Clarkson, that who...extract from his column today.......

Earlier this year I drove a standard GT3, which is a zingier, more track-focused version of the standard Carrera. It was very good. I’m not an enthusiast of what the American satirist PJ O’Rourke once called the “***-engined **** slot car” but ooh, the delicacy of its steering, the responsiveness of the engine and the traction ... it was a genuinely lovely thing to drive.

You would need to be fairly stupid to spend that much more for quite a lot less but, as we know, racing drivers are However, it is obvious that there are some people out there who looked at the GT3 and thought: yes, but I want something even more track-focused. Even more hardcore. We have a name for these people. They are called “racing drivers” and you can spot them easily down at the pawn shop, selling their mothers.

No matter. Porsche was happy to oblige and produced the car you see here. It has 15 more horsepower than the standard model but because it has shorter gear ratios the top speed is actually a little less.

So, it’s slower than the GT3 and comes with almost no equipment at all. But despite this, it is £19,000 more expensive.

You would need to be fairly stupid to spend that much more for quite a lot less but, as we know, racing drivers are.

Porsche certainly knows it, which is why, on the options list, you are asked to pay £135 for a Porsche crest embossed on the headrests, £392 for red dials, £3,130 for bucket seats and, best of all, £1,268 to replace the lead-acid battery with a lithium-ion jobby. How monumentally dull and **** do you have to be to pay more than one thousand pounds to have a lighter battery in your car? How many people, do you think, will invite you round for dinner?

Of course, the upside of the weight-saving programme and the shorter gear ratios and the revised suspension is that, on a smooth track, the RS is pretty damn fast. It’s so fast, in fact, and so precise that I found it rather like anyone who’s obsessed with their weight — a bit boring.

It certainly isn’t boring, though, when you have to drive it home. Then, it becomes awful. Loud. Bone-breakingly hard. And utterly stumped when presented with a speed bump or a steep hill.

I can see absolutely no reason why anyone would turn down the really rather good GT3 and spend more on this instead. But if you are that way inclined, do please get in touch. Mark your envelope: “Can I Be the Next Stig?, BBC TV, London”.

 

The Top Gear crew has always questioned why cars with less parts cost more. I am starting to question the same thing, I mean, why would I pay more to get less?

 

Only if you like the car. I have one and I am delighted with it. Its certainly not a car for everyone though. The base GT3 is also a great car.

 

you get a widebody, bigger tires, more hp, more compression, more wing, more intake

so you do get more.

His stuff is all for entertainment

 

But, it does sound like he's still sore over the Ben Collins thing. I'd like to be the next Stig but I'm not interested in 'having full sex with an answering machine' or whatever else is "they say...".

 

Clarkson has always slammed and disliked Porsche. IMO he's a jerk who's mildly amusing.
He's a Ferrari fanboy which is fine but don't let it show so much.
His expression, "Porsche is a VW Beetle with sneakers".

Ranger

 

GT3RS has lighter equivalent parts vs GT3, not less parts.

Yes, in sport cars, you pay more for being lighter.

 

Most RS buyers are after the looks and resale value. GT3 value tanks much faster than RS. Anyone telling you that saving 20lbs makes a difference in performance should really think twice.

 

It doesn't surprise me, he has never liked Porsche...911 or anyother model. I was surprised that he commented favorably about the 997.2 GT3. Perhaps he is too big of a man to fit comfortably in one.

 

I wonder, of the people who are buying the RS over the standard GT3, how many of them actually have the skill to utilize the extra potential to the fullest? Hell, how many of them could drive a base Carrera 2 to it's full potential.

I have no doubt that it's a great car, I would love to have one, but I think the extra cost isn't worth what you get back from it. The exception would be the championship level drivers who actually need every single pound and every single hp to keep winning.

 

I've always found his commentary to be entertaining, maybe exaggerated, but certainly relevant.

What I am reading in the article is that he's not endorsing the car as a particularly good road/street car. I don't think anyone can really argue with that.

 

+1
Clarkson has never shown that he is a really in love with us germans including those "suspicious" clinical virtues like discipline, sophistication and accuracy, so he was never really into german cars but he wasn`t hating them.
by the way, i still think he judges us by the way we build cars and still thinks that most of us germans are pretty emotion- and humorless and listen to Marsch-Music most of the time while eating sausages.
maybe the war or some (painful) football matches are still in his head, i don`t know.

But he started hating Porsches when masses of CITY BOYS in London started to buy them. he hates those guys so he started to hate Porsche as well.
Clarkson knows that a Porsche is and will always be the better sportscar compared to an overpriced Ferrari, but he will never admit it. the funny thing is that nowadays u see more Ferraris, Lambos, Zondas, Bugattis, Koenigseggs etc. than Porsches in the financial district.
But i doubt he will ever change his mind.
i was really surprised that he liked the GT3 to be honest, maybe he is getting senile or maybe because more and more people were calling him an ignorant ferrari fanboy.

by the way, i like his humor and i like top gear but i still think he is a rubbish driver (lap times etc.).
so he would probably not be the 1st person i would ask how good a GT3 RS MK II is.

 

Let me be the first to admit that I will never be capable to reach my RS limit in my lifetime.

The only reason I bought one is because I WANT ONE. I'm not even driving it lately as it's raining everyday. I feel happy seeing it daily in my garage. I like to be happy. If money can buy happiness, I'll do it all day long.

Car buying does not have to be complicated. If you want one, and you can afford it, then that's it. Whatever extra costs, resell values, all mean nothing to me. While magazine reviews are entertaining, they also mean nothing to me in terms of car buying.

 

I completely understand and respect that opinion.

 

i agree. life is too short to be too analytical.

on the subject of clarkson - that is his t.v. persona. it's manufactured to clash with hammond. it's tension and humour. he really loves gt3's. he just can't show it, it just dramatises the 'x' vs 'y' aspect of the show.