The GT3 has officially become a pig. It needs 50 extra hp to make up for the weight. When will it stop? The 996 was less than 3100 lbs. The car gained like 150 lbs from 996 to 997, and now 86 more lbs.



All for some gadgets.


we'll see how much people love it when they try to upgrade the clutch or have to have it repaired out of warranty.

 

Seriously Dez, this is getting upsetting

And buttons for upshift, not true paddles, WTF?!?!

 

Every 962 driver that got a shot at the PDK car loved it. Hans Stuck even won a race in it. No real race cars today have a manual....With the PDK I'm now interested in a new Porsche!

 

CAUTION: Sweeping generalizations ahead ...

Sometimes you've got to laugh when folks get that caught up in the technology. Is it really PDK that would make someone buy the GT3 where before they just didn't find the car appealing?

I'm not sure that dual clutch should be used to describe all sequential shifters, robotic gearboxes and the numerous variants of SMG, DSG, MCT etc., but surely there's at least one "real" race car competing today with a conventional "double H" shifter?

I don't keep up with F1 technology, but did the car that ran with a double clutch keep that technology for this year? Is it still breaking every race?

Porsche hasn't even announced PDK for the GT cars, let alone their race cars. Is PDK in the RS Spider?

I do think PDK will be great once Porsche has time to refine the technology and I hope the GT cars get a design of PDK where the clutches are moved away from the engine to allow the engine to move forward ... or create space for a fourth pair of cylinders. Early days.

There will always be "old school" drivers wanting the engaging (pun) experience of practicing their own shifts and getting the gear they want -- when they want it, not when the computer approves -- I'm not so sure that the definition of a great GT3 will be in the technology of the shifter mechanism or the unspoken desire to have more technology bring faster lap times or easier traffic light drag racing.

Personally, I'm more likely to put PDK in a C4S Cab than my next GT3 but sure enough, just like PCCBs on the RS, I think PDK will be a defining feature of the next RS as the leading edge. Though I'd hedge my bets and say the "collector" cars of the future will be the manual shifter cars simply because we can see a day when they're all but extinct.

 

For what it's worth, I'm obviously a Porsche fan, and driving the GT or GT3RS on the track with the 6-speed is awesome -- but with that said, driving the F430 F1 on the track is also tremendous fun. I think if the Porsche GT cars get a 'real paddles' version of the PDK and shave some weight off, those cars will be a real blast to drive, on an off the track.

 

The problem is in fact the weight, and I highly doubt they could put the majority of the drivetrain in the front of the car, so now you have more weight and a worse front/rear weight balance.

ugh.

The car will get heavier for sure. They'll have to scrap the NA mandatory sunroof, put on some lighter wheels, lighter exhaust, and make GT3 euro seats standard, to make up for 86 lbs.