991 GT3 picked up – aka Chuck’s excellent adventure
#16
01-19-2014, 09:01 PM
The car was supposed to arrive end of January. Out of the blue I get the call on Friday Jan 10 – “the car is here”
Trouble is “here” is LA area, and home is Silicon Valley. So I hastily booked last minute flights for a dad-and-lad adventure. Saturday in the AM, about 18 hours after getting the call we departed SJC , LAX bound.
We were met at the airport by the dealer’s driver, who was piloting a Panamera Turbo. I explained to my son this was basically a Porsche limo. The driver was keen to take us on the scenic route. A short stint up PCH then through the canyons to the dealership.
We handled the paperwork. The salesman gave me an overview of the car, and asked me to pull into the service area.
The car has the front end lift system. I figured this would be a smart upgrade given the ride height and long front overhang. I also figured I couldn't let my wife drive the car because I just know she’ll forget to raise the front. So what happens; I drive the car 20 feet, forget to raise the front and scrap the splitter on the dealer’s lot. 20 feet into my GT3 ownership. 20 feet.
Fortunately there was no damage. Lessons learned; the car is really low, get the lift system and don’t forget, it's not just the wife.
Dropped my son in the passenger seat, along with his kid's booster seat. The car has a weight sensor on the passenger seat. Under a threshold (100 lbs?) the airbag automatically deactivates. Worked a charm with my son, and his kid booster seat fit great!
Now late afternoon, we head south to have dinner with friends.
Sunday morning, we are back in the car headed for Mulholland and some canyon running. Incredible weather, is this really January? We are driving a section called the snake and spot an old friend from the POC. So we pull over to catch up. Turns out he is there with his 997 GT3.
We continued the journey. Next stop - Singer vehicle design. I’ve known the owner for years, but had never visited the shop. If you don’t know these cars, they are a very impressive resto modded version of the early 911. We chatted about the Singer cars, of which he had several in various stages of completion. And they checked out the GT3.
Now late afternoon on Sunday, we hit the highway north back to Silicon valley.
All in we had a crazy 48 hours, covered a good chunk of California, sampled some of the Socal car scene and now have nearly 600 miles behind the wheel of a 2014 GT3. However, the driving was pretty tame and nowhere near the (impressive) limits. This is break-in period and I did have my son in the car.
Still, my face is sore from the non-stop grin.
Right. So what about the car?
I can speak with some authority here, it’s awesome. Feels like a detuned racecar that has been outfitted with a nice leather interior.
Keep your foot out of it and the car feels pretty normal. A sports car for sure, but docile. I could easily daily drive this.
Open the throttle and wind the revs, it screams. Like a beast lurking just below the surface. Seriously.
The car felt planted, really solid. The faster it went, the more stable it felt. However we did not explore high speed boundaries.
Specifics:
PDK – this was a tough one for me. I really would have ordered the manual if it was available. However having driven it, I think the PDK might be better after all.
With 7 gears, the ratios are pretty tight and the revs don’t drop as much between shifts. That means you shift more often. With 475 HP on tap and the short rev drops, when accelerating the shifts happen in fast succession – one after the other. Bam, bam, bam….. I can’t row the gears that fast.
The PDK sport mode is seriously sport mode. The shift point RPMs are much higher.
Still, more than once my left leg was reaching for the clutch when starting or stopping the car. Then I’d remember, and feel like a bit of sellout.
I’ll reserve final judgement till I get more time in the car.
Regular driving, from a standstill the PDK feels like a manual – even a little choppy like the clutch is not being engaged real smooth. At speed it’s like butter.
My son’s comment; “this car feels really mechanical”. Astute for 6 yo. He’s right.
Sport exhaust – great sound. Gutteral and deep. Even with the sport activated it seems no louder under light throttle. You could leave it in sport all the time. But open it up and it really screams with sport on. The sound is awesome.
Road noise – can be considerable. Varied a great deal based on road surface. Under light throttle the tire noise was louder than the engine. On some surfaces it was considerable. The cabin is not a quiet place. Nowhere near racecar loud, but not quiet. I think high-end audio gear would be somewhat pointless – unless you play your music ear-bleed loud.
Seats – I have the 4 way power. I could use more lumbar support and tighter side bolsters.
I would prefer a shell, perhaps recaro pole positions.
Entrance and egress is mildly sporting. It's nothing like climbing over a cage, but you really sit low in the car and you slide down into it.
Seatbelts – felt inadequate. I want harnesses in this car.
PASM – two position – regular and sport. Honestly I had a hard time telling the difference. The effect is small.
Rear wheel steering – really didn’t notice anything unusual when driving. There was no discernable transition between low speed opposite-steer and high speed same-steer.
PDCC – The system was really in the background. You are not aware of its functioning, it just does its job. The car cornered extremely flat, yet seemingly without using outrageous spring rates.
Tire wear – we shall see. I noticed an odor when getting out of the car that smells like tires. I know what you are thinking, but no this was not after hard driving. I’ve seen this in previous generations and it was accelerated tire wear despite proper alignment.
I wonder about the rear wheel steering and how that will play into tire wear.
Suspension members – this car share the same suspension members with the RSR cup racecars. It is not the same as the regular 991. Almost all the members are different. I will provide details on this later later.
Trouble is “here” is LA area, and home is Silicon Valley. So I hastily booked last minute flights for a dad-and-lad adventure. Saturday in the AM, about 18 hours after getting the call we departed SJC , LAX bound.
We were met at the airport by the dealer’s driver, who was piloting a Panamera Turbo. I explained to my son this was basically a Porsche limo. The driver was keen to take us on the scenic route. A short stint up PCH then through the canyons to the dealership.
We handled the paperwork. The salesman gave me an overview of the car, and asked me to pull into the service area.
The car has the front end lift system. I figured this would be a smart upgrade given the ride height and long front overhang. I also figured I couldn't let my wife drive the car because I just know she’ll forget to raise the front. So what happens; I drive the car 20 feet, forget to raise the front and scrap the splitter on the dealer’s lot. 20 feet into my GT3 ownership. 20 feet.
Fortunately there was no damage. Lessons learned; the car is really low, get the lift system and don’t forget, it's not just the wife.
Dropped my son in the passenger seat, along with his kid's booster seat. The car has a weight sensor on the passenger seat. Under a threshold (100 lbs?) the airbag automatically deactivates. Worked a charm with my son, and his kid booster seat fit great!
Now late afternoon, we head south to have dinner with friends.
Sunday morning, we are back in the car headed for Mulholland and some canyon running. Incredible weather, is this really January? We are driving a section called the snake and spot an old friend from the POC. So we pull over to catch up. Turns out he is there with his 997 GT3.
We continued the journey. Next stop - Singer vehicle design. I’ve known the owner for years, but had never visited the shop. If you don’t know these cars, they are a very impressive resto modded version of the early 911. We chatted about the Singer cars, of which he had several in various stages of completion. And they checked out the GT3.
Now late afternoon on Sunday, we hit the highway north back to Silicon valley.
All in we had a crazy 48 hours, covered a good chunk of California, sampled some of the Socal car scene and now have nearly 600 miles behind the wheel of a 2014 GT3. However, the driving was pretty tame and nowhere near the (impressive) limits. This is break-in period and I did have my son in the car.
Still, my face is sore from the non-stop grin.
Right. So what about the car?
I can speak with some authority here, it’s awesome. Feels like a detuned racecar that has been outfitted with a nice leather interior.
Keep your foot out of it and the car feels pretty normal. A sports car for sure, but docile. I could easily daily drive this.
Open the throttle and wind the revs, it screams. Like a beast lurking just below the surface. Seriously.
The car felt planted, really solid. The faster it went, the more stable it felt. However we did not explore high speed boundaries.
Specifics:
PDK – this was a tough one for me. I really would have ordered the manual if it was available. However having driven it, I think the PDK might be better after all.
With 7 gears, the ratios are pretty tight and the revs don’t drop as much between shifts. That means you shift more often. With 475 HP on tap and the short rev drops, when accelerating the shifts happen in fast succession – one after the other. Bam, bam, bam….. I can’t row the gears that fast.
The PDK sport mode is seriously sport mode. The shift point RPMs are much higher.
Still, more than once my left leg was reaching for the clutch when starting or stopping the car. Then I’d remember, and feel like a bit of sellout.
I’ll reserve final judgement till I get more time in the car.
Regular driving, from a standstill the PDK feels like a manual – even a little choppy like the clutch is not being engaged real smooth. At speed it’s like butter.
My son’s comment; “this car feels really mechanical”. Astute for 6 yo. He’s right.
Sport exhaust – great sound. Gutteral and deep. Even with the sport activated it seems no louder under light throttle. You could leave it in sport all the time. But open it up and it really screams with sport on. The sound is awesome.
Road noise – can be considerable. Varied a great deal based on road surface. Under light throttle the tire noise was louder than the engine. On some surfaces it was considerable. The cabin is not a quiet place. Nowhere near racecar loud, but not quiet. I think high-end audio gear would be somewhat pointless – unless you play your music ear-bleed loud.
Seats – I have the 4 way power. I could use more lumbar support and tighter side bolsters.
I would prefer a shell, perhaps recaro pole positions.
Entrance and egress is mildly sporting. It's nothing like climbing over a cage, but you really sit low in the car and you slide down into it.
Seatbelts – felt inadequate. I want harnesses in this car.
PASM – two position – regular and sport. Honestly I had a hard time telling the difference. The effect is small.
Rear wheel steering – really didn’t notice anything unusual when driving. There was no discernable transition between low speed opposite-steer and high speed same-steer.
PDCC – The system was really in the background. You are not aware of its functioning, it just does its job. The car cornered extremely flat, yet seemingly without using outrageous spring rates.
Tire wear – we shall see. I noticed an odor when getting out of the car that smells like tires. I know what you are thinking, but no this was not after hard driving. I’ve seen this in previous generations and it was accelerated tire wear despite proper alignment.
I wonder about the rear wheel steering and how that will play into tire wear.
Suspension members – this car share the same suspension members with the RSR cup racecars. It is not the same as the regular 991. Almost all the members are different. I will provide details on this later later.
#18
01-21-2014, 07:47 PM
On the Configurator, it appears if you select "SportDesign Steering Wheel" in the Interior Leather section of the options menu, you change the Alcantara wheel to standard leather. It doesn't state it when you open the info. on the option, but the image shown shows the standard leather wheel.
#19
01-21-2014, 10:47 PM
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: San Jose, CA
Posts: 31
Rep Power: 0 
I really don't know. That's how it came in.
I didn't realize that was unusual.
I didn't realize that was unusual.
#23
01-23-2014, 10:13 PM
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: San Jose, CA
Posts: 31
Rep Power: 0
Too funny, my 'excellent adventure' was caught on video.
This vid was taken by bystanders during the above mentioned visit to Mulholland. Obviously the white one is mine. That's my son and I standing by the car, talking with old buddy Rick - whose 997 GT3 is across the street and briefly captured in the video.
I had nothing to do with the video. A link was sent to me by someone who saw it and recognized me.
This vid was taken by bystanders during the above mentioned visit to Mulholland. Obviously the white one is mine. That's my son and I standing by the car, talking with old buddy Rick - whose 997 GT3 is across the street and briefly captured in the video.
I had nothing to do with the video. A link was sent to me by someone who saw it and recognized me.
Last edited by Elephant Chuck; 01-23-2014 at 10:18 PM. Reason: Fixed video embedding
#26
01-26-2014, 01:54 AM
Registered User
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Silicon Valley, California
Posts: 2,293
Rep Power: 150 
Nicely done...from picking up the car with your 6yo son...to posting the photos...getting hold of video and finally arriving back in SV! Congrats, what a car. Let's meet up some day as I'm in the area too!! Pm me if interested...cheers!!
#28
01-29-2014, 11:33 PM
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: San Jose, CA
Posts: 31
Rep Power: 0
These are the options:
Sirius XM
Sound package plus
Front axle lift
Red seat belts
Black wheels
The front lift is important.
I'm going to put in harnesses, so the red belts were probably a waste.
I like the black wheels, but the standard ones look good with white too.
The Sirius and sound package - could have done without
The only other option that had any interest for me was the ceramic brakes. I didn't get to spec the car. I might have gone for the brakes if I had been able to spec it.
Sirius XM
Sound package plus
Front axle lift
Red seat belts
Black wheels
The front lift is important.
I'm going to put in harnesses, so the red belts were probably a waste.
I like the black wheels, but the standard ones look good with white too.
The Sirius and sound package - could have done without
The only other option that had any interest for me was the ceramic brakes. I didn't get to spec the car. I might have gone for the brakes if I had been able to spec it.
#29
01-30-2014, 09:53 AM
Man, what an introduction to your new car. Congrats!
I always try to stay away from that stretch of road but might have to revisit it soon.
I always try to stay away from that stretch of road but might have to revisit it soon.
#30
01-30-2014, 01:59 PM
Nice write up Chuck. It looks great in white.
On the road noise issue, down under our roads are typically coarse chip bitumen so road noise is a real curse in any late model 911. I've taken to wearing the newish Bose bud style noise cancelling earphones on a trip which work really well and don't look plain stupid driving along. Maybe give them a try?
On the road noise issue, down under our roads are typically coarse chip bitumen so road noise is a real curse in any late model 911. I've taken to wearing the newish Bose bud style noise cancelling earphones on a trip which work really well and don't look plain stupid driving along. Maybe give them a try?