Ian Harris
Shoreham, UK @harrisclassics
At last! I was finally allowed to go for a drive now that lockdown was starting to lift and it couldn’t come any sooner. After recently purchasing a 991.2 GT3 with the manual gearbox, I was finally going to get the chance to drive it properly. We had to keep the group to under six people and plan ahead, so looked to do a day trip to the Peak District. I haven’t been before, so was really keen, with checking the forecast we picked a clear day during the week and set the alarm clocks for 5am, for a 7am meet at the M1 Toddington Services. After a quick takeaway coffee we were in convoy to
the Peaks. With the sun shining, driving a new car and after the long wait of lockdown, life couldn’t get better!
We entered the Peak District following our lead car, a Ferrari 812 Superfast, the roads were dry and it was a lovely cold, sunny day. We drove deeper into the Peaks finding some superb roads, and it reminded me of being in Wales; lots of stunning countryside and small, twisty B roads. It was time to reflect on why I had hunted for two months for this car, having previously owned a 991.2 Carrera T (manual) and 991.1 GT3 with the PDK gearbox; they only offered the 991.1 in PDK, so had to go for the later 2018 991.2 GT3 as there was a manual gear box option. To look at the cars side by side it is hard to see any major differences, the front bumper and aerodynamics is different, rear air vents, some styling and of course its 4.0 displacement rather than the
3.8, nevertheless both revving to that magical 9,000rpm.
It was great to compare the two back to back. The 991.2 felt more polished, more together and refined.
The dampening is better and just feels a more together car. In my previous PDK version the gear change was lightning quick, but felt like it was missing some driver involvement. In the newer GT3 I felt more connected with the car. Having done away with the 7-speed that was in my Carrera T, it was nice to be back with a 6-speed. It slows the car down a fraction but makes driving it so much fun and enjoyable, it also has the party trick of bring able to flat shift, something I’d never done before. You keep your foot flat to the floor, hard down on the accelerator, dip the clutch and change gear without lifting, something that feels very alien to me…
It was great to get out and see some old friends, drive somewhere new and have some fun behind the wheel of my car. In total we did just under 11 hours and 554 miles, not a bad way to get to know a new car and spend a day away from it all, long may it continue…