About the Porsche 911 GT3

Since the beginning of this year, my husband hasn’t driven the 911 GT3 Touring even once. Wondering why, I asked him, “Hey, you haven’t been driving the GT3 at all lately, have you?” and he replied,

Yeah, well, it’s winter, and it’s cold, so it’s dangerous.

I said, “Ah, I see… I remember you mentioned last year at the end of the year when you drove the GT3 on the Royu Driveway in the rain, the tires didn’t grip well and it was scary,” and he said,

Yeah, cup tires on cold days are no good. Well, if you drive slowly even on cold or rainy days, it’s not dangerous, but then there’s no point in driving the GT3 like that. So, I feel it’s a waste to drive the GT3 in those conditions just to rack up mileage, and that’s why I haven’t been driving it.

Our GT3 is equipped with cup tires, but when it was first delivered, my husband deliberately took it out on a heavy rain day to test the grip and drainage performance of the cup tires.

It was around July, and his impression was that “for normal driving, there was no problem at all, and even at a bit higher speeds, the grip was better than expected.”

Regarding this, my husband said,

Well, that was summer and the temperature was high, so it was okay then. But after experiencing the GT3 through all four seasons, I now really think I don’t want to drive the GT3 with cup tires in winter. Cup tires are really made for the track, and compared to PS4 or PS4S tires, they don’t grip well in low temperatures. On cold, rainy winter days, you really have to drive very carefully or it’s dangerous.

Speaking of which, two autumns ago, my husband was going to participate in Porsche’s Driving School Master Course (Porsche Track Experience) at Fuji Speedway with the GT3, and we went along as a family, but it was ultimately canceled due to heavy rain(I’m a notorious rain-bringer, sorry about that… lol)

At that time, the instructor explained,

There are many participants driving GT3s and GT3RSs. Driving such cars on the circuit in this kind of weather is truly dangerous, so we had to make the decision to cancel. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Honestly, I thought, “It’s such a shame to have come all the way to Fuji,” but if the pros make that call, it really must be dangerous.

I said, “But our GT3 Touring is designed for touring, so it seems like it wouldn’t need cup tires for that, right? Yet it comes standard with cup tires,” and he said,

Exactly. Both the GT3 and GT3 Touring come with cup tires as standard—no options at order. When I drove at Suzuka Circuit, I felt cup tires are more sensitive than regular tires. Even a slight difference in air pressure makes a big difference. So, when the tires are warmed up and the pressure is just right, the grip is amazing and it feels fantastic. But I think the GT3 Touring’s tires could be Pilot Sport 4S instead of cup tires. Sure, the absolute grip isn’t as high as cup tires, but they perform steadily on any road surface. The GT3 Touring doesn’t have the big rear wing since it’s meant for touring, and the wing is really the main difference… I wish it were designed a bit more with touring in mind.

I’ve heard that the GT3 Touring is designed with a lower ride height than the GT3, but officially they seem the same, so it’s basically still a GT3 no matter what.