Hi,

Jsut sold the '99 C4 w/ aero Kit, very sad day but the person who bought it loves it, he was more excited than I ever was about any car I've bought so it went to the right new home.

Now, I want to spend 50-60K. There are a lot of '04 and '05 low mile GT3's out there, but it does look like exactly what I had. Now, a 997 w/ aero kit?

Any feedback or help? I am actively searhing and the garage feels empty.. Does anyone know that feeling??

 

Was at the same crossroads between a 996 GT3 and 997S a couple of months back. Drove quite a few of them (the 996 C4S was also in the mix, and I was somehow attracted to it) but ultimately felt that given the duty of being a shared car, the GT3 would not bode well with wife. It was great fun to drive hard though, more so than any of the "normal" 997 family.

The considerations for me were:
1. Rarity -> GT3
2. Future value -> GT3
3. Daily use comfort -> 997S
4. Ergonomics -> 997S
5. Aesthetics --> 997S (I ended up with an Aerokit)
6. Availability of "untrashed" cars --> 997S (debatable point though)
7. Sound --> GT3

Not to say that a GT3 is not in the cards for the future, but it just wasn't to be right now.
YMMV.

 

The GT3 is a much better performing car. Significantly better.

 

I'm pretty sure he was asking about an early GT3, one based on the 996 platform. Those are significantly slower than a current Carrera, a 997, let alone a Carrera S.

Gary

 

I have a 997C2S, and love it, how ever there is nothing better then a high revving GT1 engine.

Driven well, a C2S will not compare to the GT3 on the track, on the street the C2S is more comfortable.

 

Betcha dollar?

Oh never mind. Damn doctors pulled my medical. But I still would bet on the well-driven current C2S over a GT3 from say 2004. Porsche keep outdoing themselves. The best from one generation seems to become their goal for the base cars of the next. Has anyone compared the performance data for the last generation turbos to this generation of normally aspirated cars? I'm curious.

Gary

 

So you are forming an opinion on based on what? 0-60 numbers? A 996 GT3 has a seam welded body, better suspension for track, LSD, more HP, higher rev limiter, GT1 Block, bigger brakes.

The 997.1 C2S is a very fast car, and really nice on the road, but stock to stock is not quite at the GT3 level. I use to think the same way you did, but it is the little things make the difference.

 

I was talking about a 996 GT3 (04-05) vs. a 997.1 S (05-08). The OP was looking for info on $50-60k Porsches. For that price, the 996GT3 is a much better car.

 

cars for different purposes.

a well driven stock 997C2/C2S cannot beat a well driven 6GT3. I've seen and done it on the track. Don't know about 997.2 or pdk though.

for street use, C2S all the way.

 

Yeah it's a bit silly to talk about which is faster on the track. They are very different cars, OP has to ask himself what he wants them for.

Lots of tracking, very little street driving : 996 GT3
Lots of street driving, very little tracking : 997 C2S

 

Surprised no one has mentioned that the 6gt3 is lacking some of the driver aids that the 7c2s has. No traction control or stability control in the 6gt3, so might not be the best car for rain.

 

The following is second hand, so apologies in advance...
A good friend of mine who is a pro motorcycle racer (has frequent flyer miles with the Medivac helicopter - or so he says!) and thus is no wuss bought a new GT3 (996) and ended up selling it 18 months later. He did not track it much, just drove in on the back roads in Marin. Said it was just too brutal a ride for him (remember, not a wuss) and though it was an amazing car, just had a set of tradeoffs that he didn't like.
Again, this is second hand - I never rode in it. But I suspect he has a wider tolerance for 'brutal' than most.
So again, it comes down to the usage and rarity goals of the OP.

 

This is helpful. Sounds like the GT3 is out. This would only be a w/e driver for us.

I value all opinions and would love to hear some more.

TY
Mike

 

If it's a weekender, I would not rule out the GT3. Try them both on your local roads on a 10-20 mile ride and be your own judge. My earlier comfort comment was based on some rather ill-maintained California roads.

 

Take into consideration the roads in your area. I was going to look at a GT3 & was told I would end up hating the car because of the road conditions in the Chicagoland area. They build/fix the roads to off road specs. Ended up with a 06 C2S.