We had a unique circumstance at the Edmunds.com offices recently. Our schedule of press vehicle loans resulted in both a 2010 Porsche 911 Turbo and a 2010 Porsche 911 GT3 lurking in the area for over a week. That meant we could experience two of Porsche's most potent models back-to-back, and as you might expect about the only thing they had in common were their base model names.
The Turbo has become one of the quickest-yet-luxurious street-legal cars available, and the GT3 continues to engage willing drivers better than those idiotic Carl's Jr/Paris Hilton commercials (you know, the ones you keep watching every time they're on).
We tested both 911 models while they were here to confirm how they stack up in the spec box. Behind the scenes, though, we had different opinions on which one's the better car. In one corner, with a barely-used helmet under is right arm and wearing Pilotis that make his wide feet ache, is Editor-in-Chief Karl Brauer defending the GT3. In the other corner, sporting '80s-era Ray Bans and saying "Porsche -- There is no substitute" for the umpteenth time, is Executive Editor Paul Seredynski defending the Turbo.
Opening Statements
Karl Brauer for the Porsche 911 GT3
There's a widespread belief among various Porschephiles that the 911 has lost its edge. What was once Stuttgart's prize fighter has grown flabby around the middle and would rather sit on the couch watching ESPN. Some even throw the ultimate barb at the 911: It's a dentist's car. (GASP!) It's for exactly these reasons Porsche offers a GT3 version, and let's all thank the maker it does. Light, nimble, engaging, visceral. All the words you associate with 911s from a bygone era are alive and well in this 21st Century model. At only 3,200 pounds it makes the Turbo feel pudgy, and it still rips off zero-to-60 in under four seconds without the brainless aid of all-wheel drive and a hydraulic clutch.
By contrast, the Turbo falls into the trap of most modern supercars. Oh, there's no denying its sheer performance. But it's as emotionally stimulating as playing Forza 3 on my Xbox360. Getting to 60 mph in 3 seconds should leave me breathless, but in the Turbo it leaves me shrugging my shoulders as I mumble "Meh." I suppose at some point, as I reach my twilight years I might actually prefer the Turbo's sensory deprivation chamber design to the GT3's sensory overload experience. But for now, the GT3 is clearly the better choice.
Paul Seredynski for the Porsche 911 Turbo
The Turbo may be a sensory deprivation chamber, but only in relation to a 911 GT3, which is one of the most visceral street legal cars on the planet. Civilized might be a better term for the Turbo, and you can't deny how effortlessly quick it is thanks to the near prescient all-wheel drive and seamless PDK gearbox. This is especially apparent when driving these two amazing vehicles back to back. In the GT3, you've got the windows down to drink in the howling rasps of heel-toe-downshifts ricocheting off the canyon walls, and you're getting arm pump from gearbox work like the Mille Miglia just rolled into town. Then you hop in the Turbo, push a few buttons to get in sporty mode, and quietly go faster down the same twisty stretch.
Does the 911 Turbo engage you like the GT3? Heck no, but it's not exactly a Camry. The Turbo will humiliate nearly all comers on your favorite backroad and still impress a date in traffic or sling you fatigue-free across the continent. Where the GT3 is all snarling revs and fierce mechanical grip -- its bridge-abutment-stiff chassis transmitting every stage of the rambunctious rear diff and smallest surface pitch to your palms through the Alcantara wheel -- the Turbo is technology in motion. On pace, the 911 Turbo is doing more math for the drivetrain in the second it takes you to reach for the iPod control than you did in your whole high-school career. Do you know what it's doing? Do you care? When it launches you out of a corner so hard your lungs compress, probably not.
Rebuttals
Brauer
Hey, the GT3 has fancy, high-tech buttons too. And if you set them all in non-sport (i.e. "old man") mode the car is a pussy cat. I know the Turbo is designed for high-speed, long-distance travel, but anyone complaining about the GT3's long-distance ability should be sentenced to Life in a Lexus, without parole. Our GT3 test car had touch-screen navigation, Bluetooth, iPod integration and heated seats for Chrissake! And let's not forget the price disparity. For the Turbo's starting cost of $149,000 you could check every option in the phonebook-thick Porsche brochure, and the $112,000 GT3 would still price out $10,000 cheaper than a base Turbo.
Seredynski
If you did check all the option boxes on the GT3, it would still feel blissfully spartan compared to the serene, full-leather interior of the 911 Turbo, which has enough creature comforts to keep awe-silenced passengers cosseted. And Karl's right, the GT3 could easily be driven to work each day with a stop at the Nurburging on the way home, but unless your spouse also has motor oil for blood, its buzzy cabin would eventually wear on the family. Since neither of these is exactly cheap, at least the Turbo makes you feel like you've got your money's worth regardless of venue -- track, traffic or turnpike.
OK, so obviously both the 911 Turbo and GT3 are so stunning and capable, this Face-Off is like asking you to pick a favorite among your kids. But that's why Face-Off is here, to ask the tough questions that nobody else does.
So which car wins?
By mlh
on April 12, 2010
11:28 AM
Turbo, please!
By sabastian
on April 12, 2010
11:50 AM
This is a bit of a tough one because even though they are both Porsche 911's, they are both very different cars. The turbo would make a great daily choice: luxurious, all-wheel drive, easy to drive. The GT3 is the polar opposite: loud, aggressive, and endlessly involving.
For me it comes down to this: if I owned a 911, it would not be a daily driver. Therefore, I'd go for the GT3. Plus, I like the fact that Porsche still keeps installing a manual gearbox in its most hardcore model. Bravo, GT3.
By mtakahashi
on April 12, 2010
12:49 PM
GT3, but I'd stretch for the GT3 RS
By 08_miata
on April 12, 2010
12:57 PM
I'd have to go for the light, loud, visceral, engaging one. Make mine the GT3.
But would you expect any different from a Miata driver? :)
By auto4fun
on April 12, 2010
12:58 PM
Definitely GT3! I can just image all the sensations coming from ripping off a beautifully rev-matched downshift coming into a turn at my favorite race track! GT3 = Bliss.
By brn
on April 12, 2010
03:40 PM
Turbo without a doubt. Call me a softie.
By mptlptr
on April 12, 2010
05:55 PM
GT3. Less snob appeal.
By wrinklebump
on April 12, 2010
10:34 PM
Cayman + a Camaro for my dad
By technetium99
on April 13, 2010
07:43 AM
Turbo is a dentists car. GT3 is a surgeons car. Since I am neither, I'll take a Cayman, Boxster, or even my dads 914.
By brn
on April 13, 2010
08:05 AM
technetium, a 914? Really?
By cruiserhead1
on April 13, 2010
08:35 AM
Turbo without a doubt. It does everything well.
GT3? Honestly, how many people out there can handle a rwd 911 on the track?
Although I would like to say I would love to wring out a GT3, the only way I could keep it on the track at 9/10ths is in a Turbo.
And if happened to be a wet day? I would be driving the Turbo home while most would be collecting GT3 parts off turn 2.
By deagle13
on April 13, 2010
08:51 AM
GT3 without a doubt.
You're right cruiserhead1 - I probably can't handle a RWD 911 on the track right now, but the quest to overcome that challenge is what would keep the GT3 interesting to me long after the insane acceleration of the over-assisted Turbo becomes mundane.
By cruiserhead1
on April 13, 2010
09:04 AM
mundane?
LOL
Yeah ok. I'll take the "mundane" go-anywhere, do-anything with ease supercar any day of the week and twice on weekends!
With the Turbo, you can literally zip away for a weekend: enjoy a coast drive... in the rain... with no complaints from your wife,
track it- with your wife- and have a fun time,
let your wife track it- and have a fun time,
then enjoyably cruise home on twisty two lanes and slog traffic in town with ease.
The Turbo isn't as hard edged but it's the all-around 911 that does everything well, will dominate just about anything and is still faster than a GT3.
By subytrojan
on April 13, 2010
12:01 PM
Tough call.
I'll vote for the GT3. And the Tahoe.
By ahightower
on April 13, 2010
01:44 PM
I suppose I'd have the Turbo for the cross-country luxury touring capability that Paul talks about. Definitely with a manual transmission though. Also like the idea of RWD, but the GT3 is a little too racy, and even in my dream fleet fantasy, I want them all to be everyday capable. Really the base Carerra is probably plenty for me on any public road. It's about feel and precision and balance, not 'Ring lap times - like a Miata, right? Maybe I'd spring for the S if I really had money to burn. I'm sure the high end 911's are great, but they just don't look as special as some of the more exotic stuff in that price range. Aston Martin, Maserati, etc. I'd have to stick with the five-figure Porsches.
By technetium99
on April 13, 2010
03:05 PM
brn: Yes, a 914. Why? Because while these (and all current) 911s are great cars, can be awesome to drive, and give you respect from cars guys, they don't give you respect from non-car people. They are pretentious and 95% of the public will automatically assume that you 1) are a rich jerk, 2) are having a midlife crisis, or 3) have a tiny penis. The 914 is an extremely fun little car, remarkably agile, not in the least pretentious, and very low budget. The 914 is the father of the Boxster, an open top, mid-engine tossable drivers car. People who put down 914s are either the same unmitigated morons who think that Miatas are chick cars, or they just need some gentle educating.
By stwok
on April 13, 2010
07:46 PM
I'll take the GT3. Costs less and is more of a pure sports car.
@cruiserhead if your wife is willing to track a turbo, don't you think she'd love the GT3 even more? However, if your wife is not a gearhead I think she's prefer the more "civilized" turbo.
By cruiserhead1
on April 14, 2010
08:54 PM
Professional drivers can barely handle a GT3 at the limit.
Take both around Laguna Seca as hard as you can and I will put money down that 99 out of 100 won't make a clean run in the GT3.
The Turbo is an all-rounder that actually pulls faster than the GT3.
Neither car is hard-core nor is either a fat, boring car. Both are really impressive but the Turbo is having your cake and eating it.
GT3 would be a fun track day toy to round out the collectors' garage.
I would take the Turbo every time.
By blueguydotcom
on April 17, 2010
02:17 PM
@cruiser, you're probably right about the turbo pulling a cleaner lap. But is that a challenge? Kinda like having a car that has the potential to scare me.
I'd take either. And if I had the money and a willingness to get one, I'd still buy used. lol
By goldengreek
on July 11, 2010
07:46 PM
A little late to comment (maybe), but I'll weigh in. During the last two months, I've been reading all of the material I could get my hands on and watching all of the YouTube videos I could find on the GT3 vs. the Turbo. Big investment and it has to be right!
Test drove each five times and the GT3 kept drawing me back. I took the GT3 out on I-95 and the growl of the engine is awesome at 6000rpm!! The Turbo is OK...but I've got my loaded Camry if I want to be comfortable.
Found a couple of BMW's and had some fun (with the dealership's permission of course). The looks you get in the GT3 are ten times better than in the Turbo. The GT3 is absolutely obnoxious with the larger spoiler and colored ceramic brakes!
I am purchasing this week and plan on grabbing the GT3. Much more enjoyable car!
By porscheguy5
on October 6, 2011
05:27 PM
I own both for the reasons discussed in this article. It is a no brainer for me...if I had to sell one, I would sell the turbo without a second thought. The GT3RS is so precise and perfect in every way a sports car should be perfect...when I am driving it, it feels like me and the car are one. I always look forward to driving it. It is intoxicating. To some it up:
I drive the turbo for everyday commuting, like I would a camry for example. It is a nice car but really does not make you feel like you are driving something special. It is my daily driver
I drive the GT3 when I exit the bat cave in seach for adventure. It simply feels like a special car.