996 Porsche 911 GT3: Today’s easy-to-own, race-bred Porsche?

Photograph Courtesy Porsche

How much for a Porsche with legit ties to the race track? How much you got? After all, we live in a time where million-dollar 911 sales don’t always make the morning papers.

For those seeking a bit of a value-priced, motorsports-grade Porsche, think newer–and, perhaps, a little less popular on today’s market. Through the first half of the 2000s, Porsche’s 996-chassis GT3 Cup dominated the world’s race tracks: Daytona and Sebring, Spa and Le Mans. This is the street-legal version.

Forget everything you’ve heard about Porsche 996 engine issues. Don’t mind the tales of failed powerplants involving buzzwords like IMS bearing failure and cylinder wall D-chunking.

The heart of both the 911 GT3 and GT3 Cup didn’t come from the standard 911 Carrera. Instead, its powerplant shared DNA with the brand’s 911 GT1, the mid-engine special that finished 1-2 at Le Mans. The water-cooled, 3.6-liter flat-six found in the street version of the GT3 could rev to 7800 rpm while making some 360 horsepower–a strong number for a naturally aspirated engine of the day.

Porsche only offered one gearbox: a six-speed manual. No paddle shifters, no two-pedal setup.

The rest of the package is aimed at performance: bigger brakes, stiffer suspension, upgraded aero. Dropping the rear seat and the sound insulation shaved some pounds.

How much? Hagerty says the best GT3 should now fetch $200,000, but we’re seeing cars trading for about half that figure. No guarantee that prices will remain that way, of course.–David S. Wallens

5 Reasons Why You Want One

As with anything else wearing the Porsche crest, you can count on support from the Porsche Club of America plus a legion of shops and suppliers, including the factory itself.
Does this capture the spirit of the famed Carrera RS 2.7 but at a tenth of the cost?
Unlike later versions of the 911 GT3, this one only came with a traditional manual box. Is it among the last of the analog supercars?
Even the street GT3 is fast. According to Porsche, the top speed is 188 mph.
Very limited production for the U.S., as it was only sold here for the 2004 and 2005 model years.

Shopping Advice

Gordon Friedman
Autometrics Motorsports

Overall, the 996 GT3 is robust.

Know the car’s track history. If it has a lot of track miles, pay close attention to the motor’s sounds.

We encounter a lot of valve-train noise, which relates to the cam timing actuators, and that’s the result of a lot of track miles. If the cam timing actuators need to be done, the entire motor should be redone.

As far as street cars, there are very few, if any, problems with them.

However, street or track, there is a coolant pipe problem. If they get hot enough for long enough, the aluminum tubes epoxied into the forged aluminum housings come loose. The aluminum tube can be epoxied back in, but normally we pin it back into place. It’s a bonus if the water pipes have already been pinned.

The non-RS models have the typical dual-mass flywheel concerns. If you accelerate and decelerate lightly, you can normally tell if the flywheel is worn because you can feel some free play there. If you’re going in for a clutch, you might as well replace the flywheel.

On the track cars, we get a lot of front brake pad taper. The pads can be rotated. Many people don’t like doing that, but we do it all the time because the pads are expensive.

Outside of the GT3 and the Turbo, the engines of the other 996s are delicate. The GT3 has the Mezger motor, which is a tried-and-true motor that’s been around since 1965.

The G50-style gearbox of the GT3 and Turbo are far more durable than what’s used in the other 996s.

A GT3 or a Turbo? Depends on the person. Some people like the torque of a Turbo and some people like the revs of a GT3. The Turbos are more of a point-and-shoot type of car, where the GT3 is more of a legitimate road car.

The engines of the early 996 GT3s–1999 to 2003–work well, but the availability of parts is slim and they’re expensive. They also didn’t make as much power.

The market has been strong for the 996 GT3s until flattening out recently. There are fewer 996 GT3s than 997 GT3s or even 991 GT3s.

They have aged well. These cars typically don’t accumulate much mileage. The exception to that is that a lot of guys track them hard.

Changes Over the Years

1999:

The 911 GT3 debuts in overseas markets, making 360 horsepower and winning evo magazine’s Car of the Year award. A no-cost Club Sport option includes a roll bar, six-point driver harness and fire bottle. Where Porsche planned to offer an initial run of 1350 copies, the factory reports that it has delivered 1868 units.

2004:

The GT3 finally comes stateside–sorry, though, no Club Sport offered here–and the model receives several updates. Up front, it gets Turbo-style headlights. Out back, there’s a new decklid-and-wing combo. And beneath, Porsche bumps output to, in the American market, 380 horsepower. According to Porsche, this helps shave zero-to-60 times from 4.8 seconds to 4.5–although some magazine tests report an even 4.0. For select overseas markets, Porsche also offers the 911 GT3 RS, a homologation model for its RSR race car. Today, the GT3 RS can be imported under the “show and display” exemption.

2005:

No changes. This is the last year for the original 911 GT3, as the 997-based car arrives for 2006.

3 Recent Sales

Sold: 2004 Porsche 911 GT3
$105,600 • Mecum
Black over black and not quite 32,000 miles on the odometer. Factory Recaros, too.

Sold: 2004 Porsche 911 GT3
$103,996 • Cars & Bids
Billed as very stock–just smaller tweaks, like a harness bar and tinted glass–and with less than 18,000 miles since new.

Sold: 2004 Porsche 911 GT3
$112,000 • Bring a Trailer
Another fairly low-mileage example, with this one having covered just 23,000 miles.

3 More to Watch

2003 Porsche 911 Turbo
$112,000 • Broad Arrow Auctions
For those who’d rather go with a turbo over naturally aspirated, this is another one of today’s value buys.

2001 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup
$67,200 • Broad Arrow Auctions
The race-ready GT3 Cup remains a familiar sight on track, with this one originally prepared for the Porsche Supercup.

2004 Porsche 911 GT3 RS
$368,000 • Gooding & Company
To homologate its GT3 RSR, Porsche offered the GT3 RS to select overseas markets: more aero, more power, more stick.

Behind the Wheel

Photograph Courtesy Porsche

“Our favorite part, however, is the engine. Its deep-throated wail is the most enthralling and mesmerizing Porsche soundtrack we’ve heard since 1998, when the 911 started using water-cooled engines. It does its best work over 4000 rpm–pulling harder and more urgently as the revs climb. The Turbo and the GT2 may be more powerful, but the GT3 feels just as quick, a perception backed up by our test results.”

Larry Webster • Car and Driver