GT3 - All Variants

[Mr9146]

Not wise to even go down that road unless you want to hear the vintage guys chiming in as well about how a very non aero 2.5, 2100 Lb, carbureted 914 on 225-15 DOT's can run the same lap times.

I'll give you $50 if you truck you car out to Willow and go 1:27, Frankie.

[Frank Beck]

I'll give you $50 if you truck you car out to Willow and go 1:27, Frankie.

lol
last of the big spenders Marco.

Grab some of Jack's lap times from other circuits around the country and compare.

You will be shocked at how quick a nationally competitive vintage 2.0/2.5 car is.

[t6dpilot]

Not wise to even go down that road unless you want to hear the vintage guys chiming in as well about how a very non aero 2.5, 2100 Lb, carbureted 914 on 225-15 DOT's can run the same lap times.

And slightly breathed on with Frankie's magic 'go fast' wand.

[JackOlsen]

I got sent a link to this thread because apparently the 'Jack Olsen Kool-Aid' was sitting in front of Marco but he was refusing to drink it.

First and foremost, there's nothing magical about me as a driver. Certainly Marco (and also just about anyone else reading this) could run a 1:26 in my 911 at Willow. Eventually. It would just take time and practice to get familiar enough with the car and to get a good handle on the track.

Second, my car isn't anything that breaks any of the laws of physics. All the specs for it are online and anyone could build themselves a copy of it.

So if there's a cult, it's not merited -- and I'm not a member.

And there are many, MANY cars that are faster than mine at Willow. But the comparison that jimhuiz makes, which I think is valid, is based on the idea that the GT3 is a 'race car for the street' -- and actual dual purpose car running on actual dual purpose (not simply 'DOT-legal') tires. I don't think there were any race-prepped 914s on Hoosiers behind me in the McDonald's drive-thru this morning. That's not the case for GT3s, which are cars that spend a lot of time on public roads -- and not so often on trailers.

I saw the Randy Pobst fast lap for Motor Trend and was genuinely impressed. The only previous lap I'd found from a magazine test for a GT3 was a 1:33 run by Steve Millen in the RS version of the 2008 model. A 1:27 is really, really fast for any off-the-shelf production 911 variant. Pobst had taken the 50th Anniversary edition out and his best lap was a 1:29.

I thought it would be interesting to compare the GT3 lap to mine, since both cars are modified 911s and both are dual purpose cars -- easily and naturally driven to the track and run on the same tires that got them there.

Here's the video:



I won't lie. I'm impressed with how well my car is able to corner. I understand that a high-HP car is going to accelerate faster than me. But I would think that the latest-and-greatest Porsche would be able to go through a 90-ish-mph sweeper faster than my car. My car has a pretty primitive suspension, compared to the 991 GT3. I have semi-trailing arms, fer gosh sakes. The GT3 has computers controlling all-wheel steering -- as well as the engine mounts and the differential. The whole PSM scheme is pretty sophisticated. I mean, the whole point of this car is for it to handle better than anything else on the market. And I'm sure that if you gave my car a weight penalty to make it the same mass as the GT3, I would be a lot slower through a corner. But as of today, Porsche hasn't made a suspension that can get the GT3 through a corner faster than my older and lighter 911.

But that's not even the case for the 918, which costs close to a million bucks and has crazy levels of sophisticated technology at its disposal when it comes to going through a corner. But I think the bottom line is this: mass is mass. The GT3 is 400+ pounds heavier than my car. The 918 is 600 pounds more than that. You can overcome that problem in a straight line with horsepower. And you can do a LOT to improve a car's ability to corner. But so far, Porsche can't improve it enough to out-corner my 911.

It will, though. The RS variant of the new GT3 will definitely be quicker around Willow than me. And if you gave a good race engineer a week with the GT3 and let him go to work on the suspension settings, I would bet you could get Mr. Pobst another second or two quicker around Willow Springs.

If I had the money for a 991 GT3, I would buy one. It looks like a phenomenal car.

But I will say that the suspension Tyson Schmidt put together for my 911 is also pretty phenomenal.

[Peanut]

I'm not drinking Kool-Aid, but I am impressed a car like yours (and you) can do what a brand new Gt3 can do.

Scott

[curtisaa]

Personally, I think Jacks video is very clever, and creative. The "Kool - Aid " is the sum of arm chair drivers that have a petulance for anarchy. Jack, very well done and congrats on "tellin ' it like it is. Porsche slacks off often. When Nissan put them to shame at Nuerburgring , with the GTR, the factory got their asses out of their glass house and went to work. They figured out the the PDK and made amends. Jack, take the naysayers out to Willow and let these testosterone addicted drivers, have at it !

[Flieger]

Personally, I think Jacks video is very clever, and creative. The "Kool - Aid " is the sum of arm chair drivers that have a petulance for anarchy. Jack, very well done and congrats on "tellin ' it like it is. Porsche slacks off often. When Nissan put them to shame at Nuremberg , with the GTR, the factory got their asses out of their glass house and went to work. They figured out the the PDK and made amends. Jack, take the naysayers out to Willow and let these testosterone addicted drivers, have at it !

Not to start anything, but Nuremberg = Nazi war crime trials. Nuerburg (ue= u + umlaut) is the little village/castle which the Nuerburgring's Nordschleife encircles.

[curtisaa]

Not to start anything, but Nuremberg = Nazi war crime trials. Nuerburg (ue= u + umlaut) is the little village/castle which the Nuerburgring's Nordschleife encircles.

Damn spell check....I stand corrected !

[sithot]

December 2014 PANORAMA:

From the Freeman Thomas interview.

"...he contends that today's Porsches have lost their purity, their simplicity. They're bigger and filled with more technology, yet something is missing. Freeman uses the analogy of walking. While there might be devices that make it easier for us to get someplace, there is nothing quite like walking on one's own two feet, going at a slower pace and smelling the trees. To this end he yearns for the return of simpler Porsches."
"I do believe we have passed beyond the story, and I think we need to go back to the origins", says Freeman.

The entire article is quite good.

Tom

[Flieger]

December 2014 PANORAMA:

The entire article is quite good.

I agree. I like the way he thinks.