Tonight's the night (with apologies to Rod S)

Sales guy just called. My GT3 is at the dealership. I'm picking it up after work tonight. Pictures and impressions to follow (once I stop driving it). Karl

Cool, can't wait to hear about it.

we demand a long, thorough analysis Karl!!!!! ASAP

When the needs of the many...

Karl, I suggest you spend the rest of the afternoon writing up your expectations for the drive in your car tonight. By doing this you won't (out of obligation to us all) have to cut short your driving experiences to bring us up to date. You can simply add comments such as: expectation met, exceeded, etc. One more note...I have an early bedtime and I get cranky if I stay up late. Don't delay!

Congrats. I'm jealous... I'm sure you're really jacked. Waiting to hear what you think of the car......

Karl, my car's at the dealership in Tucson, arrives my house in maliobu this weekend!!

congrats!!!!!!! Whoo hoo!!!! Pics & Impressions, post haste! J

Congrats, but I much favor Neil Young's Tonight's the Night 1975.

Have a couple drinks or take some NyQuil to make it through the nite. edit: Cripe! Thought you were picking it up tomorrow. My apologies.

OK, now that I've stopped driving for a bit, some first impressions. The car, of course, is awesome, but not as brutal or as much a handfull as some of the magazines would have you think. Very comfortable ride on the street IMHO. May be even too soft for good track performance, time will tell. Now my track rides for the last 4 years have been a 2001 GT3 Cup and a heavily modified 996 with full remote reservoir coil-overs and very stiff springs, so I haven't driven a stock 996 in a while. The Michelin's are very sticky and there was only limited understeer in slow corners. The car does sit very low, so extra care will be needed on steep driveways and parking ramps. The black lip spoiler looks more substantial than on the Mk I aero kit, so I'm sure it will cost more than $90 to replace when I scrape it (when, not if). The engine is sweet. Much closer to the Cup car in acceleration than to the stock 996, at least one w/o a powerkit. It puts the power down with no drama. I didn't feel like I was fighting for grip under hard acceleration or that the rear end was coming around. The LSD does it's job well in this area. The brakes are definitely awe inspiring and the ABS is tuned so that it doesn't come in too early. I was surprised that it has yellow pads, I guess these are the same as the GT2. I didn't know Porsche had any OEM pads that weren't black. The shifter was a little notchy, it kept jumping out of 1st gear on me. The problem wasn't the shifter, it was me. Although the GT3 shifter is shorter than the stock Carrera's, it's still longer than the B&M or the one in the Cup car. I keep pushing the lever up into first but not far enough, and it would put back out. I had a similar problem with the 1-2 shift a few times, where I just didn't get it all the way into the gate. Hopefully, with time, the shifter will smooth out and I'll learn to really push it all the way into the gate. I liked the fit and finish of the interior, the newer cars are a big improvement over my 1999 model. The seats have to go but I didn't get time to install the ROW GT3 seats that are sitting in my garage. Break-in is 1000 miles but there is no way to hold this car under 4200 rpm for that long. I was being careful and still saw the tach zing to 6000 a few times. I guess the bottom line is that this car was well worth the wait. My pictures didn't come out well, so I'll try again tomorrow. Karl

[QUOTE] Originally posted by Karl S [B]OK, now that I've stopped driving for a bit, some first impressions. "The car, of course, is awesome, but not as brutal or as much a handfull as some of the magazines would have you think." Just like they wrote about the GT 2. As I'd hoped this is probably the ultimate 996. I'm not surprised about your reactions, though I'm sure you'll fill us in more over the coming few days. I also look forward to Watt's direct comparison with his GT 2. Think of the front spoiler as a disposable item, just like a tire

Karl, it's unclear whtther you have pccb?

Watt Karl is talking about the pads being yellow as opposed to black, NOT the calipers.

No, I have the standard brakes. Karl

Congrats!!! Now lets see some pics...After reading your post I got so excited I called my dealer to find out when they receive their first one, so as to go and see it...I'm number 6 on the list, Feb/March '04, but like you said well worth the wait.

Congratulations on the new car. I can't wait to hear more feedback from you. No, pads for steel rotors have different part numbers from those for PCCB. The following picture shows a standard brake with yellow backing on the pad:

I'd be curious to get your impressions once you safely venture out to 8000 revs. I'm contemplating my next P-car and I'm on the fence about going to a used X50 TT or a GT3.

What kind of tires did you get with the GT3? Are they doing Michelin Sport Cup from the factory?

All new GT3's are being fitted with the new Pilot Sport 2 tire. Not, the R-compound Pilot Sport Cup.

Viken, From the info I could gather, the Steel rotors have the same P90 pads as the PCCB's. What are the part numbers do you have for the steel rotors? I've had the GT2/3 steel rotors with P90 pads for over a year now. This must be a new part number, from the info I could gather from the new owners of GT3 with steel rotors, they have the same P90 pads

For those of you who asked for pictures, I took a few tonight. It was pretty overcast here and it was late anyway, so they came out a little dark but they're viewable. I put them up on a basic site for viewing. Check them out at Karl's GT3 site Karl

Karl, Congrats! Are the brake pads stamped P90 on the fronts and P90-2 rears? Wondering, if these are the same pads on the PCCB's. I've been using the P90's with steel rotors, also I checked out a GT2 with PCCB's and they also had the P90 pads.

Alll I can say Is YUMMY!!! Your house ain't bad either Karl. Congrats and let us know after break-in how much a monster it will be on the track but kinda difficult since you had a cupcar but we like to know : ). Regards. Mike

Congrats!!! I just went to my local dealer to have a look of them I'm hunger to get mine's. It's ashame that Canada only gets 3% of the 750 GT3s for NA Pls take more pix ...

Finally some pictures! Thanks Karl. I noticed your car has the center console (CD slots and small storage area). I thought they were coming without this. Is this something you added or am I wrong? Thanks for taking the time to tide us over. I should be getting my silver GT3 early next week.

Damn Karl, Amazing car, best of luck...nice house too!

All US GT3s get the center console, there's no option on the order guide to delete it.

AWESOME!!!! Turning green with envy here. Makes me wonder if I made the right decision following my head to hold on to my C4S and wait a year for the GT3. My heart and gut are certainly yelling for that car. You're right. Those seats have to go. Wonder what possesed PCNA not to put the GT3 seats? Its a GT3 car, for crying out loud.

Steve in Fl, Thanks and you are correct. My car arrived at the dealership less than an hour ago and it also has the console. I'll be picking it up tonight!

They're not DOT approved (the seats) and technically, illegal for street use

I heard today, from a dealer, that the production # for the GT3 is going to be 500.

No. Nothing to do with DOT. The reason why GT3 seats are not available is purely related to liability.

colm, for 2004? per year? que paso?

Total production. As you know there is debate as to wether it's 500 or 750. The level of allocations seems to support the 500 number. I also think I heard that the 04 year may be a short production year with the 997 being an early production 05, just like the 01 turbo.

Oak, Yup the pads are Pagid Yellow with P90-2 stamped on the rears for sure. I looked at the fronts and couldn't see a stamp. Didn't have time to pull them out but I'd bet they are P90's. Since they are Pagid's, hopefully they will be available through some aftermarket sources and not just dealers. $350 per set seems pretty steep. Karl

Viken... Can you elaborate on the GT-3 seat equation? Is there something specific about the design or structure of the seat that would cause the liability? Since I have the seats I often wondered what the deal was? Is the seat basically "safe"? Do they have different criteria in Europe? If so, is it more stringent? TIA

Congrats and she's BEAUTIFUL!!! I spent an hour at my dealer yesterday as they were dlivering a red one...all I can say is I couldn't be more excited and happy that I have one coming to me!!!

Karl, Are these P90-2 yellows the same compound as the RS-19 yellow or something different? I wouldn't think Porsche would use RS-19 on a street car, but I can't find info on any other yellow pad from Pagid. Also, have you found a source for the tires? Tirerack lists the model but not the proper sizes. Mike

There is nothing wrong with the GT3 seat or any other Porsche factory part. However, if the Clubsport parts (seats, cage, harness) were available, they would *suggest* that it's OK to take the car to the track. This is not something a car manufacturer would like to do in a sue happy society. BTW, this is typical with most manufacturers doing business in the US.

The Pilot Sports on the GT3 are the new generation of the Pilot Sport. IIRC the Michelin folks at Parade said to expect them to be available in the US later this year. Hopefully now that the GT3s are actually on the street in the US it'll be sooner rather than later.

2003-on GT3: Front Pads: 996.351.948.00 - Set of brake pads 996.351.948.01 - Set of brake pads PCCB (M450) Rear Pads: 996.352.949.02 - Set of brake pads 996.352.948.90 - Set of brake pads PCCB (M450) 996.352.947.01 - Set of brake pads PCCB (M450) - Comfort version I don't see a comfort version front PCCB pad. GT2: Front Pads: 996.351.948.01 - Set of brake pads PCCB 996.351.947.01 - Set of brake pads PCCB - Comfort version Rear Pads: 996.352.948.90 - Set of brake pads PCCB 996.352.947.01 - Set of brake pads PCCB - Comfort version

The dealer told me that since they're not folding seats, they will not pass DOT. To test this theory, name one current production road car sold in the US that has a one-piece non-folding seat...

Enzo?

I'm not sure about Enzo but that's probably a good guess...... Wouldn't it make sense that a NON folding seat is safer?

Not that I've been in one personally mind you but the pictures I've seen of the seats in the Enzo look like they're of the type that have adjustable/tilting backrests.