will the gt3 be considered a great porsche inthe future?

I wasn't the least bit interested in a 996 until the GT3 arrived, and I knew immediately I wanted one. Fantastic race bred normally aspirated motor, No AWD, No PSM, lightweight, basically a street legal "Cup" car.

The car makes a great daily driver that I can also comfortably drive to the track, lap all day long in air conditioned comfort. (going much faster than my Hoosier tired fire breathing guided missile race car) Then I can turn the stereo back on and drive home, instead of hassling with race tires and loading up a trailer.

The one thing that could eclipse some if its greatness would be a similarly smokin 997GT3, but only time will tell.

Mark McKenzie

 

It depends on which pcar guys.
It's like this with anything - you have a portion of the contingent that keeps up only with the "now" and another portion of a given contingent that has a an almost spiritual affection. This is true with cars, stamps, books, art, etc.
With the GT3 here in the U.S., if the RSAmerica's cult following is any indication, will garner a stronger, deeper and more committed cult following that will persist indefinitely; the RSA (while a great car) was a watered down, legalesed version of the Euro spec RS Club sport 964; it had the same drive train as the U.S. C2 but with a few RSA "spec" bits - a bit hollow.
The GT3 however is the real deal; same engine, same specs, etc. sans the cool Recaro buckets thanks to US DOT crash restrictions.
Half the story is: Yes, it'll be a "classic." The other half of the story is: love/beauty are in the eye of the beholder, and the # of individuals that will covet the GT3 (in lieu of buying the latest greatest Cayenne, Cabriolet Carrera, etc) will be a proportionately small group, but it'll be a fan favorite for enthusiasts throughout; therefore, I wouldn't bank on it becoming an appreciating collectible, but one of the best road cars to ever come ashore.

 

i think it's considered a great porsche now.

i owned two 996s and drove a GT3 and didn't think it was a piece of crap by any stretch. it's no CS imho, but it IS a "great porsche" for sure.

doody.

 

Well i own an 05 GT3 and it is a hell of a car, just had it out today in the mountains. theysay only 50-60, 05's came to the US. I think it will always be a "special" porsche.

vince

 

i agree...it is the real thing. i am a bit of a purist however i do like the gt3. to those saying it's no cs...well i'm not so sure the race records would agree! it is a great sports car and one to drive daily!

 

Hubert said it very well.........the RS America reference was very apt....I sold those back when they were new and nice ones are trading 11 years later for more than what MSRP was back then.

The GT3 will be considered a great Porsche....for sure.....but the GT2 will always be the king of the hill as far as 911's are concerned. I seriously doubt Porsche will do another car like the GT2 in a long time. "That" is the 911 I want more than ever in my garage.....for keeps.

Unless you haven't driven a GT2..........you must..........then if you can still walk and talk after the "experience"...........try the GT3.

 

Funny, isn't it that you can pick up a used GT2 for slightly more than GT3 money.

 

4 letters : P-C-C-B

The carbon ceramic brakes, which are std. on the GT2 have kept a lot of buyer's warily away from this car v. getting into a GT3 which can have std.brakes fitted from the factory.
The other was, that Porche, once again, over supplied the market with GT2s; which had a formidable impact on resale ( an equally large concern for prospective CGT buyers.)
IMO, however, the GT2 is an AMAZING automobile and while I love the snarl of a naturally aspirated engine, the prospectus of driving something so raw, powerful and subliminaly sinful is all too appealing.
GT3 & GT2 side by side ... best of both worlds; lithe naturally aspirated greyhound to the left; seething, striated hellhound to the right - a match made in heaven.

 

Dale.......

My point exactly........step up to the till....the line forms on the left......press hard you are making three copies. It's the best bang for the depreciated buck on the supercar planet right now......thanks to the PCCB beta test that Porsche did to it's retail clientele........

I don't think they were over produced per say.........didn't something like only a couple of hundred come to the USA over 4 years ?

 

For a 200k car they probably loosened the supply all too early and the 04 GT2 didn't have much to offer over previous itterations; add to that the PCCB issues and all in all, people turned out unwilling to take a 200k gamble on a car whose rotors turned to wafers. Most buyers didn't see the logic in spending 10k on aftermarket brakes to re-engineer what should have been set straight at the factory. Doesn't take away from the car at all, but with the pervasive nature (having been written about in Excellence) of the PCCB issue, the car's value dropped like Enron stock. Public opinion is a *****.

 

I still don't think too many GT2's were built......I believe that too many regular 996 Turbo's were sold into the marketplace.......when they slide faster due to this oversupply.....the price gap between them and the GT2 became harder to justify when combined with the PCCB issue............

If only PAG had spent the $10K per car (that's the retail price mind you....it's probably $5K per car at their dead cost) they'd have had to cough up a $1.5MM to retrofit 300 units of the GT2 in NA (or whatever the actual number of cars was).........that would have been the best goodwill they could have ever bought.

 

The GT3 is what the regular 911 or whatever it is called no should be. It should be that, a 4WD version of it, a convertible, and a Turbo.

I owned a Brand X car years ago. It was the first year for the Cabriolet, a 1983 911SC Cabriolet to be precise. Original owner, sold it in 1998. Anyway, I hadn't closely looked at Porsches in years but took did at this years auto show. I was horrified until I saw the GT3. All of the others seemed more concerned with creature comforts than performance.

My buddy who was with me and has owned a real 1978 930 for years tried to explain to me that they needed to add all of that junk to sell cars in the 90's to the dot-commers (like his girlfriend) who otherwise never would have considered them.

And yes, I am sure the new 99X's do just fine performance wise. That's not the point. They didn't remain true to their heritage.

I thought the GT3 appeared to be quite luxurious, yet they consider it stripped down, and could not understand why that could not be their main model.

We live in an era where Porsche's are being marketed to people who value the number of cup holders and navigation systems more than the performance and it makes me sick.

And that concludes my tirade for the evening.

 

You're right. Making too many TTs killed the upper end of Porsche's market. When a new Porsche depreciates at 20% the first year, something's wrong.

That, and the fact that Porsche blew it when it came to the line between Boxsters and 911s. They kept rasing the price of Boxsters, but they wouldn't give it a real motor. But then again there was little reason to buy a base 996 for little more than a Boxster S.

Porsche is stil making money. But, and this is a big one, at what cost of customer loyalty? As I said in another thread, I can afford a new Ferrari, but I can't afford a new Porsche.

Dale

 

The other issue with the GT2 is all the stained drivers seats on second hand cars.

The GT3 will be a well regarded car, but the real classic that you'll see in shows years from now is the GT3 RS, which really is a Stradale in it's own right. As a matter of fact, there is one claimed to be fully US spec in the AutoWeek Classifieds right now.

 

Not sure what qualifies as making a person a "p car guy", but if owning two currently does...

Newer Porsches HAVE been perhaps a tad overly concerned with creature comforts, but at the same time, HAVE improved in performance as well. A 996 is faster around a track than a 993 (although whether the engine life is the same is a topic for debate). Just because it doesn't have a big ass, minimalist interior, and round headlights does not prevent it from being a great car.

A GT2 is kind of like a viper...a LOT of power to channel to two rear wheels. A good car to have a wreck in.

If you want an edgier, lower-production numbers, more focused car, then obviously the GT3 fits the bill. People who drive them looking for that kind of ride seem to unanimously agree it hits the mark. If you want something you can drive on a bumpy road / regular street...well...not so much.

It all depends on what you are looking for in your car.