Hi all,

Have been lurking around here for a few weeks now after spending the last year tossing around ideas for my new car - can I just say how great it is for someone with no previous Porsche ownership experience to be able to access such a wealth of information rather than relying on the dealers who generally just want to sell you what they have available - so thanks heaps.

Have decided to take the plunge into Porsche ownership and had pretty much convinced myself to go for the 996TT after my first test drive (x50 or S) but have recently been finding out more about the GT2 and just love the look of the car. Have searched everything I can find on the net and 6speed about the car which has answered most questions but just wanted to get a bit of advice on the issue of useability. I would like to drive the car several days a week as I want to spend as much time in the car as possible and although I'm sure the TT is probably the better daily driver, I would really prefer the GT2 (these decisions generally aren't made with your head! - especially given these cars tend to cost nearly double in Aus what they do in the US ).

In particular, I am wondering if there is a substantial difference in the ride height between the TT and GT2 and whether I am likely to encounter major problems with the GT2 with my driveways, speed humps and general obstacles encountered in daily use or whether it would not be that much different to the TT.

Any other general advice about particular model years etc to look for would be appreciated - I gather that some of the early transmissions (<2,000?) had some assembly problems. Were there much in the way of changes from the early 996GT2's to the end of the 996 production run?

Many thanks for your help and apologies if the ride height issue has been addressed elsewhere and I have missed it - looking forward to joining in the thrill of Porsche ownership.

 

GT2 is better in almost every way. Ride height is lower, stock vs stock
but many of us slam um to the ground until they scrap anyway.
The 04-05 GT2 had slightly higher HP. I would drive one also, because
if you have never owned a high performance rear wheel drive car or a
turbo car then the GT2 may be not for you (too hot to handle). I am serious
in saying this, the car has lots of torque when the K24's start spooling and
they can get the best of you. Having said that, most of us settled on a
996TT and love them to a fault, it is a modern supercar that is difficult to
beat in all areas. GT2 is a little more like courting a supermodel...

MK

 

Thanks for your comments - have driven a TT and am going to try to drive a GT2 this week - not many available in this part of the world though! Am still leaning towards the GT2 as will be doing some track driving etc and would like a fairly raw driving feel out of this car - just a bit concerned that the lower ride height might be a pain for street driving/speed humps/gas stations/parking etc - not my only car but would still like to be able to use it regularly.

 

I drove all of my cars slammed and my GT2 today through the worst roads in NYC possible, had no issues what so ever.. The car can get very scary and intimidating, but today made me very confident in the car through all of the twisty high speed driving we did, and then it started raining, the car is ROCK SOLID in the wet, dry and so on if you respect its limits and dont plant throttle midway through a damn turn or coming out of one hard with wheel still turned, we did a hairpin uturn today which was FUN (Me and 997 GT3 behind) and both back end were out going up the little hill for a few seconds, if you lik ebeing inc ontrol and feeling one with the car/ and road, scalpel like and so precise GT2 is for you, as for useability? Turbo without a doubt in many different ways, from normal driveability with rideheight, comfort, then weather conditions, but again the GT2 was solid through it all!!

 

Thanks iLLM3,

The GT2 really does sound like what I'm looking for out of a Porsche but the dealer sold the one I was going to look at a day after it listed - so back to the waiting game - at this rate I might just order the AMV8 to start with after all. If I settle on a turbo instead of the 2, do you have any thoughts about whether it is worth paying more to get an x50 or Turbo S? BTW, that's one heck of alot of posts you've got there!

 

AMV8 is absolutely beautiful, two totally different cars.. IMO, wait for a clean GT2, it will be worth it

 

An extremely nice example just showed up in the for sale section. White with well done mods. It would be my pick if I were still looking.

 

I'll second that, its a must for anyone SERIOUSLY thinking about buying a GT2!

 

Would buy it without hesitation if only I was in USA. Just so much more to choose from in your neck of the woods (and ALOT cheaper) - does anyone know whether it is possible to convert a GT2 to Right Hand Drive (a professional factory looking/quality job) and is there anyone in US that specialises in this kind of work? If this could be done there are so many over there that are better than anything available here (would love one like the one with only 150 miles on it or the slate grey from Newport Beach - stunning! ) - have only seen 3-4 GT2's in the whole country for sale in the last 6-12 months over here (not much at all to choose from).