As someone who is about to enter the 997.1 or .2 Turbo market, I'm really curious what your perspectives are on these cars as sports vs GT cars. I'm not about to daily a GT3 but I don't want a Jag either.

Opportunities to get behind the wheel of a Turbo for a test drive are nil due to no local inventory.

Finally, if there are any "silver bullet" fixes to dial up the raw fun of the Turbo, would love to know what those are.

 

I can take my turbo out and enjoy the raw power and handling and spec preditor systus or go out to dinner or on a weekend trip with the wife and enjoy the car as a supreme handling beast that is comfortable enough for a long trip.

Its a perfect DD.Sadly because of my occupation I cannot DD mine. Please do and I'll be envious.

 

Saying a 911 (turbo or not) isn't a sports car is a joke. It's not raw like a race car - thankfully!

I do my best to DD my 997.1tt. Biggest hurdle can be pot holes, but going up size to the gt3 sizing helps a ton as it gives more meat go the sidewalls.

 

I DD my 997.1, as I did my Corvettes when I had them, and it is a great commuter. I have a conservative tune, headers, exhaust and cats that put out around 560-580 hp. Plenty fast for what I need - good for stop sign to stop sign or fun in the country. I really love this car and at my age, this may be my last car - I just don't have the desire for anything else! Get one and you won't regret it!

 

Each generation of the turbo becomes more of a GT car (and there's nothing wrong with that). They are still wonderful and still very sporty, but the turbo has definitely become the GT car of the Porsche lineup. If you want something raw, then buy a GT3.

When I sold by 996 and bought a 997 turbo, it felt like I went from a Honda Civic to a Mercedes S-class.

The turbo is the perfect car for somebody who wants to drive it every day, but doesn't want to get punished like you would in a GT3.

 

997Turbo=brutally fast sports car for the street and light track use.

997Gt3=Super fast balanced precision track car that could be also driven on the street

 

considering the road noise at 80mph, I would say its closer to sports car than gt car

 

both are sports cars, different tools for different purposes but people like to put them against each other.

turbo is a hammer, gt3 is a scalpel.

you can do more in your daily life with a hammer, but there are some things that scalpel is better suited for.

unless you are into at home DIY surgery, you will most likely get more use out of a hammer around the house; unless you are really really into precision track driving, a turbo is plenty sports car. put someone from another type of a car in a turbo and it is loud and rides rough relative to most any non-sports car, gt3 is bordering on masochism to the average person who isnt into cars.

turbo is great on track by the way. just feels different, has to be driven a different way..

 

How would you define a GT sports car? I define a GT sports car as a speedy two-seater tuned and set up by its manufacturer primarily for comfort, luxury and road going civility than sheer visceral handling and track-like duties. These include sport cars like the Ferrari FF, Bentley Continental GT, Aston Martin DB9, Maserati Granturismo etc...the 997 turbo falls into this category. That said, the 997 turbo is a fairly remarkable canyon carver with minor modifications and can be a venerable track weapon with tweaks to its suspension geometry and proper track instruction.

I'm not sure what your question is, GT cars ARE sport cars (they simply fall on the street side vs. track ready side of the sport car equation). I thought you owned a GT-R, so you should know this.

Buy a 997 turbo (either .1 or .2) and I'm sure you won't be disappointed, its likely more car than you can handle...

 

agree with this, it's not a GT car in my definition.

that's more like a Bentley Conti GT, GT=grand touring remember. i can barely fit my backpack in the frunk, let alone luggage for some "grand touring"

 

This.

Anyone who insinuates a 997 turbo is not a sports car is a fool. The performance speaks for itself, the compromises in the name of comfort are minimal, and just because porsche has managed to make it DD'able if you really want to, that doesn't detract from what the car is capable of.

 

I vote for GT.

It's comfy and quiet, weighs in at a hefty 3,500 lbs, and is great for putting on lots of miles in a hurry. (Perhaps the ultimate high-speed DD).

But the suspension is miles from good when the driving gets aggressive. Even in a gentle turn at speed, the handling becomes sketchy.

With better tires,. and a completely new suspension,.. it can get pretty sports car like. But as it comes stock,... no. More of a GT

 

GT car. A lotus elise is a sports car. A 997TT has heated leather seats, navigation, tons of sound deadening, leather everywhere, blah blah. Sure its fast and has high limits, but it doesn't engage the driver the same way a GT3 might. Its on the sporty side of GT, but its not a sports car.

 

+1 GT car

 

In my opinion, this definition is dated. Modern cars have added features, weight, and complexity. Unless you want to say they practically don't make sports cars anymore since you can get a Miata with heated leather seats, I don't see the point of your argument. The 911 turbo will spank the elise on the racetrack or the back roads, so clearly they didn't trade away the cars capability to achieve those comforts. Are we really going to compare a modern sports car to older cars from a simpler time as our measurement? Are we going to say that a miata is a GT too since it has heated leather and you don't have a modern sports car unless it's an ariel atom?

The magic of the 911 is the amount of practicality porsche has managed to add to a sports car. Instead of trying to say it's not a sports car because it can toast your rear, why don't you try coming up with examples of cars that are best suited for the street, not the track, that are more sports cars than the 911 turbo? Imho the list is so short that the 911 turbo gets to join the list easily.

On the other side of the coin, if we look at the true modern GT cars, like the bentley, the jaguar, and the aston, we can see how those cars are considerably more comfortable, considerably heavier, and considerably less sporting than the 911 turbo.