I love my 2010 GT3 so much and have so much fun driving it, I figured I'd love the RS even more. So I decided to start looking for one with similar miles to offset the loss in depreciation. The dealership was about 40 min away and I had to bring in my car for them to inspect. Needless to say it was a blast getting there. The rep, recognizes my car, takes a photocopy of my license and hands me the keys. So I'm out of the std GT3 and in the RS within 10 min.

First off, the grey RS with the red trim looks fabulous in person. Makes mine look so tame in comparison. Also, the car just looks bigger. So I get in and head out the same way I came in. That's where I notice the difference. The torque just isn't there. It just feels lazy at the bottom. So I had to spin the rpms higher and the car starts to come alive. But similar to my Yamaha R6, you don't get that snappy N/A torque you would expect. It shows up much higher in the rev range which is great for the racetrack as with the R6 but the neck jerk feeling isn't as strong per inch pushed on the pedal. Not that that was a dealbreaker, it was clearly noticeable.

Then there was the handling. You would think that they would handle exactly the same if not better. Especially since the steering, shifter, pedals are all the same. First off, the car feels bigger. It felt loose for some reason (those are some big ass tires). My guess is that the tires aren't warm yet and since they are bigger, it would take more time. It just didn't feel tight. But the more I drove it, the better it felt.

Then it was time to get back in to my car. That's when it really became obvious as to how different they are and that confirmed it wasn't my imagination. The std GT3 just felt smaller, torquier and tighter. Alot of it is probably just the tire size (both michelin psc). As for the torque though , people with std gt3's will notice it.

So did I still want it? Yes. All because it looks sick and intimidating compared to my std GT3 especially in grey and it's an RS. I'm sure once the tires get hot, the car would feel fine.

The bad news is someone else on Rennlist was quicker than me and bought it Kudos to him, lucky bastard. The good news is, it didn't feel "better" so I'm not banging my head that I missed out. I'm WAAAAAAAAYYY more patient now when looking for my next one and am much more comfortable with my current car which helps when negotiating. Otherwise, i'd be in a rush to find any RS out there which is usually the case when I car shop and my negotiating skills go out the window.

Hope the info is useful.

 

Interesting. Most people I've spoken to or taken for pax rides have said the rs feel noticeably quicker. I wonder if you drove a lemon. It dosent make sense?

 

+1. I certainly respect and appreciate your actual experience but it really does not jibe with anything I've read in the various reviews in magazines and owner experiences on the various forums-especially given the shorter gearing on the RS. Perhaps the RS that was driven was modified? It's known that a number of the available exhaust mods actually reduce low end torque. Is that possible in this case? Is your GT3 stock?

 

That's why the car was for sale.

 

very interesting!

 

I don't believe the .2 RS the OP drove at Danbury Porsche was a 'lemon'. That car was not modified in any way. Stock exhaust, etc. It only had 1300+ miles and has 4 months of use from new. The car was PPI at a that Porsche dealership over three weeks ago and the results were positive. Good enough for the dealership to offer a CPO official Porsche extended warranty for an extra cost (approx. $2k), which can only be done after a thorough inspection and if the car checks out as per PCNA's strict CPO guidelines. So I would discount any talk of 'lemon' with regards this particular car. The car was for sale because the owner has a new 458 Italia which he apparently enjoys more. And he has been frank & upfront about it (wishing to sell his RS) since a few months back in multiple postings in Rennlist and elsewhere. z356

 

I'm totally with you given I was ready to write a fat check on top of giving up my car and still ready when I find another. At the time, the test drive was a foregone conclusion. This is why it was so strange. I do know that both cars have the same torque but the RS achieves it at a higher rpm. After watching the autocar review I anticipated that. I just didn't expect to notice it as much as I did.

A true test would be on a racetrack where I'm sure that without a doubt the RS would be faster given it's higher hp and less weight. But torque to me is what makes a car feel fast. Things to keep in mind are that this was not at the track, just a 20 minute drive down a twisty road and onto the highway back onto the twisty road. Also this is all feel/butt meter impressions. But I did feel more confident in the std GT3 just because it felt smaller. All of this was confirmed once I got back into my std GT3.

Both cars are stock and I was given the keys without a salesman in the car so I was just going back and forth. The crazy part is the RS has the ceramics while mine has the steel rotors. Go figure. I still want an RS just because it's an RS but I'm much more patient about the whole process. Anyone in the Westchester area with an RS are more than welcome to come by and compare

 

Many good deals out there and a bunch of Grey RS's around so take ur pick and enjoy!

 

Thanks to the OP for the nice writeup. Good luck with your search and the prices will only get better for you from here on out.

Just to add to this thread, I had somewhat of an opposite experience. When I brought my car in to pick up my vanity plates, I got a chance to drive the gt3 they had at the dealership, albeit very briefly. Psychologically I could understand your point about the gt3 "feeling" more narrow, and the smaller wing further emphasizes that. Since this car didn't have the active engine mounts I felt a little more vibration coming through, but less edgy racing noise coming in at normal street speeds. I really noticed the gearing though, with the GT3 ratios feeling nothing like the RS's. Slightly less steering effort to push the gt3 in 3rd gear corners, probably because of skinnier tires like you mentioned.

It is interesting that our two impressions of the "butt dyno" acceleration test differ - I felt the rev action was slower in the GT3 (but more amenable to daily driving) and certainly didn't rise as quickly or make any noise compared to the single mass flywheel. Again, we just got different impressions, so maybe others can chime in?

Maybe the X factor is the fact that neither of us were driving our own cars, so maybe psychologically babying it a little more made the tester car feel slower?

 

well the RS has higher compression, the peak hp comes in at 7900rpm, thats 300rpm higher than in the GT3, pretty sure same goes for the torque