OpinionTop Gear
Is the new Porsche 911 GT3 S/C a hit or a miss?
Yay for a chop-top motorsport-inspired 911, or nay? Have your... say
Vijay Pattni: “There’s huge value in opening it up to wider audiences”
The Porsche 911 GT3 Coupe is a Very Serious Car for Very Serious Car Enthusiasts. The kind who understand what longer duration cams do to power delivery and how a downforce friendly front trailing arm helps anti-dive. This makes it a little less... ‘approachable’. And while there’s value in being a tad challenging, there’s also huge value in opening up the GT3 to wider audiences.
Chopping the roof off its escaped-from-the-racetrack special shows Porsche wants to ease up on the ‘I like adjusting damper rebound settings’ vibe, and appeal to the ‘holy heck this thing rocks’ brigade. Like a self-righteous professor who’s suddenly taken to downing brightly coloured nightclub shots.
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Greg Potts: “Just one problem. It starts the wrong side of £200k”
Under Preuninger, Porsche’s GT department hasn’t had many misses. The S/C will be majestic to drive. Of course it will be – it’s basically a pick ’n’ mix of 992 GT3 and S/T bits but with endless headroom and an open-air soundtrack to rival The Beatles at the Hollywood Bowl. Although that screaming flat six at 9,000rpm will probably sound more like the Fab Four’s maniacal crowd.
Just one problem. It starts the wrong side of £200k. With options, you’re very quickly knocking on the door of a quarter of a million pounds. The 718 Spyder RS was £125k new, got the same engine and sounded even better thanks to little carbon intakes right behind your earholes.
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