458/488/F8 owners that also have a GT3/GTS

I have

I have had a couple of 991 gen GT3’s and RS. They are magnificent track cars, especially on high speed circuits. Now also have a 992 Turbo S and awaiting an F8.

the GT cars are not that satisfying to drive on the street though I love the appearance. They are low torque engines that make power best north of 7800 rpms. My fav was a manual 991 GT3 for around town.

Turbo S is more like F8. If you get the GT3 it is a must to track.

 

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I had at one time a gt3, rs and 488. Totally different cars that compliment each other nicely.

 

I had a 991.1 gt3 but traded it in for a scud, then f12 and now 458 speciale. I have since bought a 991.1 gts as my daily to complement the speciale. The main reason I got rid of the gt3 and went to ferrari was because the ferrari was more exciting to drive on the street. The gt3 would only really come alive when pushing it hard. The ferrari is more exciting just doing a cold start. You need both, the wife (911) and the stripper (ferrari).

 

I have a 991.2 GT3 with manual transmission as well as a 458 Spider and a 458 Speciale.
They are all different and IMO complement each other, depending upon your mood and the type of driving you are planning on doing that day.
GT3 is such a fun car to drive. It is not about the exhaust sound, it is about the mechanical engine sounds reverberating throughout the cabin, the pitch and frequency of which changes with revs. The seat back and seat bottom vibrate at that same frequency and the car feels like it is buzzing along. It feels like a vintage car, but with all the benefits of modern. It is blindingly fast on back country twisting if driven properly, like all 911s, slow in—fast out, allow the weight to transfer then power on (or if you’re really good you can play with trail braking and get even more hairy). This is why sports car enthusiasts have loved 911s for 50+ years. Stick it on a windy country road with a good driver keeping revs above 5K and there aren’t many cars that can pull away from it (if any). The only “downside” I see as a Ferrari lover is you don’t get that “tingle” in your belly when you reach into the drawer and grab the Porsche key like you do when grabbing the key with the prancing horse and heading out to the garage...it doesn’t excite the same level of theater.

458 Spider is open top drama that sets the Italians apart from everyone...it’s just ear-to-ear grins all the time. Sounds fabulous, looks sexy as hell.

458 Speciale is the king of them all. Sublime chassis handling, almost feels telepathic. It seems to be turning before I knew I wanted to initiate it. Hard to explain, but you just feel so connected to this car. An an open back country road it is a zen experience, just flows from curve to curve.

In short: I think the GT3 definitely adds to the Ferrari ownership experience, and if you can swing it you won’t regret it. Furthermore, I think if in a year or two you decide it wasn’t for you I doubt you’d lose much money letting a GT3 go.

 

Agree and am looking into the same combo. I may tinker with removing the wing. I prefer the smaller duck tail. But I hear therein lies some performance concerns. Not a wing guy but it could grow on me I guess.


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I had a 991.1 GT3, 991.2 GT3, and 991.2 GT3 RS. I ordered all of them from new. I'm currently waiting on my new F8 (any day now).

The cars are brilliant on track, and the sound of the engine howling to redline was electrifying. However, it gets a bit old and I wanted a car that wasn't as track focused, so I could have more fun on and off track.

I also just didn't like the direction of how Porsche was doing with the GT3, they built more 991.2 GT3s than Carreras if you could believe that. Also, so many posers with them who talk about "I have the ONLY blah blah PTS <shade of black or blue> in the US", and the people who buy them as investments to flip, both of those groups were too scared to track them.

I'm going to pass on the 992 GT3, and will reserve judgement for the RS and perhaps 992.2. However, I haven't really liked the way the 992 generation looks as a whole, so I may skip this generation entirely.

 

Just to add some content to this thread......

I’m still driving my ‘ropey’ old 458 spider, however this weekend I saw the Speciale of italiafan’s in the flesh, and we took a wonderful drive down the scenic Blue Ridge Parkway. Sheesh, what a car! A true cut above the 458, what a stroke of genius.

It was really hard being rock stars for the day, lol!

And today on the ride from the mountains of western NC to my home in FL, not one but two white GT3s!

The newer one was spotted north of Atlanta, the second in FL. Both pics taken today. I was in my 458 and with the GT3 in FL we played a little cat and mouse.....

Now that I look at these Porsche pics, it looks like they were staged. They weren’t.

What can I say, I’m just a lucky guy ....
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I don't own both but prior to purchasing my 458 spider I spent a day driving both the 991.1 GT3 and a F430 spider on some back roads and in my opinion there is no comparison. I would take the Ferrari any day. The sound, the raw shifts, the engagement are all on another level. The GT3 shifts were lightning fast compared to the single clutch F1, but it just felt so boring. I'm guessing if I had driven them on a track I may feel differently, but for some nice moderately windy every day roads there was no comparison.

 

Own a 458. Have only driven a 991.1 GT3 PDK. The GT3 is fantastic. Rear wheel steering really makes the car feel smaller and nimbler than it is. That high-revving flat 6 shrieks to 9000rpm. And dare I say that the PDK is a better transmission than what's in the 458.

Is it as fast? No? Is it a better driver's car? Some might argue that.

I ended up buying a 981 GT4 to go with the 458, and the manual transmission in that car is sublime. I have an acquaintance with a 991.2 GT3 manual and we're going to swap cars for a day. For those of us who like to row our own gears that might be driving nirvana.

 

Last time i looked it up a N/A engine loses three percent of its rated power for every 1,000 feet of altitude gained. How much loss did you feel.

 

What surprised me most today about the GT3s is the amount of camber on those wide-*** rear wheels.

The GT4 looks like it’d kill it on the twisties.

 

You shouldn’t ask an engineer those questions. I had my dyno all hooked up but forgot to look at it as I was laughing too hard watching @italiafan trying to keep up in his ropey Speciale, lol!

We were at 6,000 feet, so 20% loss? Hard to tell......

 

I own a 2013 458 and a 2019 991.2 GTS.

The low end turbo torque with the 7 speed manual transmission in the Porsche is just about as much fun as you can have under 100 mph. And it has back seats for the kiddos.

That being said, just starting the 458 takes my breath away.

German precision. Italian passion.

 

Porsche cars in general are built rock solid. I’ve had many including GT3. My 991 GT3 was awesome in track. I also enjoyed it on the street but my 488 is much faster for street driving due to the turbo and obvious more torque.

The GT3 vs 488 feel completely different. Obvious things like steering, handling, power delivery yes…but just the feeling you get with the Ferrari is unlike anything else I’ve driven. These 2 cars are not really same league and either is in a league above the other…they are just different.

 

I had a 991.1 GT3 which I found boring to drive on the street especially in flat Iowa. The big thrill was running it to 9,000 rpm and experiencing the PDK shifts.
I took it on a trip through the Colorado mountains and it was a blast in the curves. So it may depend on where you live as to how entertaining it will be on the street. It's fabulous on the track though.

I sold it a number of years ago and bought a 458 Spider which I find much more fun to drive. I have yet to track it.

 

I'll chime in with my +1 to what's already been said.

My 991.2 GT3 was so damn capable for the street that I couldn't get it to "come alive" without putting life and limb at real risk. It's also worth noting that the manual transmission is geared horribly for fun on the roads...at least here in the US. By the time you're out of 2nd gear, you'll be doing 83mph, which means that you'll get ONE shift in before breaking the highest speed limit in most states. Ack! I went so far as to name my car, which was Carmine Red, REDRUM, because I was convinced I'd kill myself (or end up in jail) trying to extract the fun out of it on the daily.

It took a single day at Sonoma Raceway to make me realize how boring the car was on the street - by contrast, on the track it's BRILLIANT. So much fun! But...not as fun as a real race car. I feel like I can have as much (if not more) fun in a $20k Spec Miata.

So, if the GT3 isn't all that much fun on the street, and isn't as good as a purpose-built race car on the track, what's the point? I didn't have an answer, so I went to test drive a 458 Spider. Problem solved!

The 458 Spider is more fun IMO from 0-40mph than the GT3 was 0-100, and moves around in ways that are certainly less quick, but oh so much more fun! Do I wish it had the brake feel of the GT3, or a manual tranny? Yeah, sure. For my street driving, though, it does the trick for me in a way the GT3 never could. I'll probably never track the 458...that's what race cars are for

One caveat here: I borrowed a buddy's GT3 RS for about a month, and MAN that car is loads more fun than the "regular" GT3! Take what a true race car feels like on the track, and transplant that feeling to the road. That's what the RS feels like. Would definitely consider adding one to the garage in the future...

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Absolutely love my combo! You really need both! Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Why can’t you use a GT3 year round? Snow?

 

If you can “only” (not being sarcastic) have 2 cars to serve as daily driving and weekend fun, and weather is an issue, then certainly a 911 GTS (or any awd 911) combined with a Ferrari makes sense. If weather isn’t an issue then I think one can daily a GT3 without difficulty.

 

We’ve had quite a lot of these; Speciale, 488 Spider, Pista Spider, F8, 997 GTS, 991.1 RS, 991.2 RS and 991 GT2 RS. Also have a 992 Targa GTS ordered as a daily. They’re all brilliant in some way. GTS is not a ‘GT light’ in my opinion. But it is a great daily usable performance sports car (which no GT is IMO).. I don’t buy the 458 always > 488 thing, though our Speciale will never be sold and our 488 Spider was. Speciale was our first new Ferrari and 488 gave way to Pista. Speciale v Pista? Both brilliant so depends how the mood catches me. I use the Pista more because we spec’d harnesses in the 458 and normal 3-point in the 488. F8 is brilliant too though we sold that already, mainly because SF90 arrived and both are turbo mid V8s of a similar vintage.

I love our GT2 RS more than the 3RS’s. It’s more special and brilliant on track, the only place I use it now really. F8 and a GT would be good together, I would pair a spider Ferrari with any GT (preferably RS) as a brilliant two-car garage, probably over any other combination from any brand. If money is an issue, a 2018 non-Weissach 3RS is a great buy I reckon (still expensive I know).

 

Let me just say this.

Life without a GT3 feels like there is a void in it.

I have had many RS Porsches and I skipped the 991.2 RS when I moved to the states choosing the 991.2 Turbo S instead.

I currently have a 718 GT4 manual and Taycan Turbo which gives me Porsche hit until the my new 992 Manual Touring arrives next year.

These cars have a very special place in your garage and are meant to be driven. The sound and steering is sublime. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login

The Porsche Wankers are sickening and I have avoided them like the plague.


May the Horse be with you