical, stable, sane. She's keeps fit, does yoga, is financially practical, and is all around fantastic. I want her in my life forever. Can't imagine living without her. But I am completely head over heels infatuated with my Italian mistress. Her name is Tdf. She is voluptuous, curvy, sexy as hell. Not always the most intelligent, but I'm so emotionally involved with her, who cares. Living with her daily would be impossible, a complete pain. But for a few weekends per year, we have an incredible romp, totally out of control, insane, detached from the tethers of daily life. Everywhere I take her, guys are drooling over her and probably wondering how a guy like me is with such a sexy sultry supermodel. But I can only take her in small doses, a few times per year. She is entirely impractical financially, and has a complete disregard for the value of a dollar. Yes I could live without her, but would miss out on so much fun if she ever went away completely. Having one sane and one insane, a good balance.
I agree they are totally different cArs and the F12 is a fantastic car that looks great and has a wonderful sound and feel i am lucky in that i have both an F12 and the GT3 tour The new gt3 with manual and 9000 rpm NA engine is something the sounds from 6000 rpm to 9000 is really exciting.....best choice to drive. The F12 and decide .... They are both really great cars.."
I agree. But "this sucks" really popped up in my mind when I was rolling the gear in my . 2 gt3 during traffic. Now I just can't imagine driving any car with 400 horses in a stick.
I'd say it all depends on how you use your GT3 and how you intend to use the F12. As a city dweller, I keep both the 991.1 GTS (need the rear seats for the kids, otherwise would have the GT3) and the F12 in the garage. In daily city driving, any 911 (GT3 included) is a much more practical choice, as the combination of the car's small size, PDK, good mpg and relative invisibility on the roads trumps F12 huge size, somewhat nervous clutch in auto mode, outrageous fuel consumption and attention from public (still not a Lambo but pretty close). But if you do lots of fast speed open-road/highway/autobahn driving (I don't) I can't imagine a better fast car than an F12. I'd easily take it for a trip from Milan to Paris or from Madrid to Berlin if I had to choose between a 911 and a Ferrari. Power, style, status - it is a completely different game here.
You know the answer when you ask Fchat right? Thing is most of us with Ferrari v12s who are here just keep adding and swapping v12s. Ask on Rennsport/rennlist and see what they say. Better still drive it and report back.
Having owned a GT3 in the past I know your pain. Today I am lucky enough to own, a Speciale and an F12, and they are very different experiences. The Speciale, different driving experience to the GT3 but similar driving characteristics, I find is simply better suited to the track, after all that what both the GT3 and Speciale were designed for. I find I can use nearly all of the 600bhp in a Speciale all the time such is the competence of the chassis. The F12 is not like this....as stated in the threads above, it is a true Jekyll and Hyde machine. The Speciale is so competent it’s almost too easy to get everything out of the car. The F12 has plenty of grip for 740bhp through x2 tyres and shrinks around you when you drive, it’s actually only 1.5” longer than the Speciale and isn’t as big as it looks. It can be more relaxed or devastatingly brutal and you need to judge the throttle quite accurately, you will never get out of it thinking, I need a few more horses and nothing matches the sound of the V12; it does drive like a mid engine car, Ferrari claim 53% of weight to the rear, but you are aware the engine is upfront, a bit like a GT3, you are very aware the engine is behind the rear wheels. When the F12 is opened up you have to be on it (I like heal and toe with a manual as much as anyone, but there is no time to be swapping cogs at the F12 banshee howling pace). It’s a car that reminds you that you can actually get hurt in a car....or you can simply take it easy, I like that, some modern cars now are just to easy to drive quick and there is too much aided intrusion. I find when choosing which one to drive I am picking up the keys of the F12 more often. If your gonna track the cars, maybe keep the GT3 or stretch to a Speciale, that could be the only reason in my mind for not going for an F12, they just feel special and a bit different, and they are. Go with the lightweight alloys and titanium bolts (plenty of threads on un-sprung mass weight saving) sharpens the car up even more, and will bring it closer to your GT3 in terms of feel, the carbon seats are very comfortable and shave 40kg off the cars weight....carbon spec is bloody expensive to retro fit so if you want carbon dash etc. buy it on the car....you will find these spec cars are more but because this is the spec everyone wants, shift more quickly. Good luck, test drive one today, but be ready to get your wallet out when you do.... View attachment 2655871 View attachment 2655872 View attachment 2655873 View attachment 2655874 Sent from my iPhone using FerrariChat.com mobile app
Nothing matches someone who has owned or owns the cars telling us how they feel and compare. Great writing and thank you for sharing your experience.
The replies had strong points, i will add my unbiased opinion since i own both now and driven not much on them yet. The GT3 touring: - really reliable and durable headach free car - assuming you would care but fuel consumption is great when compared as well as insurance - potent and easy to drive to its limit especially if you track a-lot though you have the speciale which is to be honest should be a better car - if its the manual its really engaging and hard to get bored with on the long run if its the pdk then defiantly try the F12 with a closing eye and you have the speciale which has equal fast transmission - with due respect sounds like a noisy vaccum cleaner but easy fix is an exhaust with the by pass pipes then it turns the sounds totally like their race cars - Great track car The F12: - have one of the best looking interior and exterior you will forget your GT3 which in previous replies you will notice its really an attractive car - drives imho better - sound wise is very good and becomes great if it had an exhaust - good track car - battery is awful but solved it by Varta which made the day and night deference - Fuel consumption is high a full tank gets within 300km Summery: it always depends on what cars you have and what uses you will do on them, an F12 is an amazing GT road car, suitable to go on festivals, parties, dinner invitations, late night rides, long trips, cross country (same as the touring if it didn't had the 918 seats) ...etc enjoyment factor for the F12 is really high when compared to the GT3 Always ask your self when it comes to regretting or missing something, to be honest if i sold my GT3 over the next year i wouldn't look back, especially when its easy to find a replacement for it I'm the sort of person who looks at his car when he parks it somewhere and look AT IT which makes him feel that he owns an amazing car where if i didn't look at it, it means to him its not that caring to and not get bored of in the following years lol.. its just me
I already posted my thoughts earlier in this thread, but feel compelled to add that when I get out of the GT3, I find myself wishing the car had more power. Whereas when I get out of the F12 Tdf, one of the things I love most is that it has absolutely more than enough power. That and that alone is such a huge factor in making me love the F-car V12 over the P-car Boxer 6. The GT3 is the wife and the F12 is the seductive mistress that you can never get enough of.
