how would these two stack up? On paper Id think the GT3 would take care of business.... In the straights and in the twisties...

anybody have any first hand experience?

 

i've seen a quarter mile with a r8 and 2007 gt3 and the gt3 won, but i guess it was tuned. the r8 isnt that great of a car, overrated to the general public who dont know shiz about the car and think its quick b.c. it looks fast and its 160k. dont get me wrong its a VERY quick car, just not as quick as the public makes it seem like.

 

No first hand experience with the GT3 but the R8 will get dusted, everywhere. If it was the V10, ball back in the R8's court although it is a bit heavier.

 

The R8 4.2 doesn't even compare favorably with the 997 S.

The GT3 walks from it (and the R10), now if they had done the R12 then there was something to speculate about!

 

Very different animals. the R8 is SLOW compared to the GT3 (i'm basing comparisons to a 997.1,) in a straight line. AWD and more neutral handling claws things back a bit in the twisties however.

but the FEEL of both cars couldn't be further apart. R8 is VERY comfortable and luxurious compared to the GT3. ride quality noticeably better as well.

for a DD, i'd say R8 all the way

for a weekend only car whose intent was to blow the cobwebs away and make you feel glad to be alive, its hard to beat the GT3's combination of pace, interaction and sonic pleasures.

i can very easily see why one person would love one and hate the other, while another would feel the exact opposite way. but then their priorities would also be different.

horses for courses IMO...

 

I just read the new Top Gear (UK Edition), in which the Stig takes a bunch of supercars around their track. The new GT3 comes in second behind the latest Murcielago SV; the R8 4.2 came in behind these two, behind the X Bow... something like 0.5 seconds slower than the GT3.

The main conclusion was that this GT3.2 is the best handling Porsche ever (Stig says) and whips just about every other supercar into shape. The Murcielago SV wins only because it has 670 HP!

 

I'll dig up a video of me in my C2 eating up an R8 in my C2.

 

yes please!

 

In line with this post, let me ask the following: R8 V10 or 2010 GT3RS? 90% street and 10% track. Not a daily. Thanks.

 

I wouldn't exactly put a GT3 and an R8 in the same category. GT3... raw, edgy track machine and the R8... more of a soft, comfortable sports car. The R8 would be more comparable to a C4S. The one thing I have to say about the R8 though is... it's not a screamer, but it handles so well and is so predicable it you almost (I said almost) don't miss more power, though it would be nice.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBDgVlTOzI8

 

I spent three days at the Audi Advanced Race School at Sears Point/Infineon and drove the snot out of the R8 4.2 for a couple of hundred laps. I have raced all sorts of Cars up there for the last 15 years, including Corvette Z06, Dodge Viper GTS, my 440 RWHP Porsche 944 Turbo etc..

The Audi is a really, really nice Car if you want an everyday, quite comfortable daily driver.. Personally I LOVE the way it looks. The interior is fantastic, the switchgear feels great, both the manual six speed and the paddle shifters are great.

My problem with it at the end of the day, was that it's just a bit too soft... not quite quick enough and when pushed to the limit, it understeers like a freaking pig! Even with all electronic Nannies off, it will never allow less than 10% of the power to go to the front wheels.. So.. through turn 5 coming into the Carousel under full throttle in 4th, you have to apply ridiculous amounts of steering angle to keep the Car straight, otherwise, the nose just washes out horribly and by that I mean you will be 5 feet off where you THINK the Car should be going.. Same applies to turn 10 .. monumental understeer at the limit... The only way around it is to either keep winding more lock on, or induce throttle off oversteer by sharply getting off the throttle at exactly the right moment.. and that's just scary to have to do flat out through turn 10

Through the rest of the track, it was remarkably stable, you could get on the throttle quite early; through turn 2, I could be very aggressive with the throttle and it never bit me hard and when I DID get out of shape, it was very easy to get back in line.

If you drive the Car at 8/10ths, you will probably never notice and maybe on the street, it's not an issue. If you are a fast, good, aggressive driver, I think it will disappoint you as a track Car, WAY more than you can imagine but will be an amazingly civilized and reliable street Car, albeit one that fails to really get the adrenaline pumping.

 

how would it compare in terms of laptimes to say, the Z06 (C6?) or a GT3?

i've only driven the R8 on the road, never on track... but it does seem a lot easier to drive than a GT3-- assuming not great driving skill.

 

The Audi is the easiest of all the aforementioned cars to drive, BUT... It's the least involving and has lower limits than either of the other cars you mentioned. It really is a fantastic car and the one I would be most interested in if it had to be a daily driver. The interior is Worlds better than the Z06, as is the switchgear.

The GT3 is a far more rewarding car to drive hard and has higher limits... At those limits, it takes more skill from the driver to tame the GT3.. The Audi just ends up ploughing it's front end until it recovers from whatever went wrong..

Both the GT3 and the Z06 can bite you VERY hard if you screw up.. The Audi is the opposite.. you can get away with murder in that car, but again, it's just not rewarding enough for me at the edge of it's performance envelope. Also, tha Audi feels a lot slower than it's performance figures would indicate.

IN terms of Laptimes, I would think that the GT3 and Z06 would be 1 - 3 seconds a lap quicker than the Audi at Sears/Infineon given that the tires were the same on all cars. Obviously, if one car has Hoosier R6's and the others have street tires, the one on the R6's will be 3 -4 seconds a lap faster.

 

Top Gear ran both against each other with Sabine driving the R8 and "The Stig" in the 7Gt3. Wheather it was theater or a true test, the Gt3 won barely.