With Porsche's surge in Asia, mainly china, it makes sense that overall sales were up, but US figures for the 911 seem to have been on a steady decline. http://www.goodcarbadcar.net/2011/01...gures.html?m=1

 

I really don't understand the reasoning of not offering the manual as an option, clearly some people prefer it, so why offer it on the standard 911 but not on GT3? If they discontinued the manual altogether, at least it would make financial sense, but it's still offered on other 911's. This just seems very bizarre and illogical to me.

 

Don't bother, you can't them anything.

Totally agreed about dual clutch finally. Even they will catch on eventually.

 

Kenny,

I've moved on/above this. Need to pick the fights, this isn't one of them. No benefit and some people will argue the grass is blue and sky is green lol.

I'm sure as you say when the dust settles the opinion on the new generation of GT3's will be like each of the preceding generations... it keeps getting better and better.

Jay

 

No, We will just buy a Corvette or Viper and continue to leave your flappy paddles in the dust. Porsche has lost sight of their principles. They can sell out to the no driving, want all help possible rolling chicane drivers all they want. All that will lead to is their cars getting embarrassed at the track because the good drivers aren't interested.

But hey, at least the GT3 will be rollin' on 20's.

 

Forever car...

 

I am confused... Are the typical GT3RS owners interested in improving lap times and going faster around the track or in a "purist" dinosaur technology row yourself manuals???

I can see a Carrera S buyer being more interested in a manual because of "more driver involvement" and nostalgic reasons that a manual offers for some back roads fun.

Isn't the whole point of the GT3RS is to go FASTER around the track??? Why buy a car that is so hard focused on it's mission and then complain that it offers technology that actually helps it achieve that goal???

Before barking up Porsche's tree, perhaps it would be wiser to ask yourself, "why do I own a GT3RS and what do I do with it"??

 

Probably same said when the first water cooled engines came out in 99' Change could be better if you shave 4-5 seconds off lap time

 

You are operation under the assumption that this nostalgic feeling is relegated to people who are in it for the enjoyment an pleasure of driving and nothing else (I.E. Speed). You would be completely wrong. Most of the better GT3 drivers prefer manuals. Why, because it takes more skill to pilot the manual fast. And it's more fun.

Most of the people talking about going faster around the track are doing just that, talking. Fast drivers are already going fast around the track with manuals and don't need PDK to do so.

No one races street GT3's really, hardly any even time trial. So yeah, maybe nostalgia has something to do with not really caring for a little gain in time vs quite a loss in enjoyment. This is a DE car, especially now with all of the electronics, 20 inch wheels, useless centerlocks etc. It's no longer a race car for the street.

 

A race car for the street? No, it's a car for the track that is street legal since one does not "race" on the streets but merely fights day to day grind and traffic for the most part.... I doubt I am wrong in my assessment of what Porsche designed the GT3 RS for?

At some point there should be a line drawn as to the real purpose of the car. A GT3 RS in my mind is for playing hard at the track. Otherwise why would you want to drive a "street compromised" car like an RS on the streets only??? So you can impress the other drivers with your "look at me and my huge manly wing" out back as you give them a stare like a lion with a full stomach stares at an antelope as if to say, "I'd tear you apart and swallow you up but I'm not going to right now".... If that's what turns people on I guess...

Fun you say? Sure I get that. I drive an R8 V10 with 6 speed manual for FUN, after some PDK, DCT, Ferrari manuals, F1 single and dual clutch trannies. I prefer a manual over PDK on the street when I drive for pleasure and not stuck in bumper to bumper traffic...

We can however stretch that further and say that drum manual brakes were more fun over the power assisted disc and then ABS and even PCCB... Bias ply tires were more FUN too. So were cars that were way under 3000 lbs with all the old technology... It took even MORE skill to drive those fast. I guess hand cranking the engine to start it was also more fun than twisting the key and now it's not even a key but a keyless ignition with a fob!

At the end of the day I guess if you view the GT3 RS as a "street race car" which I believe is being disillusioned and blinded by too much testosterone and dreams of some sort of teenage street cred, fame and glory there isn't much more to say on this topic.

If however you view the GT3 RS as a track toy among the other cars that share similar focus, I suggest one views what Porsche is offering as more of passion for motorsports and achieving the desired effect which is going FASTER than betraying the "PURISTS" out there....

You say fast drivers don't need PDK??? I would seriously think about that statement. Is that why Porsche started developing PDK way back in the day at the track? Is that why a Cup car uses sequential gearbox? Is that why Porsche used PDK technology at LeMans? Do the 956 and 962 LeMans Porsche's starting back in 1983 ring a bell???

One article put it best.

"The only purity in motorsports is the desire to go faster than the next guy, and that often requires or inspires technological advancement and abandonment of previous technologies."


Whatever camp you belong to, have fun. Let's revisit this topic once the 991 GT3's and GT3 RS start buzzing the tracks, I don't think one needs a crystal ball to predict what "track guys" will be saying.

PS. I do have a GT3 on order and YES, I am very much looking forward to PDK in it.

 

Not interested in arguing semantics all day. Porsche designed the car to homologate the Race Cars and make them legal for racing, so yes, it started off as a race car for the street. The original RS shared 80% of the parts with the cup car and even had lexan rear windows and a cage, how is that not a race car for the street? Wasn't even legal in the US. Either way, there is not much difference between what you are saying and what I'm saying. A car designed around track performance that doubles as a street car.

Clearly you haven't kept up with the times, there are tons of guys buying cars that are really fast and driving them really slowly to concourse, cruises or occasionally parade laps. Far more than not in the case of sports cars.

How is hand cranking a car fun? Talk about disillusioned..........

You clearly have missed the part where the biggest factor at ANY event is the nut behind the wheel. And by far most of those guys have been and still will be piloting manuals. PDK will not take beginner, intermediate drivers to the front of the pack. It's only BARELY faster to skilled drivers.

Talk to me about faster when you post some lap times and videos. I'm done arguing with non tracking, beginner level bench racers. If you can't prove your point, there is nothing to talk about.

 

Just FYI, North America is the only segment that still demands the manual transmission. Please take a look at BMW for instance, the M5 was going to be offered as a DCT only model, but after pressure from the US market, they released the manual version, only in the US. The rest of the world has embraced the technology and the PDK outsold manual by far.

 

My only concern here is that the GT3RS will now now be in the hands of the wrong people...

 

Nope.
It's.....enjoying going FASTER around the track......or going anywhere for that matter.
Needless to say, enjoyment is personal, subjective, and all that.....but most definately it can not be reduced to a single lap time number.

 

The camp is clearly split. To those who are not pro PDK, better hold on to your manual GT3s then. It's not like there is a choice going forward. I've owned .1 and .2 GT3s and I had no problems letting go. I'll be happy to try out the 991 with PDK.