I read/hear all kinds of stories about the GT3 production. Hand-built engines, cars built by Porsche Motorsports instead of the normal production plant etc etc.

So what is the real story on the 997 GT3 (RS) ?

 

The 996 GT3 RS was the last commercial car, hand-built by Porsche Motorsport.

The 997 GT3 RS is build the same way as all other Porsches. Hence the love of some Porschists for the 996 GT3 RS and the indifference for the 997 GT3 RS.

My feeling is different though.

 

hand built equals more error prone?

 

The benefits of being hand built are definitely up for debate. Actually one going on now in the Ferrari forum.

 

The hand built issue aside, the engines are a different story.
To the original question, the internals of the GT3/RS engine are night and day apart from the Carrera engine. This is speaking of the 997 platform.

Ranger

 

The engines in the Gt3/Gt2 and I suspect but not certain on Turbos, are assembled by one person. Haven't had a turbo apart recently to remember. All the components are hand engraved with machining numbers, example anything line bored like cam or crank journals.

 

One could even say the differences are wet and dry

 

Ok lemme rephrase:

What is the difference in the production process between a GT3 and a Carrera? Or are they all the same now?

It's just that i read in another topic about hand-built engines, is this also the case for the Carrera blocks?

Personally I don't care how the car is built, but I'd just like to know

 

If the factory conducts itself as it did when the 2.7 Carrera RS was built, the common components are assembled in the common way, albeit, to Porsche standards. The uncommon components receive uncommon attention. The regular 911 engine and the GT2 / GT3 engines are entirely different internally; common versus uncommon.

 

Always wondered what people expect when they say handbuilt engines ?
I think that there is a romantic confusion between cell assy (one operator does the final assy of the full engine) vs line assy (one operator does one or several operations). Engine assy is largely too complex to robotize, nothing to do with welding or painting.
And then there's handbuilt as in forming metal with a hammer like older Astons were.

So although I haven't visited Porsche yet, I would be confident in saying that all engines, whether Carrera or GTx, are handbuilt to a large degree. Whatever you mean by that term.

Even Ferrari uses robots to insert valve guides, and the dudes that do the manual assembly work (which is inevitable on that kind of stuff) are far from the silver-hair-goggles-on-nose experienced 40-somethings that you would expect. They are super junior staff.

I haven't seen the new assy line in Maranello, but at the time of the 360/550/612/Enzo, the last thing you wanted was your car assembled that way. A bit of Ferrari bashing from a Ferrari owner

 

the 997 gt3, gt3rs, and turbo use the GT1 dry sump engine. Its not just the internals. It is a different engine.

 

And the GT1 engine is the direct descendant of the original 6 cylinder racing engines as seen in the Type 906 and 911R. The current Carrera engine is more like a distant cousin, a street engine.

 

They are built on the same line... engine and the vehicle.

I went to Zuffenhausen for a factory tour last summer and the engines were in the same workshop and all 911s are on the same production line, regardless of model. Its interesting to see 911 C2S followed by GT2s and then a procession of Turbo cabs

The engine workshop was running at 1/2 capacity last summer, apparently they were gearing up for a change in production. Looks like it was PDK/DI... I also saw 3 new revision 997s outside with PDK and DI before they entered production

EDIT: Regardless of market or model, every 911 is on the same line. If you ever get the chance to go on the factory tour you will see what I mean. Its bizarre and bewildering to see every 911 variant running down one production line. Some LHD, others RHD. The logistics are all computerized but assembly is done entirely by hand... any options arrive on motorized carts. Only the windshield station and paint shop contain robots. I saw a couple GT3 RS as well... quite a sight to see.

Engines are also almost entirely assembled by hand. I cannot remember clearly but IIRC there are separate rows for each type of engine. You should have seen the GT2's turbos glowing on the dyno bench

 

+1. I too had the good fortune of taking the assembly line tour last year. As noted, the production line carries all 911 variants down the same path. Each car has a list assigned that gets repeatedly scanned (it even includes the owner name and the dealer for delivery); robot tow devices arrive at the assembly station - arrayed down the line - with the correct parts for that specific car. The assembler does not 'pull' the parts so no mistakes can be made. You have to be sure to stay out of the way of the robots. They are actually not that fast, but they're on a mission.
There was a spot off of the line in which a white shell of a car had been pulled off and was slowly and carefully being assembled, by one man at the time, in to a full-up racing version. I think it was beyond an RS, but I'm not up on those model numbers. Anyway, very interesting watching the assembler, in a corner of the plant, slowly assembling one car. It was in a very base stage, just the interior with roll bars and cage and some basic wiring going in.
No air tools btw. Just electric drills and drivers with large battery chargers nearby. Eerily quiet and orderly. No rushing. And you'll all appreciate the 'no belt buckles or jewelry' sign meant for every employee.
Similarly for the engines. They are assembled in separate cells. And there is an ordered process of assembly tools being made available to the assembler which is used to keep the parts, process and order all straight.
They were in the midst of working on a 'dry run and test' cell technique in which the engines could be tested without loading them with fluids and firing them up. Very perplexing and we couldn't get too close to the plexi-enclosed cell but that should be on-line by now.
All in all a thrill to see. Everyone on this forum should get a chance. You'll feel even better about the car you own and/or desire. And I covet the leather sample (it's taped to my Snap-On box) they give everyone on the tour. The samples are of course, from sections that did not pass the human and machine scanning quality process. I asked if they sent the discarded sections to BMW. They got a good laugh.