Is Porsche's first GT3 worthy of being your dream car?

I believe the 996 GT3 is an under appreciated masterpiece.
In the video I try to explain what it is I love about this car and what it is like to drive.
00:00 Intro
00:34 POV Exhaust Puresound
01:15 Start of Commentary: This 996 GT3 is my dream car
02:08 Why I think the 996 demands more respect. A look at ECOTY.
05:23 Talking briefly about the 997.1 C2S Manual
06:37 The Headlights and Interior quality
08:38 The styling of the 996
10:02 Talking about this particular car
10:44 The Club Sport package
12:00 Comparing the 996.1 GT3 to the 996.2 GT3
13:15 The mods on this car
15:45 Start of driving reviewing

[@MD-qp8gj]

I installed a short shift kit with a function first bearing kit. I also have 996 gt3 cup car shifter cables. I love it.

[@FizzyMotors]

Thanks for sharing. Will look into it

[@fastdays_1]

Can you link some details about that shift kit? how much roughly for the whole kit + the cup shifter cables? thanks!

[@greggoose1]

Wow amazing video. Probably the best I've seen on the 996 gt3. I am in total agreement with you, the 996 gt3 is the one to have for the rawness factor, but also the size of the car and narrow body. I love the look, and it's a perfect size. It's not going to be under appreciated for long though. I can't believe you were thinking of selling! Cheers from Northern California. I daily a 1999 E55 but eventually want a 996 gt3 as my weekend toy.

[@FizzyMotors]

wow thanks, that's a very high praise. I am glad you enjoyed it. I have a friend who drifts his W210 E55, they look so classy and easy to drift. Wish you best of luck with attaining a GT3 soon

[@cctoronto]

Love the E55!

[@greggoose1]

@@FizzyMotors Of course! Loved the video. You really captured the rawness of the car, and how it rides. Great camera and audio setup. I also agree with your review of the car. & yes the W210 E55 is my favorite daily driver I've owned thus far. I wonder what you would think of a manual 360 Ferrari as well. Would be a cool comparison.

[@maxmeier532]

I'd prefer a video where the driver doesnt try to kill other people in traffic.

[@FizzyMotors]

oops

[@FizzyMotors]

noticed I made a mistake at 12:00 stating that the 996.1 GT3 had a smaller displacement than the 996.2! I was thinking of the regular Carrera. This is in fact wrong. Both were 3.6L Mezgers from the start, but the .2 made 21 more horsepowers

[@sklyrovka]

more like 40+hp in real life :)

[@scuderiapraga6815]

What a nice example. Bravo.

[@geoffclarke3796]

Great cars. I had a 996.1 GT3 Club Sport for 12 years and loved it especially after I had the Manthey K400 upgrade which pushed power up to around 400bhp.

[@FizzyMotors]

Is the manthey upgrade for the .1 an intake kit, exhaust manifold, and tune? How was it?

[@foxx1111]

7:46 had one brand new in 1988 did 12k in 12months... the black plastic dash trim in the 996, just pop them out and paint them all black, looks better and doesnt seem cheap.

[@madmaxou812]

good work...very accurate.....had mine for 20yrs

[@stephenauty2402]

I love the interior , it's so simple and basic which is perfect , plus there are millions of secondhand parts for sale as it shares the same interior with the Boxster 986 (apart from the clock binnacle)

[@RS-jb1lf]

I’m with you. I love the 996 GT3 Mk2. I remember being behind one on the Nurburgring in 2008 and the bark, the way it moved and from what I have seen in videos is this is the perfect drivers car.

[@FizzyMotors]

Thanks. If you have the time please check out my other recent video of the GT3 drifting on track. It's so much fun and predictable. Honestly one of the best track experiences for me.

[@cctoronto]

Just discovered your video! Thank you for posting it. I have Biarritz White Mk.1. Probably the best bargain that one could get on the road, for ANY car at ANY price point, quite literally; with the added double barrelled bonus of, quite literally, being arguably THE best car on the road of ANY car, for ANY driver, at the time (2/20). I don’t see how it’s value, or its ability to deliver pure driving pleasure (no Nannies in the .1) to the driver can fade. The car is a star, with direct race engine (including direct to both the 962C and the 959) pedigree. My ass tells me that the damping is literally perfect. I have the CS material (Perlon?) seats in a Comfort model, no cage, no kill switch, no fire extinguisher. Wouldn’t take much to fully convert it-the hard part was the seats! Anyhow, thank you again for sharing and I appreciate it if you’ve made it this far! Bravo on the automotive dream acquisition! 👏🏻🇨🇦

[@FizzyMotors]

You're totally right. I have been lucky enough to sample quite a few GT cars amongst my group of friends, and I have to say the 996 GT3 is a truly special driver's car. The rawness, mechanical noise, and *fizziness* is the best of any water cooled 911s. They cannot possibly make another car like this, and that is why I believe it will go down in the history as one of the most special modern Porsches. Thanks again for your very nice comment, it totally made my day

[@cctoronto]

@@FizzyMotors Glad my comment had an impact, glad to have improved your day. Where I’m located (Toronto, CA), the .1 was never sold (mine came from Japan), so it really catches the knowledgeable eye, which makes you feel good!

[@munichicons8534]

Damn, you own a GT3 996 in Thailand, that’s almost like pure gold! These things are so insanely expensive there. I just bought a 996.1 and that was already a huge bite out of my pocket, there’s no way I can justify to buy a GT3.

[@FizzyMotors]

Yea it’s stupid money. But its a case of money out - money in. You buy expensive and you sell expensive. Overall ownership cost is also expensive though… Mk1 are very nice. I had a C2 mk2 before the gt3. And i actually kind of miss it. But the GT3 is just in another ball game

[@munichicons8534]

@@FizzyMotors cost of ownership doesn’t scare me that much. I’m in the process of starting a new garage in Pathum Thani dedicated to these cars and related models so servicing and repairs will be done by ourselves. If I had money to spare I definitily look at the GT3 but for now a modest C2 will suffice and gives me also the opportunity of modifying and upgrading it whereas a GT3 s better left alone.

[@damnning3972]

nice one！most clear .2 gt3 ever！

[@juhakivekas2175]

Great car. My dream car is is the 996 GT3 RS (which admittedly is way too stiff for road). I own a 996.1 C2. But, complete waste on those roads you drove. And you did drive crazy and too fast on a road like that. Go to a proper road.and enjoy really. You can not enjoy in that kinda trafic. You never know what the other people are doing, especially in Asia. The biggest noise source in any 911 is the rear wheels - regardless of the model year.

[@FizzyMotors]

Thank you for your comment. The 996.1 C2 is a great car. In the right spec you can get the lightest ever water-cooled 911, around 1300kg, which is even lighter than the GT3! I used to have a 996.2 CC2 it was a great all rounder, but I wanted something more special that I can enjoy less regularly. I'm really not driving that fast, maybe the footage may seem that way, but I am keeping a lot of safety margin while driving. Also you might assume that I only drive on these city roads, but of course I don't. I take this GT3 on road trips in the mountain roads and on track days every 3 or 4 months. I even posted a video of the GT3 on track before. Please be assured that I am using the car the way it is meant to be used, and not keeping it as some garage queen.

[@juhakivekas2175]

@@FizzyMotors When the 996 was launched Porsche quoted 1320 kg but that is a really lean spec. My car is around 1360 kg with a weight split 38/62. I am planning to make it lighter. Some steps are easy. Simply swapping swapping away from e-seats to a carbon bucket will give you around 30 kg. I got one set of OZ Alleggerita wheels which save me 17 kg and my OEMs as well as OZs are 18”. My car runs -20 mm ride height which gives me a little too much rear neg camber even at minimum and I wear my rears quite quickly from the inside shoulders. I have driven 996.1 GT3 and the engine is marvellous. When it wakes up really at around 4000 rpm the engine note turns to race engine sound and it makes the adrenaline flow. Ive also codriven a 997.1 GT3 - very similar from the side seat but obviously interior feels more hi quality in the 997. My car has Bilstein B16 PSS10 suspension, Powerflex bushes, Eibach adj. rear AR-bar and all the required engine mods done with a LN IMSB, RMS, X51 sump and scavenger, cooler thermostat, AOS, starter, upgraded water pump, center cooler, rally lights. This winter I have shortened maintenance list (due to covid muted business activities). I have already purchased new cats but Im also considering headers and lighter silencers. One thing that is overdue is a new windscreen. It’s a pain to drive against the sun. I had also an Eibach adj. front ARB but it made the car too warp stiff and darty so I reverted the OEM back. Yes, and I have the 993 LSD. ive driven a similar car without LSD back to back hi grip surface and I felt very little difference. In the winter LSD makes the car a bit more sudden but still I find it a very easy winter car with excellent traction and handling. My car has been set so that it has very little if any understeer and I tend to trail brake. Sure if you straight brake and push it early it will understeer but I find that style not suiting me. Im more of wannabe rally than a wannabe race driver I guess :)))) My dampers are set fairly soft at front (2…3/10) and fairly stiff at rear (7…8/10) this helps turn in and I get less that famous 911 front bounce. To spin the car you really have to make a big judgement error. IMO it is always a drver error rather than a character of the car. I dont find the handling difficult on the snow either. It is actually a very easy car on the snow. Of course you got to be smooth and quick transiting from brakes to throttle and get the timing right. But when you know the car and its handling I find this so beautiful and intuitive to drive. And to be honest on a rather bad quality B-roads here (Finland) my car is better to drive than the GT3 I tried. Optimally I’d like to have a slightly softer springs and ARBs to get the suspension warp mode a bit softer. Then again my car has a spot on turn in right now. I have three sets of tyres on wheels. - 225/40 18 + 285/30 18 Michellin PS2 - 225/40 18 Bridg Pot SO2(A) + 295/30 18 Conti SportContact (cause I ran out of the rear SO2s) - 205/45 17 + 245/55 17 Michelin X-Ice North with studs for winter. Ive had PS2, Supersport and the Conti and my favorite tyre has been the Potenza with a very stiff side wall. Unfortunately you can not get them anymore and it turned out that the combo with rear Contis is not really an ideal one because the Contis have much softer side walls and this makes it a little unstable at turn in and road grooves. I will get the Contis to the fr too which will calm the handling. As you know the 911 wears almost three sets of rears while only one at front. The fronts can easily do the 6 years while the rears take usually two seasons to wear the inside shoulder to carcass. Ive tried 265, 275, 285 and 295 at rear and I think 295 is already too much. I’d say on an uneven B-road the ideal is 265-275 and on the track 285. For snow - the narrowest you can find. All and all my 996 is one of the best purchases of my life. It has given me so much joy and fulfilment. Everytime I drive I feel free, blessed and full of gratitude - which is the best feeling of all. I dont think I will ever sell the car and as much as I desire a GT3 I dont really need more performance other than make the car lighter. I try to make the engine more reliable. The Carrera engine is not the best engine (Mezger) Porsche has made.

[@FizzyMotors]

wow! I did not expect such a long and detailed reply. thanks! im sorry its taken me two days to read your comment, been so busy with work. you seem to be very experienced and VERY VERY deep in the wonderful rabbit hole of the 996. I have full respect for those who drive and experiment with their cars, especially testing them near or at the limit. this is what these cars are made for! It makes me wonder with the amount of money that you've spent on the 996, could you have purchased a GT3 instead??? But I full understand. it's the journey and all the experiences that you've collected that truly matters.

[@juhakivekas2175]

@@FizzyMotors Well, my original target was 964/993 and I had the budget but being almost 2 m tall I just could not get comfortable in the old air cooled ones so I ended up buying a very good Carrera sample with only 70 000 km. The comparison of Carrera + enhancements vs. a GT3 is not a valid one. The GT3 would have also gotten enhancements because like you say it is journey and it is a hobby and my budget couldn’t do a GT3. But I have driven one enough to know what it is like. The big difference is the engine. The Carrera engine is a sports car engine but the Mezger is a race engine. GT3 also has a better gearbox - but just imagine the amount of money going into ratios and the engine. Everything in the Mezger is about 4 times as expensive as in Carrera engine. If I win in the lottery I will get a 996 GT3 RS with blue decals :)))) But hey, Im 60 so the Carrera is fine with me. Im not as good a driver as I used to be - and a GT3 deserves a good driver.

[@FizzyMotors]

I had the same original target. I wanted to buy an air cooler originally, but those cars are so insanely expensive now. Hopefully one day I will buy one. You are right about the GT3. Most of the standard Carrera can be modified to be close to the GT3, except for the engine. The Mezger engine on the 996 is great, but it's not the main highlight of the car. So from your point of view, I think your C2 is already good enough.

[@onbooSTI]

I would love to hear your thoughts about your 996.2 vs a 997.1 or 997.2 GT3. I'm seriously considering one of the three. THX

[@FizzyMotors]

Sadly i never driven any of 997 GT cars. In my mind they should be the holy grail, but cant comment until i try one. But according to the guy who i bought the 996 GT3 from, he bought a 997 GT3RS after he sold the 996, the 996 is still the rawest car he’s owned.

[@onbooSTI]

@@FizzyMotorsI also believe that the 996 is the rawest. It seems that the 997s' front is more planted, which to me is not necessarily a good thing, because I like the feel of a light and loose front-end, which the 996 still has (right?). I mainly do street driving.

[@FizzyMotors]

@@onbooSTI yes the 996 front end feels very delicate and light. I swear one time when i was driving with low fuel for a few days and when i finally filled it to full I instantly felt the front end was heavier when turning out of the gas station.

[@stephenauty2402]

You're so right , the 996 GT3 in both forms is an absolute gem and a car that will just keep going up in value. Where is this filmed? Is it Thailand? Did you import the car? You could get a really good one for about £60k 3 yrs ago , now they're like £85k. I bought a mint Turbo instead as I take trips into Europe with my wife and I thought a GT3 would be too uncomfortable (we're 52yrs old as well) but I sometimes wish I 'd bought a GT3..the Turbo is fantastic too btw...just a different experience. Great review , you did a good job.

[@FizzyMotors]

Thank you for your compliment. Yes, this is filmed in Thailand. You'd lose your mind if I told you how expensive these are here.... Let's just say it costs more than a new GT3 in the UK.... The Turbo is also a nice choice, my good friend actually had 2 996 Turbos before, one is a cabriolet and the other is a coupe manual. Both were excellent cars with a surprising amount of performance. But my opinion with 996 Turbos is that, the newer 911s can offer a better "turbo experience", whereas the 996 GT3's combination of rawness and sharpness cannot really be found in newer 911s. For that reason, I think the 996 GT3 is the car to keep. By the way, you cannot just simply import a car into Thailand. it's very expensive and some say near impossible. The combination of being a RHD country, insane import taxes, and very stringent import laws makes the classic car market in Thailand a bubble of its own.

[@stephenauty2402]

@@FizzyMotors that’s so interesting, the DVLA in UK is actually so easy to use and they’re quite helpful with importing vehicles from Europe or the US. UK prices are some of the cheapest in the world for these sort of cars which I find strange but comparing with Germany we’re 20-30% less.

[@FizzyMotors]

@@stephenauty2402 yea used cars in the UK are insanely cheap, I often feel very jealous of you guys.

[@GT380man]

@@FizzyMotorsThey’re cheaper in U.K. because we don’t appreciate some cars like we should. I’ve just bought a 996.2 40th anniversary edition in GT silver. It’s just lovely, ultra low mileage (12.5k miles) kept in a cool, dark garage car. Feels almost new.

[@FizzyMotors]

@@GT380man There was a 40th Jahre for sale in thailand just two months ago. The only one in Thailand I think. Such a lovely car

[@Inazuma68]

Pretty on point 👌 I drive one for 2 years now and I love it. Lol I watch Misha every day. I have also the Clubsport and took out the front part of the cage because it a bit of a fuze to get in and out. I believe the Clubsport always has the Nomex seats which are non flamable. The leather seats were in the comfort version. Here in Switzerland the narrow body is perfect on small mountain roads. Cheers and enjoy a real and raw race car for the roads. You will never ever get something like that

[@FizzyMotors]

Thanks! I heard by removing the front half of the cage youre actually reducing the rigidity of the car, but it’s not like normal people like me can notice. Im very jealous of the roads and beautiful scenery of Switzerland, what a beautiful country.

[@cctoronto]

@@FizzyMotors the car is already seriously torsionally extremely rigid. Hand built in Flacht (racing car manufacturing department, separate from the main line building (Werk II), stitch welded, starting with the C4 chassis, not the C2 for rigidity. Not hard to get one wheel in the air when turning onto an incline! LOL! Interesting side note, I believe your RHD GT3 has a 64-ish litre fuel tank, whereas the LHD GT3s had 90+ litre tanks..

[@FizzyMotors]

Thanks for the fun fact about the fuel tank size. 90+ lit is crazy! very cool And yea, I frequently get the car on to 3 wheels when going up the ramp(at an angle) at my house. Although I must say even my civic type R (JDM FD2) does that.

[@cctoronto]

@@FizzyMotors that Type R doing that doesn’t surprise me!

[@Euphorica]

Amazing cars.

[@expresenator]

greetings from malaysia! you have a pristine example, it’s a keeper! mine’s in speed yellow, about to repaint soon. also looking to replace the clutch - which brand/ model are you using? and where did you buy it from, available in thailand?

[@FizzyMotors]

thanks! speed yellow is the perfect color for this car. I actually have no idea what clutch is on the car, because it was done by the previous-previous owner. And no, Thailand does not stock GT3 parts. All of them must be ordered from overseas.

[@realyield]

Great video

[@SupermotoCentral]

Amazing car, interesting that you don’t have the console delete. Would clean up the interior a bit.

[@FizzyMotors]

Yea i agree, itll look even more timeless without it. But i use it to keep my phone and wallet when driving.

[@bcut]

👏👏👏👏👏👏🙌Thank you for sharing! :)

[@unathimichaelmxaku8105]

Total drivers car

[@Horizontally.Opposed]

No 996.1 Gen love...

[@NudaMan]

Now this is what I like very minimalist type of setup, no driving aids just me and the car, exactly how I like my motorcycles too even though all liter bikes are stupid at this point unless you race… These cars are so expensive rn 🥲, but eventually I’ll have one!

[@javelsaudades6537]

Don’t you have any country roads to drive these beauties on?😊

[@FizzyMotors]

Lol, Of course i do. But i dont video them because i want to enjoy the moment for myself. I also track this car every fee months or so. Dont worry its being used the way it’s meant to be used.

[@javelsaudades6537]

@@FizzyMotors I can see that you’re a good driver! Just wondered about other roads. What about you showing yourself? Namaste!!!!

[@FizzyMotors]

I dont feel confident talking in front of the camera. maybe one day.... im happy with keeping it as POV though. I dont like the attention.