GT3 vs NSX impressions

[TURBO2GO]

What would the cost be to get an NSX track ready? Ie: lower weight, suspension etc...?

From looking at these videos if weight can be shaved the car will keep up with much higher horsepowered cars...

Might be a good project

The NSX is track ready already. You need some Motul 600 brake fluid and a credit card for some HPDE classes. Then after a bunch of classes when you the driver is a LOT better, you can get a "pressurized lubrication system with alloy pan and electronic monitoring", aka nothing (sorry had to throw that in as it was in the GTR brochure). An accusump to preserve the engine is good but all cars running really hard at the track would need that. If you mean what would it take for the car to be on par with dedicated track cars like a GT3, then I would say a set of coilvers like a KW, some tires, and eventually a BBK. If you want to not lose on the straights either because your driving skill is "not so much" as Borat would say... and you want to make up ground... then a CTSC or a turbo that gets you to around high 300's or low 400's is P L E N T Y. I'm at 2900 pounds with a few mods and the car is Way way waaaaay faster than I can handle.

Last thing, just because you are the fastest doesn't mean you are having the most fun. Ask me... I went for another drive in another GT-R and still didn't have as much fun as I do in my NSX. I mean who cares if you are the fastest guy on the track by a factor of 2. Other than bragging rights it doesn't mean much. Fun is where it's at and if you haven't had the NSX on a track, then you may as well have a harem of beautiful women and be gay.

 

[2slow2speed]

It is a 2004 GT3 with PCCB so I do know what you mean about the stopping power with the ceramics. 2004 was the 1st year for the GT3 in the states. I chose the 996 GT3 over the 997 GT3 due to the fact that the 997 has a moonroof and a ton of electronic "nannies" to keep you out of trouble. The 996 has no moonroof and only ABS. No other electronic gizmos. It is truly the last of the modern racing Porsches that will remain raw. Every subsequent model of the GT3 will have more electronic crap associated with it and it only dilutes the true experience. A fine example is the 2010 GT3 actually has a "hydraulic lift" option so you can raise the nose over curbs - pretty bogus if you ask me Soon enough the GT3 will be diluted to be like a Merc S class!

FYI, the MKI 997 GT3 has a different front suspension geometry than the 996GT3, just like the 996GT3RS had a different front suspension geometry than the MKII 996GT3.

The 997GT3 uses linear rate springs all around the 996GT3 uses linear rate springs up front and progressive rate springs in the rear.

If you drive both cars back to back the 997GT3 will feel more stable and does not suffer as much from bump steer as the 996GT3 that feels nervous like hell in comparison.

On the same track with the same driver the 997GT3 is usually 2 seconds faster than a 996GT3 (even with the 996GT3 running R-comps like the MPSC that are standard on the 997GT3).

Had a 996GT3 back when they came out in 2004 and I've driven a MKI 997GT3, the 997GT3 is a superior car than the 996GT3, there are many P-car owners that have owned both and they will agree. Drive them back to back and it's like night and day between both cars.

Folks who were really serious about the 997GT3 ended up buying a 997GT3RS instead. BTW: The reason why the 2010 997GT3 has a hydraulic lift is because the new car is close to 1 inch lower than the MKI 997GT3 from the factory.

Anyways, just adding some facts.

I agree 100% wiith folks, the NSX looks more exotic than the GT3 and the driving position is superior to the Porsche, on the GT3 I felt like I was driving a Sedan when compared to the NSX.

For those folks that like to compare apples to oranges, a 997GT3 cup car does 1:49 at Thill Kip on his Driving Ambition Race NSX does about the same on slicks. If you still want to go faster just prop down some extra cash and you can get a 997GT3 RSR that can do a 12/24 hour enduro and be faster still

 

[NSXLuvr]

My biased opinion of a 997 GT3: It is the best car on the market today! It is deceivingly fast. It Handles great stock and amazing after dialing in the suspension or replacing it with Motons. The brakes are the best I have ever tested on a street car. The styling is timeless. The best thing is nobody wants to bother you or you donhave to worry about where you parked it b/c MOST people its just another Porsche! There are tons of MODS as long your only interest is tracking the car!:wink:

Regarding NSX Vs. GT3: It is complicated. The GT3 is superior in EVERY performance category. It has more power, better brakes, as good if not better handling, the brakes and steering give more feeback. It also has 15+ cubic feet of trunk space. However the seats are not as nice, you sit much higher up yet you don't get the view you get out of the NSX. The engine sounds good but not as great as a NSX motor being right behind your ear. The clutch is much stiffer and the shifter doesn't have the slotted feel of the NSX. On a 996 GT3 - the interior looks cheaper than the NSX interior(No offence to dxd). Many would say the timeless styling is outdated styling and needs major changes. That is somthing Porsche will NEVER do.

At the track - a stock GT3 with dialed(not modded) suspension will be much faster than a dialed(not modded) NSX. The short wheelbase and rear brake bias are a huge advantage on the track. Granted a 2004 GT3 SHOULD be superior to a car that was last updated in 1997! Again - I am specifically talking about stock. Once you make a street car into a DE car and subsequently into a track car then all these comparisons are futile.

The NSX is so good and comfortable to drive fast that you can actually get comfortable with it very quickly. What I mean is that there isn't a long a learning curve to it. That is also one of its downfalls. You get too comfortable with the car's performance envelope very quickly. The GT3 has a much longer, larger learning curve.

 

[mlambert890]

i consider the GT3 a *heavily* modified car. I dont consider it a "factory" car really. Its a tuned 996 or 997. Its just tuned by Porsche.

So a "stock for stock" comparo isnt really appropriate. This is one of the rare cases where I think "stock to modded" actually is appropriate. 996 C2 vs NSX, stock for stock, is appropriate.

Its true that at a certain point the NSX is no longer an NSX, but I dont think you'd need to do that to make the NSX competitive with the GT3.

For example... A great aftermarket suspension and brake setup along with some lightening and I/H/E I wouldnt consider turning the NSX into something else at all. And I think those mods would get you quite close.

The last step to getting to ballpark GT3 level would be adding power. That gets tricky in terms of keeping the cars original character. But since the Comptech SC setup was actually sold BY Acura dealers (I remember those days actually), I kind of consider that fair game. So lets say a CTSC with racing suspension and brembos, plus some basic lightening (the GT3 has AGGRESSIVE lightening)... I think thats a fairly close match.

 

[swbatte]

i consider the GT3 a *heavily* modified car. I dont consider it a "factory" car really. Its a tuned 996 or 997. Its just tuned by Porsche.

So a "stock for stock" comparo isnt really appropriate. This is one of the rare cases where I think "stock to modded" actually is appropriate. 996 C2 vs NSX, stock for stock, is appropriate.

Its true that at a certain point the NSX is no longer an NSX, but I dont think you'd need to do that to make the NSX competitive with the GT3.

For example... A great aftermarket suspension and brake setup along with some lightening and I/H/E I wouldnt consider turning the NSX into something else at all. And I think those mods would get you quite close.

The last step to getting to ballpark GT3 level would be adding power. That gets tricky in terms of keeping the cars original character. But since the Comptech SC setup was actually sold BY Acura dealers (I remember those days actually), I kind of consider that fair game. So lets say a CTSC with racing suspension and brembos, plus some basic lightening (the GT3 has AGGRESSIVE lightening)... I think thats a fairly close match.

You may be right, and the NSX would be definitely be competitive, there is no question about that. However, you would have spend around $20,000 modding the NSX and dollar for dollar that just doesn't make sense. This is why I sold my NSX after 6 years and 25 track days. I was near the performance envelope for it at the track and didn't want to put more $ into it.

My NSXs suspension compents were excellent and was completely tuned by a very reputable race shop, and the car was extremely balanced and planted. It had everything you discuss except the CTSC, and still didn't handle as well as my GT3. The brakes were upgraded as well, and made a huge difference on the track, but still not up to GT3 braking (yes I could of spent even more for more braking power). I considered adding the CTSC, but it was money I'd never really get back entirely, and require tuning to get the most of it etc. Not only that, but in my case I'd be intalling it on a 16 year old car (at the time). Moving on to the Porsche took the performance into a new level, and I can sell the P-car with a better resale than a highly modded NSX.


I'm not sure that I buy the logic of comparing the modded anything to factory anything is a valid when you're actually purchasing cars. The factory spends millions developing its "modded" cars. And CT, SOS, and others, while extremely good just don't have those resoursces to spend (making their products even more astonishing). However, after building 2 Hondas and the NSX, I personally prefer buying a car that performs the way I need it to out of the box. (This was highlighted to me when I had a completely built Prelude stolen and stripped, and got jack from the insurance for any mods).

I've spent wayyyyy to much time on this thread.

 

[LJSB]

The comparison doesn't make sense.

You compare the same year base 911 Carrera to the same year base NSX.

A comparison of a 2005 Porsche GT3 to 2005 NSX-R makes more sense.
Since we can't get a NSX-R in the states, really, what's the point of that comparison?

 

[dxd]

You may be right, and the NSX would be definitely be competitive, there is no question about that. However, you would have spend around $20,000 modding the NSX and dollar for dollar that just doesn't make sense. This is why I sold my NSX after 6 years and 25 track days. I was near the performance envelope for it at the track and didn't want to put more $ into it.

My NSXs suspension compents were excellent and was completely tuned by a very reputable race shop, and the car was extremely balanced and planted. It had everything you discuss except the CTSC, and still didn't handle as well as my GT3. The brakes were upgraded as well, and made a huge difference on the track, but still not up to GT3 braking (yes I could of spent even more for more braking power). I considered adding the CTSC, but it was money I'd never really get back entirely, and require tuning to get the most of it etc. Not only that, but in my case I'd be intalling it on a 16 year old car (at the time). Moving on to the Porsche took the performance into a new level, and I can sell the P-car with a better resale than a highly modded NSX.


I'm not sure that I buy the logic of comparing the modded anything to factory anything is a valid when you're actually purchasing cars. The factory spends millions developing its "modded" cars. And CT, SOS, and others, while extremely good just don't have those resoursces to spend (making their products even more astonishing). However, after building 2 Hondas and the NSX, I personally prefer buying a car that performs the way I need it to out of the box. (This was highlighted to me when I had a completely built Prelude stolen and stripped, and got jack from the insurance for any mods).

I've spent wayyyyy to much time on this thread.

You can purchase an extremely nice 04-05 GT3 (10k miles or less) in the 60K range whereas an 02+ NSX with similar miles will be a very similar price. Apples to Apples the GT3 performance for the same price is at a differentl level altogether end of discussion. There is no way anyone can try to argue that. The GT3 just pulls at any speed and you can feel the power reserves.

Again two very different cars both with there own respective strengths. I just feel fortunate to have both

 

[swbatte]

Again two very different cars both with there own respective strengths. I just feel fortunate to have both

You are a lucky bastard!:tongue:

 

[EuroBoutique]

You can purchase an extremely nice 04-05 GT3 (10k miles or less) in the 60K range whereas an 02+ NSX with similar miles will be a very similar price. Apples to Apples the GT3 performance for the same price is at a differentl level altogether end of discussion. There is no way anyone can try to argue that. The GT3 just pulls at any speed and you can feel the power reserves.

Again two very different cars both with there own respective strengths. I just feel fortunate to have both

I agree that dollar for dollar is the best comparo here and the nsx loses to the 996 GT3

But in racing who actually calculates dollar/performance anyways? Racers dump crazy $$$$ to get 1/10 faster :biggrin: Worth it to the racer but not to anyone else.

Now you just need a 997 GT3RS to complete your collection!

 

[tosugrad]

996 (regular) is a better comparison to an NSX. Very different car.

 

[dxd]

I agree that dollar for dollar is the best comparo here and the nsx loses to the 996 GT3

But in racing who actually calculates dollar/performance anyways? Racers dump crazy $$$$ to get 1/10 faster :biggrin: Worth it to the racer but not to anyone else.

Now you just need a 997 GT3RS to complete your collection!

That's it for a while... No more garage room

Not interested in the RS anyhow - too many electronic nannies... Love the 6 GT3 due to the rawness and basicness of the car. The last "raw" Porsche IMO...

 

[FXMDBilly]

Now you take both cars and drive down the strip in Vegas, and you'd get way more eyeball, and probably more dates driving the NSX.

Two very different cars, both are great. Most NSXs I see are used for cruising and spiritted driving. Almost everyone I know who owns a GT3 tracks it. The cars are used they way they were meant to be.

Been there, done that. The NSX is still a guy-magnet. I've had more guys than I can count talk to me and ask me about the car, car enthusiasts and ignorant people alike, women don't care. If that's what you're looking for, you're better off getting a simple boring 3 series BMW or a lifted truck.

Regarding NSX Vs. GT3: It is complicated. The GT3 is superior in EVERY performance category. It has more power, better brakes, as good if not better handling, the brakes and steering give more feeback. It also has 15+ cubic feet of trunk space. However the seats are not as nice, you sit much higher up yet you don't get the view you get out of the NSX. The engine sounds good but not as great as a NSX motor being right behind your ear. The clutch is much stiffer and the shifter doesn't have the slotted feel of the NSX. On a 996 GT3 - the interior looks cheaper than the NSX interior(No offence to dxd). Many would say the timeless styling is outdated styling and needs major changes. That is somthing Porsche will NEVER do.

At the track - a stock GT3 with dialed(not modded) suspension will be much faster than a dialed(not modded) NSX. The short wheelbase and rear brake bias are a huge advantage on the track. Granted a 2004 GT3 SHOULD be superior to a car that was last updated in 1997! Again - I am specifically talking about stock. Once you make a street car into a DE car and subsequently into a track car then all these comparisons are futile.

The NSX is so good and comfortable to drive fast that you can actually get comfortable with it very quickly. What I mean is that there isn't a long a learning curve to it. That is also one of its downfalls. You get too comfortable with the car's performance envelope very quickly. The GT3 has a much longer, larger learning curve.

For the record: GT3's (or any Porsche) dosn't have more rear brake bias than front. While it may have more rear bias relative to most other cars, it's far from having more rear bias than the front. Longer wheelbases are often considered an advantage and add stability, at the expense of being nimble, in a mid-engine car this is not as much of a concern.

It really wouldn't take that much to make an NSX faster than a GT3. An NA1 NSX can be had for $25K, add a $10K supercharger, $3K suspension, $4K for wheels and R-compound tires = $42K. That combination with 350-400whp should easily be a few seconds faster than a GT3.

GT3's are pretty much racecars for the street; factory track day cars (clubsport) -if you will. The motor mounts are very stiff and vibrate at idle, the whole suspension is heim-jointed (pillowball) and jab you with every irregularity in the road. A far cry from the luxury of a Porsche turbo. Awesome fun cars on the track though.

 

[NSXLuvr]

For the record: GT3's (or any Porsche) dosn't have more rear brake bias than front. While it may have more rear bias relative to most other cars, it's far from having more rear bias than the front. Longer wheelbases are often considered an advantage and add stability, at the expense of being nimble, in a mid-engine car this is not as much of a concern.

It really wouldn't take that much to make an NSX faster than a GT3. An NA1 NSX can be had for $25K, add a $10K supercharger, $3K suspension, $4K for wheels and R-compound tires = $42K. That combination with 350-400whp should easily be a few seconds faster than a GT3.

GT3's are pretty much racecars for the street; factory track day cars (clubsport) -if you will. The motor mounts are very stiff and vibrate at idle, the whole suspension is heim-jointed (pillowball) and jab you with every irregularity in the road. A far cry from the luxury of a Porsche turbo. Awesome fun cars on the track though.

My rebuttal:

For the Record, I NEVER said a GT3 has more rear bias than Front. That would be retarded. However having a rear engined car obviously leads to more help from the rear brakes since they are in front of the engine too. When you brake hard going into a turn, the weight transfer and deceleration is being managed over 4 discs/pads. This helps spread the braking load over 4 brake discs. This is theoretically superior to a ME(NSX) design or FE(Corvette) design for track use. For eg, I am sure the Porsche rear brakes work harder and have higher temps than a NSX's rear brakes. Again - I am specifically talking stock since Track cars have different brake systems, adjustable brake bias, etc etc.

Regarding your THEREOTICAL $42k NSX: I would much rather buy this: http://forums.rennlist.com/rennforums/996-gt2-gt3-forum/516652-fs-04-gt3-atlas-grey-48k-full-warranty-until-2012-a.html

Hmmm - Dry sump NA GT1 motor vs. a S/C NSX. Your kidding right! I mean I would understand the avg. NSX owner to be enthusiastic about their NSX but somebody with your track resume should clearly see which car would be better for track abuse. BTW, don't you wanna add another $1-2k for Accusump on that NSX!:wink::biggrin:

Finally - I would classify a GT3 more as a factory track day car than a true race car for the streets. In fact my stock GT3 is much more comfortable than my NSX with Type R suspension.

 

[Hugh]

GT3s are ugly little bastards. Not as ugly as a Z4 but damn close.

 

[2slow2speed]

My rebuttal:

For the Record, I NEVER said a GT3 has more rear bias than Front. That would be retarded. However having a rear engined car obviously leads to more help from the rear brakes since they are in front of the engine too. When you brake hard going into a turn, the weight transfer and deceleration is being managed over 4 discs/pads. This helps spread the braking load over 4 brake discs more. This is theoretically superior to a ME(NSX) design or FE(Corvette) design for track use. For eg, I am sure the Porsche rear brakes work harder and have higher temps than a NSX's rear brakes. Again - I am specifically talking stock since Track cars have different brake systems, adjustable brake, etc etc.

Regarding your THEREOTICAL $42k NSX: I would much rather buy this: http://forums.rennlist.com/rennforums/996-gt2-gt3-forum/516652-fs-04-gt3-atlas-grey-48k-full-warranty-until-2012-a.html

Hmmm - Dry sump NA GT1 motor vs. a S/C NSX. Your kidding right! I mean I would understand the avg. NSX owner to be enthusiastic about their NSX but somebody with your track resume should clearly see which car would be better for track abuse. BTW, don't you wanna add another $1-2k for Accusump on that NSX!:wink::biggrin:

Finally - I would classify a GT3 more as a factory track day car than a true race car for the streets. In fact my stock GT3 is much more comfortable than my NSX with Type R suspension.

Yep, totally agree a 997GT3 is not really a race car for the streets, the September issue of Excellence addressed just that exact point, they compared a 997GT3/997GT3RS/997CupCar at Thunderhill. The Cup car was close to 10 seconds faster per lap than the GT3's.

Back in the day when KO was still running his street legal NSX with R-comps/Hosiers it was posting laptimes comparable to what a 997GT3/997GT3RS posts stock as it comes from the factory. The 996GT3 is about 2 seconds off that pace. IMHO I think that the stock NSX brakes would not be able to slow down reliablly a FI NSX with a good driver, so it would probably cost another 4~5K to make the NSX competitive against a 996GT3.

The 997GT3 suspension is a nicely tuned suspension, better than the NSX-R suspension, it's possible to adjust the height (coilover from the factory) swaybar settings as well as being able to get very aggresive alignment specs.

That being said the 996GT3 suspension is about par with the NSX-R suspension when it comes to street ride harshness (still the 996GT3 suspension is adjustable when it comes to height, swaybars and aggresive alignment specs)

BTW: Just dropped by the local dealer to check out a MKII 997GT3 that they received a few days ago, the car was sitting next to a 997GT2 and it actually made the GT2 look tame in comparison and that is not something easy to do.

Hmm.. what to do, what to do, get a 997GT3 or a race prepped GenII Cayman from Napleton Porsche (http://www.napletonmotorsports.com/) that is faster than most 997GT3's out there or wait for Volkswagen to produce a Cayman RS sometime in the future. LOL.

 

[dxd]

Yep, totally agree a 997GT3 is not really a race car for the streets, the September issue of Excellence addressed just that exact point, they compared a 997GT3/997GT3RS/997CupCar at Thunderhill. The Cup car was close to 10 seconds faster per lap than the GT3's.

Back in the day when KO was still running his street legal NSX with R-comps/Hosiers it was posting laptimes comparable to what a 997GT3/997GT3RS posts stock as it comes from the factory. The 996GT3 is about 2 seconds off that pace. IMHO I think that the stock NSX brakes would not be able to slow down reliablly a FI NSX with a good driver, so it would probably cost another 4~5K to make the NSX competitive against a 996GT3.

The 997GT3 suspension is a nicely tuned suspension, better than the NSX-R suspension, it's possible to adjust the height (coilover from the factory) swaybar settings as well as being able to get very aggresive alignment specs.

That being said the 996GT3 suspension is about par with the NSX-R suspension when it comes to street ride harshness (still the 996GT3 suspension is adjustable when it comes to height, swaybars and aggresive alignment specs)

BTW: Just dropped by the local dealer to check out a MKII 997GT3 that they received a few days ago, the car was sitting next to a 997GT2 and it actually made the GT2 look tame in comparison and that is not something easy to do.

Hmm.. what to do, what to do, get a 997GT3 or a race prepped GenII Cayman from Napleton Porsche (http://www.napletonmotorsports.com/) that is faster than most 997GT3's out there or wait for Volkswagen to produce a Cayman RS sometime in the future. LOL.

That Cayman looks awesome! That must be one hell of a fun car to track. Price seems pretty reasonable for what you get. Do you know the weight of the car and is it street legal?

 

[NSXLuvr]

DXD - that cayman S is a pure track car. It won't be street legal and is specifically being built for a Spec Cayman S race class.

Ken - Good to hear from you brother. Its been a long time. Why did you get rid of your GT3? How often are you hitting the tracks? What about a Spec Boxster for $35k? or a MX-5 Cup car for $30k. Why not just get a 996 cup or a sorted track day car instead of spending $80K on the Spec CS?

Ritesh.

 

[WingZ]

You can purchase an extremely nice 04-05 GT3 (10k miles or less) in the 60K range whereas an 02+ NSX with similar miles will be a very similar price. Apples to Apples the GT3 performance for the same price is at a differentl level altogether end of discussion. There is no way anyone can try to argue that. The GT3 just pulls at any speed and you can feel the power reserves.

Again two very different cars both with there own respective strengths. I just feel fortunate to have both

Well but isn't this because the Porsches don't hold their value I mean how much was the GT3 new?

I agree that dollar for dollar is the best comparo here and the nsx loses to the 996 GT3

Not really as you can't fault the NSX for holding it's value better than the Porsche.

996 (regular) is a better comparison to an NSX. Very different car.

Yes as the NSX sold here is basically the base model with the targa option. No one ever seems to go into turning a regular 911 into a track car vs NSX comparison. I guess it's a testament to it's goodness that it's being compared to higher priced to begin with cars.

 

[2slow2speed]

DXD - that cayman S is a pure track car. It won't be street legal and is specifically being built for a Spec Cayman S race class.

Ken - Good to hear from you brother. Its been a long time. Why did you get rid of your GT3? How often are you hitting the tracks? What about a Spec Boxster for $35k? or a MX-5 Cup car for $30k. Why not just get a 996 cup or a sorted track day car instead of spending $80K on the Spec CS?

Ritesh.

Hey Ritesh,

Yep, it's been a while.

I sold the 996GT3 because it didn't make too much sense to have 2 track oriented cars at the same time sitting in my garage and I actually enjoyed driving my track NSX more than the GT3. There were rumors going around about the 997GT3 as well, so making the decission to sell the car before it took a big depreciation hit was another factor as well.

Funny thing is that I already had the 996GT3RS front bumper installed on the car, had EuroSpec GT3 seats sitting in my garage and had been exchanging emails with Gert in Europe (www.carnewal.com) to source the front suspension from the RS as well as the rear decklid/wing along with some of the other bits.

Had I waited and purchased a 997GT3 instead, that car would probably still be sitting in my garage, the 997GT3 is a much better car than a 996GT3.

I've considered BSR's, John (mooty@rennlist/porscheplanet/etc/etc) campaigns one and I've been on track with a couple of them, they are nice race cars if you plan to actually compete in a spec racing series only. But just like a Miata Cup car/Spec Miata, when you have a mixed field they tend to feel quite slow in comparision and being constantly overtaken by faster traffic is no fun

A 996Cup car hasn't really crossed my mind because there are so many of those that have had a rough life, TRG and privateers here in NorCal go through them qute a bit so they are available, the cost of consumables like front rotors, wheels, tires is really up there, once you start talking about clutch/trannies/engines it's completely prohibitive. So the cost of the car might not be that high but the high cost for upkeep is a real pain.

There are many well sorted track cars out there due to the economy, again many of those have many one-off components that are hard to source if things go wrong. It's just like a 3.8L NSX, if anything goes wrong with the engine there is a potential for a lot of downtime.

I've been tracking my 08Cayman S about once a month these days the car in stock form is about 2~3 seconds off from my NSX so it's a very capable car/platform, I have a bunch of goodies (aero/suspension/swaybars/end-links/harness bar/seats/etc/ec) that are ready to go on the car but I keep asking myself if it would make more sense to keep my current car streetable and just buy a Interseries Cayman for the track. Been floating the idea of co-owning a car with a couple of local P-car folks. The cars being built by Napleton have stock engines/trannies/brakes so the cost for upkeep should be relatively low compared to a CupCar or a GT3 so that is something else that keeps me leaning towards a GenII Cayman racecar.

Track modded Exige's are tempting too, there is a large contingent of them, and those cars give a good run for the money and are competitive as well, but getting parts can be a challenge.

Ken

 

[NSXLuvr]

996 (regular) is a better comparison to an NSX. Very different car.

Very true!! When I was in the market for the NSX(2002) I compared it to a 996 and decided that I would MUCH rather own a NSX than 996 Carrera.

IMHO a NSX>996 as a sports car, track car, date night car etc etc. The 996 has FUGLY headlights, RMS issues, crappy interior(Sorry again DXD). The 996 GT3 was a step up in Performance though and IMHO a superior track toy.

The 997S(especially the 2009 MY with 385 HP) is almost as fast a GT3 yet it more civilized for trips, date nights, kiddos etc. In other words it is a more capable sports car yet is more versatile than a NSX.

The 997 GT3 is just amazing. I'm telling you guys - go drive one for a day and then report back. I still get a Shit eating grin when I ring it out. It really is THAT good.

Now don't get me wrong, No car is perfect. MY GT3 has RMS issues It also has shifter that won't go into 3rd gear when the suspension is loaded(i.e. on the track). The damn cermanic brake discs are ridiculously expensive if you screw them up. The NSX clutch/tranmission feel and mechanism is FAR superior.

Anyways - I will quit talking about my cars. Life is too short to drink only one type of beer or drive/own only one sports car. Enjoy whatever you own and go put some miles of smiles on it!

Good Night Gentlemen.

 

[FXMDBilly]

Regarding your THEREOTICAL $42k NSX: I would much rather buy this: http://forums.rennlist.com/rennforu...tlas-grey-48k-full-warranty-until-2012-a.html

Hmmm - Dry sump NA GT1 motor vs. a S/C NSX. Your kidding right! I mean I would understand the avg. NSX owner to be enthusiastic about their NSX but somebody with your track resume should clearly see which car would be better for track abuse. BTW, don't you wanna add another $1-2k for Accusump on that NSX!:wink::biggrin:

Finally - I would classify a GT3 more as a factory track day car than a true race car for the streets. In fact my stock GT3 is much more comfortable than my NSX with Type R suspension.

My rebuttal:

Porsche's are fantastic cars. The GT3's dry-sump motor, heim-joint (spherical bearing) control arms, very stiff motor mounts, etc... all make the GT3 a factory track car, and a big compromise in comfort for lawyers and doctors. Funny thing is that a 997 GT3 on DOT tires is about as fast as the Showroom Stock Grand Am Koni Challenge GS Porsche's i've raced. Of course it's no GT3 cup car or RSR, but even our race cars don't have as many heim joints as a factory GT3.

The GT3's still pretty heavy at ~3,175lbs. I'm pretty confident a NSX with good tires and suspension, and a SC (which will make more power than the GT3) and is a couple hundred pounds lighter than the GT3, will be faster. I was only a couple seconds off my buddy in a GT3 with R-compound tires and KW coilovers in another buddie's NSX (with passenger), coilovers, I/H/E, and the very poor US gear ratio. I think with the JDM gear ratio (which he just installed) and a better LSD, his N/A car can be just as fast if not faster.

0.02

p.s. i'm far from a fanboy for any model car (including the NSX), each car has their strengths, weaknesses, and character. I have my first GS win in a Porsche and really enjoy driving them: