I have a love for GT3's to the say the least, so I was stoked when I spotted the rare 4.0 (1 of 600) at Gingerman yesterday!
Fast forward to an afternoon session and I had talked myself into a ride with the friendly owner.
What an unbelievable car. I don't even know where to start.
Two things really struck me though -- for one, the braking is unlike anything I've ever experienced. Didn't seem to matter how deep into the brake zone we went, the thing would slow sufficiently to make the turn. I thought for sure we'd be through a corner once or twice, but there seemed to be endless braking reserves. He was consistently halving my brake zones, and I wouldn't say that I brake early.
Secondly, from the passenger seat (for what it's worth) I was sensing serious, surprising amounts of understeer. Even in moderate to slow speed corners it just didn’t seem to want to turn in and stay on line.. Just wanted to push. I found it quite curious. Tire pressures? Driver input? Suspension setup? Don't know. I have heard that there is a certain way that 911's and GT3's in particular like to work through corners. What that is I'm not sure, but it certainly felt different.
But what an amazing, amazing machine. The sound (what's better than a GT3 upshift or downshift?), seats, cockpit, acceleration, braking
Stepping from that directly back into my M3 felt like going from my M3 back into my old E39 M5. The GT3 is just on a completely different level dynamically. I've never been in a car that is so performance focused. It was so cool… That said, it took me all of about ˝ lap to recognize again just how special a car the M3 is.
Back on the M3 front I had probably my most successful day yet with hot laps consistently in the 1:48 range, with a few drops to 1:47.8.
Not a bad way to spend a Monday!