GT3 vs. GT2 vs. GT... RS even? What's the diff?
 

I had my heart set on a Murcielago one day... traded my BMW M6 in for a Porsche Carrera 997.2 3.6L... past owner of a Corvette Z06.

WOW, the Porsche is the best car I've ever driven, PERIOD! Never driven a Lambo or Ferrari yet, but I'm thinking that for the price of a pre-owned Murci (180K-ish)... I'm thinking I can get a pretty tricked out NEW Porsche for that price.

So as I persue ebay motors checking out the GT's... Porsche has so many freakin' options on their cars, its hard to decipher which models are faster/bigger/etc...

I was thinking that the GT3, with 3 being a larger designation over 2 that it would be the flagship and faster car... but checking out Ebay (sorry, I know there are other sources out there)... I've seen 2010 GT3's for $120,000 and some earlier year GT2's for $160,000 (but had more CF and Leather trim)...

So, can you give me the quick skinny on the difference and desirability of these models?

My private practice will be paid off in less than 2 years, I'm starting to sock some money away for a down payment on the next vehicle and will be trading my pre-owned 2009 plain-jane Carerra 3.6L in on what I perceive to be a Super-Car... My budget come fall of 2012 will be about $180K-ish.

Really, I'd rather have a Lamborghini or Ferrari for the "glitz and glamour", but honestly... the maintenance and repairs on pre-owned Lambo/Ferrari are just not cost effective or worth it to me now after driving a Porsche... AND, the Porsche functions well as a DD!!! I put less than 2000mi per year on my car as I have an 8mi commute to my office all of 209 days a year! No joke.

Thanks,
Mark

the GT2 is the flagship of the 911, at least price wise. a new one is > $200k
in a nutshell:
GT3 - light track version, NA motor
GT3 RS - hardcore even lighter track version, NA motor
GT2 - track version of the turbo, lighter and more powerful. 530 hp stock

Thanks Alex...

GT2, 530hp stock? Sheesh have I got A LOT to learn about Porsche!!!!

My Z06 was making 565hp at the fly with aftermarket mods... the Porsche GT2 stock has got to be a LIGHTER car by far... that thing must FLY!!!!

WOW, The more I learn about Porsche the more I am impressed.

Forget the Italians, the Germans got it goin' on! In all sincerity, I feel foolish for never in the past investigating Porsches, all I saw were "over priced cars" that seemed to go up every year in sticker price... but now that I'm learning more and more, I can see and understand why. Like the old commercial... "Porsche... there is no substitute". They nailed that slogan!

haha you barely know a dam thing know your acting as if they are the best!
go test drive one before you make all those claims haha

Good luck in your decision. You will second guess it for the rest of your owning time. You gotta have em all. One time or another.

I also came from Corvettes and I bought a GT2 and after a week and half of owner ship i couldn't be any happier. Now mine is nowhere near stock
EVT 670 package and a crazy stereo. I tell you to buy the GT2 and do a few upgrades to it.

Tonny

What's the problem?

I've been driving the 997.2 3.6L and its amazing... sure I haven't driven the Lambo or Ferrari as I've said, dont need to... the maintenance is enough to turn me off. Sorry, my pockets aren't that deep.

I admit, I haven't driven a GT2/3 yet... but as amazing as the base Carerra is, I can't imagine how much more amazing an upgrade to the GT2/3 would be...

My 2009 Porsche is better in handling than my 2008 Z06... to me anyways.... and the best and well handled car I've ever driven to date. I can only go uphill from here :)

All I was saying is that a Murci/Gallardo/F430 I'm sure is an amazing ride too... but from what I've searched on this site, Porsche (no matter what model) doesn't seem to be as finicky and require less $$$$ to maintain... is that a bad thing? So in my mind, I'm weighing in that for $180K bucks, I can get a new or year or two older Porsche that is equal in handling and performance with less maintenance and a factory warranty, less hassle than say a 6-7 year old Italian car that will cost me more to maintain and fix with no warranty if it goes bad.

And in the N. GA county I live in... Over the last 2 years, I've only seen one other locally owned Z06... no lambos ferraris, and no 997/991's up here... we've only got 20K people in this county to begin with... its kinda cool to be unique in a small town :)

I would put a 997.2 (2010+ model yr) Turbo with PDK on ur short list.

GL,
Ken

Car buying is all "relative".

I drove the club coupe for 3 years and felt that it was amazing, both on the road and at the track. I thought it was the perfect sport car (for me) at that time.

Then I got a .2 RS and tracked it a few times. Suddenly, the once amazing club coupe felt too smooth, too soft and too quiet. It does not feel like a sport car anymore, but a fast and comfortable GT car.

Driving the RS on the road within speed limit is very frustrating...it keeps begging you to rev it over 5000rpm all the time.

I have never driven a GT2 yet as it will just get me into trouble faster.

It all depends on what you want, and what you already have in your garage.

If you will have just one sport car for all driving duties, a regular GT3 will suite you the best.

Otherwise, get one of each for different driving purposes.

Thanks Fellas,

My budget will allow only one sportscar at a time... sounds like the GT3 might be the best fit for me as described.

When I do buy, I'm seriously thinking of ordering one instead of buying one off the lot... I've heard that with Porsche you can customize your car right down to the panels/color, stitching, piping, paint color exactly how you want it. If memory serves, custom ordering tags on another $10K (I think paint was about $5K alone), but the next car is one I plan to keep until I retire in 20 years then give it to my son perhaps as a wedding present (he's 6 now)... Putting less than 2000mi a year right now on my daily drive (no joke), I'm sure I'll pick up another car in the next few years as well... my son will be getting a pretty cool 20 year old car with perhaps less than 30K original miles.

Custom ordering $10k? That's funny.

I think that the first Porsche turbo that I ordered "new" had about $25k in options. Buy preowned - many owners change their cars after a few thousand miles.

I can see how my statement might be misinterpreted... I was simply referring to another $10K just for the privilege of ordering custom colors, I wasn't referring to hard parts.

Folks might give you more credibility if you didn't spell Georgia as "Gerogia" in your profile...

I know.... I've gone to my User CP and tried to find where I can respell Georgia correctly...

I've looked and looked, but I can't find where to edit it! In the User CP, there's a button to "edit details" but no where is there the option to edit location??? I misspelled it when I first registered... I think its permanent?