2007 Porsche GT3: Cocaine White
We get high on that GT3 buzz navigating through some unchartered Cape Town rural roads. A perfect car and perfect roads, crossing solid white lines and disturbing the peace. Addiction loading…
In the preceding month leading up to the shoot, I was hellbent on a location that had a certain rawness to it. Match the cars rawness to the environment, all while allowing that iconic 911 silhouette to take the main stage. Here we find ourselves on the outskirts of a local open mine and I’m no longer hunting perfection. It’s right here in front of me. Mission accomplished. Fast forward 40 minutes into the show and we’re approached by a team of security guards who promptly make it known we’re not allowed to be there. “Sure, we’re just taking some shots and will be out in a moment”...”We know the owner”…” call him then” the guard sharply responds…”Bud, it’s 06:00 in the morning. We’re not doing that” (Sometimes you just have to risk it).
With the fashion show and interrogation out of the way, we decide to move on with the important bit and something we all don’t do enough of...to get out and just drive.
We’ve heard about mechanical grip any GT3 possesses. Motoring Journos and enthusiasts love to babble on about it incessantly. It’s the “go-to” phrase but until such time you’ve experienced it, don’t even mention it. It may be several things. That low centre of gravity, wide wheel track, perfect weight distribution or those oversized Michelin Pilot 305s at the rear. The way these elements all consolidate into the handling package is borderline “wizardry”. The senses are treated. You feel the physical demands. You hear the noise. You smell the mechanical scents of brakes, engine and clutch and you see speed limits come at you, rapidly. And warning issued here...You’re always one gear change away from a felony.
You’re always one gear change away from a felony.
Navigating the back roads of Durbanville offers a brief cityscape touring option, one where you don’t have to venture too far to get your thrills. Not quite Franschhoek pass but a close second.
“Redline it and then drop the clutch, man…I wanna hear the exhaust” I’m told. Hoping that this thing isn’t going to spit me into a ditch, I gladly oblige. There’s a hint of traction braking but then the nanny system takes control with this typical German authority. You’re no longer involved in a driving experience…it’s a full-on science experiment of fighting physics. It’s racecar driver confidence-inducing at its best and equally intoxicating, snap shifting through the gears, manoeuvring that short shifter, tensing up as the digits of the speedometer multiply exponentially until you’re met with the stark reality that all those big numbers at the end aren’t there to take up unnecessary real estate. It's a fair representation of what is on offer.
For the history buffs, the 997 GT3 was manufactured between 2004 and 2012, this particular model is a 2007 model, and mind you, not showing its age at the slightest, much like an Atlantic Seaboard stay-at-home-mom. It’s hard to believe that this car’s 13 years old. It’s like these Germans never got the memo from the motoring community that dated obsolescence was meant to be built into this thing.
I am told that when the sound system was included it had to take up minimal weight and as a result, rendered a less than desirable end product. We sampled TLC’s Chasing Waterfalls and crackled like a cheap Bluetooth speaker from Chinatown. Comical. Let’s fast track to the only sound that matters, the engine.
The 3.6-litre flat-six engine sings in perfect harmony and here’s the kicker, It’s no one-hit-wonder either. This thing will perform all day, every day. The 997 featured the last of the Mezger engines and boy, it’s a testament of engineering mastery of unassisted natural aspiration. For the racer boys, this is similar to what can be found in the Le Mans Winning GT1. The GT3 is, after all, a race car for the road but a race car that went to that uppity finishing school. No duct tape or zip cable ties in sight. Through my years of dabbling in workshop shenanigans, I’ve gained a deeper insight into the mechanics that go into cars and I’m left falling in love with this experience, with every gear change and turn of the wheel, around every corner. It’s intoxicating. Acceleration is lightning quick for an older car, 0-100km/h in 4.1 seconds and a top end of 310km/h. The 997 GT3 weighs approximately 1395kg and the power figures are 305kW and 405 Nm. The engine revs till 8,400 rpm and with that last 400 rpm finds a unique change in the engine tone that does something to your endorphin levels wanting you to experience that high over and over again.
The steering is razor-sharp, ‘surgical scalpel’ razor-sharp. Where you point it, it goes. The feedback is instantaneous, that type of road connection is what makes a driver-oriented car, exactly that. Porsche got that part right too. They got a lot of things right. Is it every manufacturer's goal to achieve 911 like handling? I’d hate to think not. This is THE driver’s car.
We’re traversing the hillside back roads, climbing through the gears. Laughing ridiculously like two schoolgirls. “Let’s go through the Hugenot Tunnel” Sure…we slack off giving extra space, gear down to second and plant the right foot, sending the noise from those after-market pipes bouncing off the walls. It’s motoring immaturity at its best and yes, I couldn’t care less.
The suspension is hard but not unmanagable and my kidneys aren’t taking too much of a beating. I understand how a GT3 becomes a daily driver. Bizarre. It’s driving perfection. This certainly isn’t a city slicker either but in traffic, it crawls along with ease. Porsche gets that right too. (What didn’t they get right I think?) From what I’ve read and now experienced, the clutch is notoriously hard. I get into my road car and my left foot almost go through the firewall.
“Redline it and then drop the clutch, man…I wanna hear the exhaust”
If the 911 buzz is a thing, I’ve experienced it and this isn’t going away in a while. At the end of it I’m left there dumbfounded with this goofy smile that requires surgery to be removed, trying to explain how this experience feels but all that comes out is incoherent mumbling. All that I know is that my journey of driving education has been enriched beyond measure. Where to from here and can it get better than this?
