The Porsche 996 GT3 RS Is the Only *Truly* Special 996 - One Take

[GTP911]

The Porsche 996 GT3 RS Is the Only *Truly* Special 996 - One Take - YouTube

996 GT3 Mk1 are more special to some! (not that I would pass up the opportunity to own an RS e.g. Hugh & Edgy)

 

[spiller]

Good video but Farrah suffers from fried egg syndrome. 

[LeeM]

3 hours ago, spiller said:

Good video but Farrah suffers from fried egg syndrome. 

 He suffers more from FIGJAM syndrome 

[tomo]

5 hours ago, LeeM said:

 He suffers more from FIGJAM syndrome 

He is a fried egg ,And every 996 is very special to their owners .

[Jason A]

996 GT3 MK1 will always be the first modern era GT homologation car, and therefore is a special car.

The 996 GT3 RS the first modern era RS, also used as a homologation for the RSR.

Both cars never sold new in US, but they did win a lot of races there 😂 

People are only really just starting to work out how significant these cars are. 

Both are amazing drivers cars and a long way in front of most others when new.

Today - they are the last analogue 911 and the last to feel very similar to the air cooled cars to drive.

[edgy]

It's funny, I read a lot of threads over on Rennlist where people have owned 996 GT3's sold them to get into newer stuff or other marques only to come back... I think regardless of 6.1 or 6.2, the whole uncompromising 996 GT3 driving experience is what's special.

The RS just takes it to another level... but they are all VERY tactile drivers cars, they are not the most beautiful 911 (I still think that is the 997) but the design is a very pure one... put simply, its un-cut, undiluted... straight from the barrel strength goodness! And if you get the whiskey reference, you know there's a level of edginess that comes with that experience (see what I did) 😜 

I am waiting for the Jonny Lieberman (Motor trend) and Jason Cammisa (ex Motor trend) videos, I enjoy their presentation styles over and above Matt Farah's... Just wish there was a Randy Pobst hot lap in there somewhere. 

[Jason A]

The issue here I think is there are very few 6RS’s to share amoung 350 million people- shame that 😉

Once the 20 year rule passes- we might see a few more reviews.

I think the are less than 5 Stateside ATM. 
 

@edgy I am sure you have seen some of the launch video where they give them a good spanking 

[LeeM]

3 hours ago, edgy said:

It's funny, I read a lot of threads over on Rennlist where people have owned 996 GT3's sold them to get into newer stuff or other marques only to come back... 

 Is that because the newer cars become, for want of a better word...boring, because they have all the whizz bang driver aids and are easy to drive quickly?

 I've talked with a couple of owners who've sold their later model cars (not necessarily GT3's) to come back to air cooled, as they miss the raw driving experience that a newer model can't provide. 

 I've only driven a nicely sorted 996, and totally get why they've become popular, as they're not that dissimilar to an air cooled, so I can only imagine what an RS would be like to drive

[edgy]

4 hours ago, LeeM said:

 Is that because the newer cars become, for want of a better word...boring, because they have all the whizz bang driver aids and are easy to drive quickly?

 I've talked with a couple of owners who've sold their later model cars (not necessarily GT3's) to come back to air cooled, as they miss the raw driving experience that a newer model can't provide. 

 I've only driven a nicely sorted 996, and totally get why they've become popular, as they're not that dissimilar to an air cooled, so I can only imagine what an RS would be like to drive

Not sure “boring” is the word for late cars, clinical perhaps? As in yes you’re going fast, and the car is super capable, but really how much of that is really from your driver inputs when you know there’s intervention!

Don’t get me wrong, the late stuff is “too good” at everything! But I feel you lose the sense of theatre if you know what I mean? I for one like those drives to be an occasion, driving the RS in Sydney traffic is terrible really as it’s actually a shit “car”, it is an amazing “sports car” though! Hearing the cage squeak & rattle, feeling every bump through the fix back seats, climbing in and out... it’s part of the experience!

I was quite focused on improving my skills and extracting what I could out of my 997 on track, but at the end of the day, no one is stroking me a cheque for being there... quite the opposite! 😂 Smiles per mile is important, and after all it was pretty cool to sit at the lunch table with friends in later cars to compare our times, especially when you’re in the mix with them! 

[LeeM]

1 hour ago, edgy said:

Not sure “boring” is the word for late cars, clinical perhaps? 

 That's the analogy or 'word' I was looking for. 

 Having jumped from my '78 SC into a 996 and back again, that's how I'd analyse the drive in a later car...similar architecture, yet faster, a helluva lot more precise steering and braking, plus the mod cons (air cond etc). It was bloody easy to go far too quickly in the 996, especially Phil's car that's had some suspension mods, so I imagine you'd get the same "lose your sense of theatre" jumping from a 996 GT3 to a bonkers 2020 GT3RS and back again. 

 

[hugh]

As @edgy says, most of us are competing for plastic trophies at best so the real objective is fun whilst ideally improving skills and experience as a driver. The sensation of speed then becomes more important than the comparison lap time, how fast are you prepared to go? For some, as Porsche marketing would demonstrate, they like knowing they are in “the fastest” car despite the reality that they are using 70-80% if it’s capabilities - and that’s fine. 
 

The problem is for people like me, they want to push to the limit. The 996 GT3 is still a very capable car and I’m equally challenged yet capable of driving it on what I’d say is the limit - and that’s fast enough (and risky enough!) for me. 
 

I’d love a new GT3 but the main reason why I don’t have one is that I just feel the potential exceeds the sweet spot of where I’m wanting to drive at speed and have the car “working”. You’ll definitely struggle to get a new GT3 working on public roads without rolling the dice and on track they are amazing but a little too flattering for an amateur such as myself. 
 

It’s the same reason why I enjoy driving old 911’s so much, you really have to work them and whist it seems like your cheating death your at 100-200 km/h not in the 200km/h + zone that the newer cars cruise in with ease. 
 

It’s all relative. The narrow body, 295 rear tyre, circa 400hp 996 GT3 though is a sweet spot, just like an early 73 chassis with 225’s and circa 250hp is too. Getting the balance right is personal and each to their own but for me the 996 GT3 embodies all the right feels for what I’m after in a GT Porsche. 

[LeeM]

 You should write a book Hugh. Or at the very least start doing some test drive videos

[edgy]

Yup, nailed it @hugh 

I want to drive it 10/10th's because it is very rewarding to do so, and if it is a little off pace from a newer one, I can live with that, its really not rocket science that the newer cars are faster, but it is impressive how fast the old stuff is by comparison! Not too much performance delta on 996-997-991.1 GT3/RS on any of the tracks I run, the 991.2 however really raised that bar...  

 

[wilson59]

11 hours ago, LeeM said:

 That's the analogy or 'word' I was looking for. 

 Having jumped from my '78 SC into a 996 and back again, that's how I'd analyse the drive in a later car...similar architecture, yet faster, a helluva lot more precise steering and braking, plus the mod cons (air cond etc). It was bloody easy to go far too quickly in the 996, especially Phil's car that's had some suspension mods, so I imagine you'd get the same "lose your sense of theatre" jumping from a 996 GT3 to a bonkers 2020 GT3RS and back again. 

 

You can have a drive of my GT3 it will take a week before you can wear tight pants again 

[Jason A]

I want to see a video pls 👀

Or better still a live Christmas New Year drive

At this stage will be arriving in Radelaide on Boxing Day, 

[wilson59]

1 hour ago, Jason A said:

I want to see a video pls 👀

Or better still a live Christmas New Year drive

At this stage will be arriving in Radelaide on Boxing Day, 

I am around let's get a drive going 

[spiller]

I find it pretty cool that a near 20 year old 996 GT3 can still be in the same conversation as a modern day GT3 as far as on track capability goes. Yes a lot of it comes down to driver skill but as @edgy put it, there isn’t as much as some would think between all of these generations of GT3. Those “rawness” and “connection”  buzz words (which are all true, if a little over used in journalism these days) that you experience on the road in one of these things is just the icing on the cake. 

[LeeM]

4 hours ago, wilson59 said:

You can have a drive of my GT3 it will take a week before you can wear tight pants again 

 😯 Cheers 👍 I'll go commando in my trackies that day mate. Can't risk any uncomfortable restrictions at my age now can I?  😁

[wilson59]

3 hours ago, LeeM said:

 😯 Cheers 👍 I'll go commando in my trackies that day mate. Can't risk any uncomfortable restrictions at my age now can I?  😁

At your age made just wear your big white undies 

[MFX]

After following @TrevMcRev in the Boxrod, I find it hard to imagine being able to push much harder in anything on a tight twisty public road. My 996 is much easier to push than my old Hotrod, even if they fell like they have similar power to weight. The 991+ cars just feel huge, and so fast. I can see that the 996 RS has to be the pinnacle of the involving drivers Porsche, although a 997.2 GT3 RS is the 911 I lust after the most. That is from someone who has never driven any of the GT cars