Long term test - Porsche 997 GT3

by J-C Etter

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Porsche 997 GT3 and Toyota Prius: impossible duet or perfect match ?

In the wear and tear department, the OEM PZero Corsa System Pirellis proved very convincing. They don’t offer the ultimate grip of semi-slicks, but they are progressive at the limit, withstand temperature well and remain drivable in wet conditions. Tough to follow light cars on soft tires in twisty bits and switching over to Toyo 888s crossed my mind, but the PZeros remain a reasonable choice, forcing me to hone my skills rather than gain instantly a few seconds per lap through grippier tires. After nearly 4000 miles, tread wear is even and they will still happily do another track day. I measured gas mileage at 18.3mpg, worse than the stubborn 19.1 indicated by the on board computer, with extremes ranging from 25.7 in law abiding freeway cruising to 7.9 on track. The front lip will have to be considered as disposable, so frequent are its encounters with the ground. Every gas station ramp, even accessing my garage in a careful diagonal results in frequent scraping.

Everything at the back. One wonders how front wheels still touch the ground.

Interior has not been free of squeaks since I drove the car off the lot, one in the rear right quarter is really annoying and my dealer’s attempt to fix it proved as helpful as a pair of fins for a mountain climb. The front suspension often greets my first movement with a loud klonk, but wannabe race cars are supposed to do that, I am told. So is the brief and scary rattle that occurs sometimes when turning the engine on from cold: cam chain tensioners waiting for hold pressure. My clutch trends to shatter annoyingly when warmed up by stop and go traffic, as irritating as the firmness of the clutch pedal in such conditions. Gearbox is precise, but I could not do without some of the unnecessary firmness which did not go away after break in. I could also complain about yet another Porsche steering wheel that pinches my thumbs, tiring on long distances, but quickly forgotten when you are in business.

A bit of diving under hard braking.

No reliability concern to report (yet), and one would not expect any less from Porsche. Unfortunately, the 997 GT3 model is still afflicted by the daunting RMS (Rear Main Seal) problem like its 996 predecessors. No hint of a leak under my car, but some start to drip after a few hundred miles. Oil consumption has been negligible and the car is scheduled for its first oil change.

Rear fin dresses nice butt - Yellow belts an option - front lip scrapes pavement easily.

The connection of my Dension Gateway 500 iPod adapter to the MOST (Media Oriented Systems Transport) optical bus proved more difficult than expected, requiring a firmware upgrade of the Dension unit and a lengthy visit at the dealer to convince the head unit to recognize a CD changer on the fiber optic loop. This car is equipped with the base CDR24 radio (no Porsche Communication Module), and Dension has designed a ridiculously unintuitive user interface, impractical and borderline dangerous to operate on the road.

After 6 months, my very yellow GT3 passed the track exam with flying colors. I can’t quite say the same of myself, as the car really requires sharp skills to become an ally and overcome stubborn understeer. The reward definitely seems to be worth the effort though, and paying a visit to the fabled Nordschleife is now an attractive prospect ...

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Long term test - Porsche 997 GT3