2020 GT350 vs. 2018 GT3

[19GT350R]

That's a tough question. The GT3 is more raw than you might expect. They remove much of the sound deadening material and remove the the rear seats, so you hear every pebble on the road and lots of flywheel and clutch noise, especially when it's cold. It also has a much shorter top gear, and turns around 3300 rpm at 80mph on the freeway, so engine noise is always present. When you put your foot in it, that noise is heavenly, but not so much when you're cruising. It's a relatively small displacement six cylinder, so you have to open the throttles and rev it to get the full monty. By contrast, the GT350 sounds great at idle, at part throttle, at full throttle, in reverse, falling off a cliff, etc. I literally smile every time I hit the Start button. It also has a much longer top gear, so highway cruising is much quieter and smoother. Lastly, the GT3 has a stiffer ride than the Shelby, with very clipped vertical motions and little to no squat /dive. It's supple enough that it doesn't crash over pavement breaks or expansion joints, but stiff is still stiff. I got the comfort seat options in both cars for that reason (leather trimmed sport seats in the GT350 and 18-Way in the GT3) because I'm not a kid and neither is my back. It may sound impossible (given the nature of the Shelby), but the GT350 is a more livable car on a daily basis. I've bought and sold a string of great cars (old Z28 Camaros, WRX, RX-8, multiple M3's, M5, 911 Turbo S, Macan Turbo, etc.), and I settled on these two for a reason: Every time you start them it's an 'event'. You know it when you drive them and other 'car people' know it too, so it's great to share them at Cars and Coffee or track days. I've let friends drive my cars on the street, the track and the strip, because you only get the complete experience from the driver's seat, and it's fun to share that. With these cars it's especially fun.

If you had to choose one over the other for keeps, which one would it be?

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[Hawkeye1]

If you had to choose one over the other for keeps, which one would it be?

If the issue was purely space related (not enough garage stalls, or other limitations on parking/storage) I would keep the GT3. If I had to let one go to due to financial hardship, the obvious answer would be to keep the GT350. Hopefully I'll never have to choose, and I'm adding a lift to my garage to solve the storage issue.

 

[Montoya]

Took both cars to Hallett, OK for a track day. Only 4 or 5 cars on track at a time, and we were in flights based on lap time, so very little interaction with other cars. You could lap for twenty minutes and only interact with one or two cars. Lots of fun (and thanks to Perfection Plus in Little Rock for arranging the day). I'm a decent but not great driver, so I asked someone with racing experience to drive both cars for a fairer comparison at the limit. All times are on the same track with the same driver and same conditions. The GT3 has lap times on a used set of Cup 2 tires (about 9,000 miles but plenty of tread) and brand new PS4S tires. The Shelby was on the OEM Cup 2 tires with 3,000 miles. For those of you really into these things, it was roughly 60 degrees and sunny at the track.

GT3 w/ Michelin Cup 2 - 1:26.1
GT3 w/ Michelin PS4S - 1:26.7
Shelby w/ Michelin Cup 2 - 1:28.7

So, 2.6 seconds between the two cars on equivalent tires.

In case you're wondering, the other driver was 1 second faster than me in the Shelby (I ran 1:29.7) and 2.5 seconds faster than me in the GT3 on PS4S (I ran 1:29.2). (I ran 1:29.4 on Cup 2's, so go figure...) I asked him to drive because I was pretty sure the difference between the two cars was greater then the 0.5 seconds I experienced, and therefore the limiting factor was the driver (me), not the cars.

His commentary mirrors my own though. The GT350 was loose until the Cup 2's got warm (which took more than 1 warmup lap). After that, the car was balanced, easy to coax through a corner and has simply tremendous brakes. It was very forgiving when I overdrove some approaches and lifted mid-corner. In those cases the nose just tucked in and pulled the car around. No lift off oversteer or other bad behavior.

Lastly, I used Auto-Blip when driving. It's not perfect like the rev-match in the GT3, but it definitely helped. He turned it off and used 'heel and toe'. I need more practice, and lessons...

Wow, what a coincidence, I just went to Hallett with my Spec Racer Ford for the SCCA Super Tour race. Unfortunately I didn't get much running time before the race and was still learning the track when we left on Sunday, but the comparisons on lap times for the GT3 to our SRF's running high 1:21's is interesting. Most tracks the delta to a street GT3 to our SRF's is less than one second. This is true at Willow Springs (Randy Pobst) and Portland where there is good reference laps on street tires for the GT3. But both tracks are more horsepower tracks so give it as much as 2 seconds for the extra time in the corners at Hallett it still leaves a lot of time on the table...

If you had to choose one over the other for keeps, which one would it be?

I wish I wish I could have kept both, but sadly my beautiful GT350R is gone. Such a fun car, but just came up short as a daily driver and honestly it deserves a position in someone's garage where it is the only 'special' car for fun drives. As such it was a fun year, but I guess I voted to keep the GT3- It is a really special one after all, PTS special order and all...

...

 

[19GT350R]

If the issue was purely space related (not enough garage stalls, or other limitations on parking/storage) I would keep the GT3. If I had to let one go to due to financial hardship, the obvious answer would be to keep the GT350. Hopefully I'll never have to choose, and I'm adding a lift to my garage to solve the storage issue.

Good to know and appreciate your feedback. The GT3 (manual pref.) has been on my radar for quite some time and I don't think I could justify keeping my two toys if I had a car that costs 125-150% that of both combined. I don't have the room (even vertically) for a third car in the garage as the other bay is filled with two-wheeled toys so letting one sit in the driveway is not an option. Thanks again for your input!

 

[shogun32]

don't have the room (even vertically) for a third car in the garage as the other bay is filled with two-wheeled toys

https://www.metaldepots.com/buildings/building-kits/handyman-series/

 

[19GT350R]

https://www.metaldepots.com/buildings/building-kits/handyman-series/

Yes, please! That's in the cards in a few years however, I can be impatient and want to have fun now.

 

[Hawkeye1]

Wow, what a coincidence, I just went to Hallett with my Spec Racer Ford for the SCCA Super Tour race. Unfortunately I didn't get much running time before the race and was still learning the track when we left on Sunday, but the comparisons on lap times for the GT3 to our SRF's running high 1:21's is interesting. Most tracks the delta to a street GT3 to our SRF's is less than one second. This is true at Willow Springs (Randy Pobst) and Portland where there is good reference laps on street tires for the GT3. But both tracks are more horsepower tracks so give it as much as 2 seconds for the extra time in the corners at Hallett it still leaves a lot of time on the table...



I wish I wish I could have kept both, but sadly my beautiful GT350R is gone. Such a fun car, but just came up short as a daily driver and honestly it deserves a position in someone's garage where it is the only 'special' car for fun drives. As such it was a fun year, but I guess I voted to keep the GT3- It is a really special one after all, PTS special order and all...

...

The other driver that day at Hallett is very good, but he wasn't the quickest on the track. Another guy was running mid 1:21's in a track prepped GT4. He's a pro, and obviously talented, but he's also very young and I was cautious about handing over the keys. (I probably didn't need to be. He's a great kid.) I was tempted to let him have a go in each, but didn't. Maybe next trip.

I love your choice of colors. Bright is beautiful. Is that bottom picture from Switzerland? Gorgeous location.

 

[Montoya]

The other driver that day at Hallett is very good, but he wasn't the quickest on the track. Another guy was running mid 1:21's in a track prepped GT4. He's a pro, and obviously talented, but he's also very young and I was cautious about handing over the keys. (I probably didn't need to be. He's a great kid.) I was tempted to let him have a go in each, but didn't. Maybe next trip.

I love your choice of colors. Bright is beautiful. Is that bottom picture from Switzerland? Gorgeous location.

That confirms the delta, so just an interesting FYI. I wouldn't lend out my street cars at the track to anyone, so you're braver than I, LOL! I guess it's all the racing I do has taught me anything driven at the limit is subject to the unexpected with consequences...

The last photo is the Italian Alps, the Dolomites- just a picture perfect day, we drank in that view for some time!

 

[Hawkeye1]

That confirms the delta, so just an interesting FYI. I wouldn't lend out my street cars at the track to anyone, so you're braver than I, LOL! I guess it's all the racing I do has taught me anything driven at the limit is subject to the unexpected with consequences...

The last photo is the Italian Alps, the Dolomites- just a picture perfect day, we drank in that view for some time!

Awesome. Did you make it to the Stelvio pass? Took a trip there with my wife two years ago. One of the most striking views I've ever seen.

 

[Montoya]

Yes we did!!

 

[Montoya]

Oh- here's the whole trip on Rennlist, it was an exceptional European delivery!

Andre's GT3 European Delivery Blog

 

[FogcitySF]

Owned a 350R for two years, unfortunately had engines issues (2 replaced) so stepped up to a GT3 RS (991). Think many of the prior comments are spot on. The GT350R is very easy to drive (if you can heel toe) and can carry fast cornering speeds and really attack the curbs on the track. It took me several months to beat my 350R times in the RS and kind of had to re-learn how to drive and get the trail braking right (which is used to change the direction of the car more in the RS).

350R I feel is better overall for daily, save for the tram lining which is non-existent in the RS. Ride comfort is superior in the 350R and seats much easier to get in and out of. For mountain drives, prefer the RS as is a smaller footprint and is very easy to toss around. Also really shines on tight technical racetracks. Positives for the RS also include much better tire and brake wear (due to weight) and super acceleration out of the corners. Downsides to the RS include car being harder to catch if you oversteer, is very sensitive to setup (camber, toe, sways, ride height), and I feel the suspension is not as flexible/sophisticated as the MagneRide. I think also from my experience tracking and coming across a lot of different cars in CA, the Porsche tracking reliability/track record is excellent and thus far, has certainly proved to be true for me vs in own experience and knowing several others having owned the Shelby.

The 350/350R is an awesome and really unique car..one of the best exhaust noises this side of a Ferrari! Seems that the reliability has gotten better with the engine updates and is an incredible car for the price! Congrats to the OP for owning two of the best!

 

[95CobraR]

...]Owned a 350R for two years, unfortunately had engines issues (2 replaced) so stepped up to a GT3 RS (991).

My 2019 GT350 has not had one issue. I have owned many Porsche 911 cars that have ever had an issue.

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