Porsche 911 GT3 (996 Series) (1999 - 2005)
BY ANDY ENRIGHT
There are Porsche 911s and then there is the Porsche 911 GT3. Think of this car as distilling all the qualities that has made the 911 such an iconic sports car into one package and youre not far off the mark. Originally designed to be an ultra low volume special, demand for the GT3 was such that Porsche couldnt stop building them. Stroll around the paddock at the Nürburgring on a public day and the car parks will be thick with them, testament indeed to their rugged effectiveness. Heres what to look for if youre looking for a used example.
Inside, theres more equipment than you might expect for what is essentially a car that will see a lot of track days. As well as the four airbags, you can expect to find power windows, central locking, grippy leather-trimmed sports seats, colour-keyed seat belts, a CD stereo and climate controlled air conditioning. High intensity bi-xenon headlight are an option but youll search in vain for factory fit satellite navigation or a sunroof. Perhaps more surprisingly, theres also no sequential manual gearbox option with the kind of paddles behind the steering wheel that youd find in, say, a Ferrari F430 F1.
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The first of the Mk1 911 GT3s are now just dipping below the £40,000 barrier but as with any specialist sports model, the price is as much a reflection on who has looked after the car and how as its age or mileage. One interesting thing youll spot when looking at early GT3s is that there are many left-hand drive models about and quite a few arent a whole lot cheaper than UK cars. There are two key reasons for this. The first is that some spend a good proportion of their annual mileage going to and spending time on a certain one-way German toll road.
The other is that the left-hand drive car was equipped with a decent 90-litre fuel tank whereas British cars got a measly 64-litre number. Decent Mk II GT3s start at around £50,000 for a 2004 model. Comfort and Sport trim levels do not vary hugely in price at this point, the only trim change that is seriously reflected in used valuations being the fitment of the costly PCCB carbon ceramic brakes. £60,000 will net you the first of the GT3 RS models.
The GT3 largely escaped many of the engine issues that affected the early versions of humbler 996 models. Youll need to know what youre looking at with GT3s as some normal buying indicators arent what they first appear. If youre looking at a very low mileage car, chances are its been trailered to race tracks and spent a good proportion of its life being driven at ten-tenths. The Clubsport clutch and lightened flywheel and the six-piston brake upgrade is usually a dead giveaway that the car has been given a good seeing to on track.
Dont let this fact put you off the car though as this is what GT3s were designed for and theyre incredibly rugged. In fact, the engine block oil seals can leak if the car doesnt see regular useage. There have been reports of weak synchros on Mk 1 cars buy these will have been replaced under warranty. Differentials have been known to fail as well.
The big ticket item to look for is the Porsche extended warranty, especially if youre looking at using the car as it was intended.
Its worth keeping an eye on the consumables with a 911 GT3 as the engine does have an appetite for oil, even when running in fine fettle, hard circuit use seeing the car require a litre per 500 miles. Fail to keep an eye on this and skimp on the warranty and you could be looking at a full engine replacement cost of an eye-watering £26,000. Suddenly £14 a week for the warranty doesnt seem too bad.
Porsche's official test-driver Walter Röhrl completed the Nürburgring Nordschleife in 7 minutes 50 seconds with the 996 GT3 and 7 minutes 43 seconds with the 996 GT3 RS. That should tell you all you need to know about the barnstorming cross country pace of these cars. Need a little more flesh on the bones? The Mk II GT3s 3.6-litre flat-six unit is truly state-of-the-art, using exotic materials like titanium to enable the engineers to meet the magic 100bhp per litre benchmark (104bhp to be exact).
Needless to say, it made the car the fastest normally aspirated 911 Porsche had ever made, with sixty 4.5 seconds away en route to a maximum of close to 190mph. Thats 0.3s faster than the Mk I GT3, though a more telling increment is the one Porsche quote for the 0-100mph increment, which fell from 10.
2s to 9.4s. Rest to 124mph (200km) also fell, from 16.5s to 14.
3s. Opt for the GT3 RS and you get a harder, more aggressive animal. Weight was ruthlessly pared from the GT3 RS, making it accelerate with awesome savagery with sixty 4.4 seconds away on the way to a maximum of 190mph.
That may be only a smidgeon quicker than the regular GT3 but it feels a good deal quicker. The GT3 RS will accelerate to 100mph in exactly the same time as its chief rival the Ferrari 360 Challenge Stradale. Desirable as the Italian car is, the Porsche gets the job done just as effectively, more reliably and cost £84,230 as opposed to £133,025 when new. I know what Id rather have and its the white car from Weissach.
Were you an uninformed dolt, you could spend £40,000 on a Mercedes CLK280 Sport with a few options tacked onto it. Alternatively you could own a Porsche 911 GT3. Race bred and with performance and handling that are the stuff of legend, the GT3 is better than you. Accept that and pay your respects.
Mines an early Mk2 in white, please.
