GTPNewsWire
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This is the discussion thread for a recent post on GTPlanet:
This article was published by Joe Donaldson (@Joey D) on September 26th, 2018 in the Car Culture category.
What Makes the Porsche 996 911 GT3 Special?
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McLaren
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We did get the 996.2 GT3 in 2004, but they're rather rare. In fact, they appear to hold their value as good as a 997, provided they're not too high in mileage. For comparison, there is a '04 GT3 with 6,800 miles residing around $125,000. In that range, you can purchase a '11 997 with 9,000 miles for $125,000 or a '08 997 with 10,700 miles for $130,000. There is another for $100,000 with 9,000 miles, which for the 997 cars, gets you a 16-18,000 mile example.
But, most of the fascination with the 996 GT3 seems to lie with non-US model to begin with so it's hard to say if the lack of the 996 GT3 in the US is down to owners holding on to their gems or there's just no demand b/c it's not very well known here.
But, most of the fascination with the 996 GT3 seems to lie with non-US model to begin with so it's hard to say if the lack of the 996 GT3 in the US is down to owners holding on to their gems or there's just no demand b/c it's not very well known here.
What makes this 996 GT3 so special?
Well, it oozes pure power. It radiates "hey I'm a race car". Although I don't like the 996, the GT3 is another thing. For some reason I'd like to have. It's lowered, it has a beautiful wing and a nice interior. Plus those Mezger engines are, AFAIK, a piece of art.
Well, it oozes pure power. It radiates "hey I'm a race car". Although I don't like the 996, the GT3 is another thing. For some reason I'd like to have. It's lowered, it has a beautiful wing and a nice interior. Plus those Mezger engines are, AFAIK, a piece of art.
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I suppose it's because the GT3s sorta replaced the Carrera RSs of the previous generations, before the 996, and are the most pure Porsche 911s you can buy for some track racing and road use. Besides the 991.1 GT3 (excluding RS), you can still buy them all with a manual transmission, too. I think they are just the perfect car for the driving enthusiast.
I dunno if it's because it's the one we never got in the US, or if it's because I secretly adore the pre-facelift "Boxster" headlights, but the very first GT3 is probably my personal favorite one of all. It's a very hardcore car and I just love the way it looks.
I dunno if it's because it's the one we never got in the US, or if it's because I secretly adore the pre-facelift "Boxster" headlights, but the very first GT3 is probably my personal favorite one of all. It's a very hardcore car and I just love the way it looks.
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Oh boy, I really miss those days when 400 horses was supercar territory and it was still amazingly fast (even by today's standards) and drivable without too much (if any) digital interference.
I do enjoy modern super-hyper cars and they are great in their own way, but there's just something about past simplicity and efficiency that can't really be captured these days which the 996 just oozes out. What a machine.
I do enjoy modern super-hyper cars and they are great in their own way, but there's just something about past simplicity and efficiency that can't really be captured these days which the 996 just oozes out. What a machine.
syntex123
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To be fair, though, the manual transmission part of it was nearly lost to PDK in the last GT3 (991.1).
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I fear they will eventually go PDK and Turbo for every model though.
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Certainly seems like that is going to happen. Rumors stirring around that even the GT3 will go with turbos. Sad, but probably necessary. Manuals might stick around a while longer with the GT3s... I hope.
I'm with you on that. I grew up at the tail end of the 964 and throughout the 993 generation, but somehow the 996 is my favorite generation. I just love them and hope to own an early 996 Carrera sometime in the near future. Good thing, too, that no one likes them. Makes them relatively affordable. 👍
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On offtopic note, that made me scratching my head for a while: if GT3 will go turbo, what would be the difference between GT3 and GT2 models? GT2s just packing some more punch than GT3s?
That sounds like a nice idea actually. I'll consider that too if I'd suddenly have a crapload of money to spend.
AFAIK the majority of them are autos, but I'm no purist, so I'd be fine with that, as long as I get the convertible roof.
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That's a fair question, since the turbo, or lack of turbo, was the difference between the GT2 and GT3, my guess is they drop the GT2 model entirely like they already have for the base (non-RS) GT2 for the 991 generation. The GT3 will be the only track focused 911, I think.
On the contrary, a lot of the 996s are manuals, at least in a quick search I did, 50 of the 65 that came up in the search were manual. And almost all of them, regardless of mileage or condition, can be had for less than $20,000 USD. Looking at even less for the early "pre-facelift" models. Edit: Yes, that's still a lot of money, but for a 911 it's quite low.
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