(keys jingle)
(silly car imitations)
- Ya know you're drivin' a cool car
when the car key is the car.
It's a miniature version of the car.
Neat.
It's always a good day when you have
a GT3 RS as your daily for a week.
I know, it's a hard life sometimes,
but somebody's gotta live it and his name is me.
I gotta deal with the bad hair days
just like everybody else, but,
at least, I have a $200,000 Porsche that I got to do it in.
I'm Alex, alex.fi on the 'gram, and on today's episode of
So You Want, we're talking about the car
that has riddled the YouTube searches,
has decimated all in reviews,
they haven't had to put any parts from Japan,
overseas, or anything like that,
has set the bar for performance
and track cars from around the world yet, again.
Am I hyping it up too much?
Probably, because it doesn't really matter.
Anyway, we're talking about the iconic,
the lovely, the kinda quirky, the GT3 RS.
The Porsche GT3 RS.
Porsche! Uh!
(heavy bass music)
(car speeding loudly)
If you haven't subscribed yet, seriously, just do it now.
I don't know what we gotta do at this point,
I've literally pulled out as many stops as humanly possible,
making fun of my insecurities,
stealing, I mean borrowing cars.
Also, if you're looking for wheel, tires, or suspension,
be sure to hit up FitmentIndustries.com,
where we have the fastest
and largest aftermarket car gallery in the world,
it's pretty rad.
This car's on Stockers, so it wouldn't make
it in the gallery, but that's okay,
because you wanna know what?
(coughing laughter)
It's a GT3 RS.
And if you're lookin' to win a free set of Konig wheels,
description, link below.
We partnered with Konig to give away a free set of wheels
and donate some money to the ASPCA.
But that's enough hype and call
to actions and that sort of stuff.
Taking it back to the age of 1973,
when USA was finally withdrawing from Vietnam,
the World Trade Center was finally erect.
(snorts)
Erect.
And the Chrysler and other US car makers
were closing plants, because, hey,
it's just a thing that US automakers seem
to do all the time, it's not just now,
it's not just 10 years ago, it's been forever.
Over, across the way, Porsche developed
the Porsche Carrera RS.
RS standing for rennsport, or racing sport, in English.
The car, itself, was an upgraded 911,
with staggering performance.
Zero to 60 in 5.6 seconds, 100 miles per hour in 12.8,
and 150 mile an hour car that was no bigger than a Miata.
The car had an iconic rear deck and front splitter,
which was almost always paired
with the legendary RS livery on the sides.
Besides the fact that this old school RS
had mechanical Bosch, Bosch, Bosch fuel injections,
stiffer suspension, and wider wheels,
it was a car that many deemed to be, at the time,
the car the truly set Porsche apart,
especially in the '70's.
The RS models were, they were a bit peculiar,
as they were built, in name, for the classes of racing
that they were supposed to participate in,
but as trim levels upgraded,
such as the Turbo and the RSR,
the simple RS badge kinda began,
began to wane in it's significance.
The RS badge, itself, would come in and out
of Porsche's timeline, like James' dad, when he was a kid.
The 964 would see an RS badge,
in the form of a wide and angry looking 911.
Now, the same attributes apply to the new variant of the RS,
lightweight, more power, stiffer suspension,
and putting the driver just a little bit close to,
a little bit closer, a little bit closer
to consistent death.
Although there are and were other RS models
throughout the years, the '73 2.7 RS was the iconic
RS that the GT3 RS carries it's heritage from.
I don't know how many more letters I need to put
in these timelines, but you gotta keep up, all right?
And enter the initial and first year
of the death machine, known as the 996 GT3.
It was the 1999 model that was named
after FIA's group, GT3 racing series.
Because Porsche's creative like that
and reestablished a racing spec oriented version of the 911
that wasn't under their Turbo line.
Which, by the way, they may have the egg headlights
at the time, but the 996 GT3 and the 996 Turbo
were absolutely praised for how gnarly they were,
even though, with the change to water cooled.
So, get out of my face about it, okay?
I understand, the headlights, they're not the circular ones,
they're like, one of the ones that weren't circ...
I get it, all right?
They're frowned upon, they're not that great.
You wanna a great performance car?
Go pick up a Turbo, wrap it, like I did,
and just pray that everybody thinks it's a 997.
(loud laugh)
In 2003, Porsche decided that we needed
a scarier version of the GT3, though,
which would be dubbed the GT3 RS,
built as a...
- [Phone Voice] Homologation.
- ...special and carrying the RS badge from the '70's,
the GT3 RS, hold on, would be even more nuts, dude.
Polycarbonate, rear window, carbon fiber hood and wing,
stiffer shocks, and instead of a proper badge on the hood,
you've got a sticker, a sticker,
because it was to save weight.
It wasn't even because it wanted...
I just don't even have to wanna talk about it.
It was just, it was weird.
In terms of collectibility, the 996 GT3 RS takes the cake
next to the normal, original Carrera.
Why?
Well, because they're about $350,000
and they are rare as all hell.
If you can find one in the United States,
you're not watching this video.
Enter in the 997.1 GT3 RS in the beginning of 2006
and you begin to see the changes take place
to begin pushing Porsche towards innovation.
It used the all wheel drive body
for a wider stance and more tire.
It re-tuned the 3.6 flat-six
and gave it a revised body style.
But the car wasn't an incredible step
from the 996 GT3 to the 997.1 GT3 RS.
At least, not enough for people to praise it
like the other Porsche models.
And then, and then it came.
(heavy breath out)
2009, the year that everyone was backing down
in it's automotive production, because you know,
(loud clap)
recession.
Porsche introduced the king of the hill
because Porsche just, that's what they do,
they really don't care.
The 997.2 GT3 RS.
This car was considered, by most,
if not all Porsche enthusiasts,
one of the best driving cars you could buy.
The 3.8 liter, 450 horse power, sounded like a bunch
of bolts rattling around in an empty box,
but the car was astounding.
The US would only see a handful of these cars,
because, yet again, US was just, they get
the short end of the stick.
Queue the song.
Porsche was so weird with their cars at the time
that they just wanted to prove just
how track-prepped their off the lot GT3 RS truly was.
So, I mean, what could you possibly
do to prove a point like that?
Well, it's a great question and a great answer.
They decided to enter it into the 24 Hour of Nurgburg.
Even with the last minute change to the Porsche team,
they ended up 42nd overall and 9th amongst
the 17 SP7 class entrance.
The street legal GT3 RS was only beaten
by it's own race prepped variance of the same platform.
The road legal car did 145 laps,
which was only 9 less than the winning,
track prepped BMW at the time.
Once the race had concluded, it actually just drove
back onto the main fair and drove it's happy,
little Volkswagen (bleep) back, another 306 kilometers home.
Because it wanted to prove a point.
The GT3 RS would, practically just
be the car, that was the car.
In terms of the ultimate performance, it was it.
And then, the 991 came along.
The 991.1 had turbo-like intakes, a roof made of magnesium,
seats from the 918 Spider, door straps, instead a handles,
and a robust 4 liter motor that no longer sounded
like a box a bolts rattling around in the back of the trunk.
It just kinda sounded like a box of bolts,
battling around with a blanket around it.
Only issue that people saw was
the fact that in the middle, right?
The middle section, it's below the radio,
it's above the non-existent cup holder,
was the gear shifter.
The 991.1 GT3 RS L-M-N-O-P-Q-R-S-T-U-V
came in a PDK transmission only.
PDK stands for Porsche-Doppelkupplungsgetriebe.
Pfffff...
I'm not even gonna try again.
And that made a lot of people upset.
But, it really was actually,
it's really good transmission, I'm sorry.
The 991.2 GT3 RS though,
this beautiful lizard green one behind me,
is the most recent update to the RS platform,
optioning a manual gearbox for those hardcore manual guys,
and offering the PDK and relieving all
of the previous first-gen issues,
so the GT3 RS instantly spike in popularity.
So many numbers and letters. Are you still with me?
Okay. Good.
So, you want a GT3 RS, well, buckle up, buddy,
because I'm about to show you everything
you need to know before jumping into one.
First thing's first, the 996 GT3 RS' are impossible
to get unless you won the lottery
and even with the money, you may not be able to find one.
They are extremely raw-feel and the closest thing
to the window makers of the day.
The 997.1 is very similar to the 996 platform,
so most people that would be interested a 997 platform
should aim for the 997.2,
as it features way more significant changes.
Couple problems with snagging these.
They are equally overpriced and here's why,
when the 991.1 released and Porsche announced
that it would only come in the PDK,
Porsche-Doppelk... pshh pfftt
transmission, the world exploded.
People praised the 997.2 would be the last true GT3 RS
and prices, they followed accordingly.
Up to the point of $400,000.
That's a minty fresh, five bedroom, four bath,
4,000 square foot home up here.
The 997.2 GT3 RS would likely take
the number one spot for the crown.
But there are still some features the 991 variant,
GT3 RS, that make it truly an upgrade
if you can afford the price tag.
And, actually, if you're looking at the 997,
versus the 991, it's actually, some cases,
this is, this is cheaper than the others.
So, just keep that in mind a little bit.
The 991.1 hosted some peculiar issues,
resulting in extended warranties,
full engine replacement, and a lot more.
It wasn't the the iconic Mezger motor anymore,
which sullied people's experiences with the new motor.
A formal letter was sent to Porsche,
from Rennlist members, regarding these issues,
that resulted in a fully transferrable, 10 year,
120,000 mile extended engine warranty.
That is a beefy warranty for a car like that.
If you're looking for a 991.1,
you're gonna wanna be careful on what has or hasn't
been handled and what repairs have or haven't been made.
Repairs aren't really encouraged here,
they're kind of required.
And, in all regards, this is probably
gonna be the head stud issue similar of the old school SC's.
And, finally, of the 991.2,
and here's what you'll need to know,
the car is painfully beautiful.
It needs hardly anything and it flies through
every scenario you can possibly put it through.
If you're gonna snag one from Porsche,
be sure to spend the pennies on the extra essentials.
Because they're (bleep) neat!
You get a fire extinguisher, 140 buckaroos,
the Sport Chrono stopwatch, 510 monopoly dollars,
matching seatbelts is like 3300 pesos, no 33,000 pesos.
You can get the aluminum door handle,
this, that, and the other thing.
Pretty much, they're $220,000.
Do you need that stuff? Probably not.
But, should you get it? Absolutely.
The most important thing out of the little features
is most, most notably, the front axle lift system,
which is a $3,490 option.
If you want the carbon, ceramic breaks,
or composite breaks, that's a $10,000 option.
For this price, you would assume
that everything is made out of gold.
And, well, at least, for the most part, it's not.
There are some really quirky things
about the 991.2 that you may not notice about the car
until you take delivery and it may
actually leave you a little disappointed
because it is a $220,000 car.
You know what you can...
you know how many nuggets you can get with that?
How many McDonald's nuggets you could get with that?
The front bumper lip, side skirts,
hood vents, and other exterior pieces are just,
they're just plastic black.
I know, don't get mad, but you're just asking
for plastic fade on a car that's brand new,
that sits in direct sunlight like that.
The car's components are so thin and light,
ya might feel you'll bend something when using it.
Like the frunk, when you close it,
you'll actually bend the hood like 3 inches both ways,
even when you're being careful.
The logos being stickers are weird.
Now, they are cool, but it's also, could be seen as cheap.
Porsche could just tell the owners to lose a pound,
so they could keep the emblem,
because the emblems are way cooler.
The bucket seats are a jungle gym to get into,
but once you're in, you're in
and you better pray you don't have to get out.
The cars require nothing, so, for modifications,
you're looking at window tints,
ceramic clearing your paint, and a monthly subscription
of ramen for the next 10-15 years.
The GT3 RS is an iconic car, in it's own right.
It's one of my favorites.
It's like why I, it's why I stole it for 10 days.
It's one of those cars that is always compared to
from when it's competitors make their new top tier models.
It's the car that people dream of
once they own their M-series or AMG.
It's the car that almost everyone wants in their collection.
It is the old guy's collection car,
it's the new guy's collection car,
it's the car for good reason.
The GT3 RS holds a legacy of being a superb road car
that can out-perform pretty much any track car
and it's done well for over 40 years.
If there is a car to aim for,
it should probably be a GT3 RS.
We hope you enjoyed this episode of So You Want.
Don't forget to subscribe and if you're looking
for aftermarket wheels, tires, or suspension,
be sure to hit up FitmentIndustries.com.
And if you want to win some free wheels
because you're tryin' to save up for your next GT3 RS,
you can actually pick up a t-shirt below,
cause we partnered with Konig wheels.
Every t-shirt that we actually manage to sell,
we'll make a donation to the ASPCA.
It also gives you a chance to win some free wheels,
so what else do you want from me?
Probably nothing, maybe just a little bit more breath.
I wonder how many times I actually breathed in this episode.
Anyway, we hope you guys enjoy this episode.
Let us know just what you want us to talk about next.
My name is Alex, we will see you later.
Peace!
(heavy bass music)