GT3…..a bit errm boring?

Spinner · 14 Jun 2025

Got into my first GT3 (991.2 PDK) late last year. Never really been keen on it. Find it a bit boring in the round.

Handling the best bit of the car but doesn’t seem
excite particularly. Engine sounds ok but buzzes round to 9 and isn’t that fast in the grand scheme of things.

Any suggestions for adding excitement? Otherwise I think I am out of the car this year.

simundo777 · 14 Jun 2025

What on earth did you have before if you think a GT3 is boring!?

Marty* · 14 Jun 2025

I guess it really depends on how you want it to perform. Worryingly if you don’t think it’s quick enough I don’t know where you go from that. This might sound crazy but you might get more enjoyment out of an older GT3 that you might find more engaging on the road but that clearly wouldn’t be quite as fast.

Uncle Monty · 14 Jun 2025

When you say it buzzes round to 9..in any gear above 2nd you're doing 3 figure speeds

HMG66 · 14 Jun 2025

You’ve either got it all wrong or maybe you haven’t looking at your garage line up… that is the issue nowadays as Porsche offerings get more and more powerful and each subsequent generation has to be faster than the last one, I think you reach the point of diminishing returns especially on our roads.

I maintain I have much more fun with a sorted classic Porsche or a really sorted 987s where I get enough linear power and I’m able to press the pedal to the metal for more than 2s at a time without losing my licence. I deliberately leave out the very capable 996/997 cars as I’m a fan of the near perfect weight distribution of the Coxsters.

Or as I’m sure you may have done …go and do a few Nurburgring laps in a car being driven by a pro just to realise how much you are not getting anywhere near the limit of your GT3 whilst you try and gather your insides back in.

Curn911 · 14 Jun 2025

If it's for a road car I prefered my 991.1 Turbo over my GT3. Very different cars, both great in their own right though. GT3 if you're able to get out on track days 100%

Spinner · 15 Jun 2025

I haven’t been on track in it (yet) but also I am not a huge track fanboy either, mainly road. I know…why did I buy a GT3 then!

By all normal measures it’s a great car in that it does stuff well. I had to get suspension secrets to sort the handling, manthey pads and lines to sort the brakes (steels) and even then they aren’t very powerful (I don’t think) and an audio company to sort the rattles. It’s a much better car now but I still find it a touch vanilla. I usually mod my way to perfection but in this instance I don’t think it will come alive somehow.

Have ruined myself with v8/10/12 in the past so this could well be the problem.

Speaking of mods, if anyone knows what a P39 is see below. Roof scoop makes the turbo come alive!

ms2015 · 15 Jun 2025

Did you try the RS version before you decided on the standard GT3?

Harryblue · 15 Jun 2025

Spinner said:
Got into my first GT3 (991.2 PDK) late last year. Never really been keen on it. Find it a bit boring in the round.

Yeah that's why I sold mine in a year, I thought I was the only one on here who felt like this because I took quite a bit of stick for it, but it really is quite a dull car to drive, the 991.2 C2S I had was the same, the PDK goes a long way to dull the cars, it really seems to take the edge off the feeling of performance and driving engagement.

I suppose also as you've said, it depends what you're used to, for me I raced and rode super bikes for years, so very few cars are going to be anywhere near as fast or as visceral.

I can say that my 930 is a massive amount more enjoyable to drive, it's got 323bhp, the power comes in like a sledgehammer when it comes on boost and it's got that real classic 911 feel to it, in every department, it's raw, visceral, feels small and nimble, etc.

My C2S 997 is a more enjoyable drive than either of my 991s and I remember at the time even the journalists weren't overly excited by it, I listened to a podcast recently where they said something like "We felt obliged to say it's a good car and a decent step up, but it felt dull....etc"

Sell it, buy a 996 or an air-cooled, much more enjoyable if you're a driver that wants to be engaged, rather than just go fast.

Spinner · 15 Jun 2025

Harryblue said:
Yeah that's why I sold mine in a year, I thought I was the only one on here who felt like this because I took quite a bit of stick for it, but it really is quite a dull car to drive, the 991.2 C2S I had was the same, the PDK goes a long way to dull the cars, it really seems to take the edge off the feeling of performance and driving engagement.

I suppose also as you've said, it depends what you're used to, for me I raced and rode super bikes for years, so very few cars are going to be anywhere near as fast or as visceral.

I can say that my 930 is a massive amount more enjoyable to drive, it's got 323bhp, the power comes in like a sledgehammer when it comes on boost and it's got that real classic 911 feel to it, in every department, it's raw, visceral, feels small and nimble, etc.

My C2S 997 is a more enjoyable drive than either of my 991s and I remember at the time even the journalists weren't overly excited by it, I listened to a podcast recently where they said something like "We felt obliged to say it's a good car and a decent step up, but it felt dull....etc"

Sell it, buy a 996 or an air-cooled, much more enjoyable if you're a driver that wants to be engaged, rather than just go fast.

Yes agree. I have/had a mint 996 C4S but it’s on long term loan to a friend who was ill last year and needed a lift.

Might look at some classic stuff and/or quite fancy a 997 C2S with a hartech 4.1

Roro · 16 Jun 2025

This is an interesting one. Since year dot many have been forcing square pegs into round holes, and unfortunately imo the Porsche manifestation of this is making a GT3 into a road car. It can be done, but im not sure it’s the best place to start, and often leads to these kinds of frustrations. I know Porsche are blurring the lines themselves in their pursuit of trying to sell more and more GT3s (Touring derivatives being case in point), but the GT3 is a track car primarily and road car second. So if you’re not using a GT3 on track then you’ve simply bought the wrong car for your intended purpose. I’m not judging anyone for doing this (indeed I did it myself!), but you may find the car appeals to you more if you get into trackdays. I had never done a trackday until I bought my car, and 14 years later I still have it, following a conversation with a certain Mr. @911UK who suggested taking the car on track. These cars come alive in that environment, and unless you’re consistently doing illegal speeds on public roads you’ll just get frustrated. I’m a little puzzled too as to why you seem to have taken things even further with track upgrades (Manthey pads and lines specifically), which are probably overkill for the road? No judgments intended with this post, I’m just trying to understand your intended use for the car and relate it to my own journey.

Go book a trackday!

T8 · 16 Jun 2025

I think you'd find a 996 or 997 turbo would satisfy your requirements. In their time both were acclaimed as just about the quickest 'A to B' car you could buy.

Acertron · 16 Jun 2025

I'm quite flabbergasted by this thread.

I had seen this video by Jayemm and thought that the car was one of the best 911s ever made:

Harryblue · 17 Jun 2025

It all depends what you want, it's quite possible to ignore all the faults or less than perfect set-up for the road, if the vehicle makes you feel special every time you drive it. I absolutely love my Defender, it's absolutely rubbish on paper in any measurable way, except it's a Defender and I feel like I'm going on an adventure even if I pop out for milk.
It's currently not being used very much and it's in the way and I will probably sell it but I know I'll mourn it forever - but it's an appalling road car and makes no sense at all. My wife dislikes it with a passion usually reserved for wasps and treading in dog *****.

The GT3 just makes people feel special, even if other cars would be better for their uses.
I totally get that, but for me it didn't feel special and I felt that other cars would suit me more and so I began to almost dread using it, in fact it got to the point that once a month I took it for a run just to keep everything moving but I rarely wanted to, hence saying it was "boring", I could have explained it better, like I have above, but there you go.