Difference Between Porsche 911 Carrera, 911 Targa and the difference between the Porsche GT2 and GT3??
I see them all the time but I have been wondering for the longest time what is the difference between the Carrera and the Targa? Also what is the difference between the GT2 and the GT3. Please do not just give me engine spec’s…I can look that up myself.
GT3 and GT2, are they different racing classes? The GT3 has a lower HP rating than the GT2 but everyone talks about the GT3. Why??
911 Carrera is a Coupe.
911 Targa is a Carrera with a glass roof that you can look through.
They have the same engine and performance.
911 GT3 is a lighter version of the 911 Turbo, but without the turbo’s. It is just as fast as the 911 Turbo even though it has 65HP less. It is just as fast because it is lighter.
The GT2 is a lighter 911 Turbo with Turbo’s and has at least 20HP more than the 911 Turbo.
The GT2 is the fastest Porsche 911 ever made.
The Carrera name was originally used for the highest performance versions of cars from Porsche, with the name coming from the Carrera Panamerica race. In the early 1980s, Porsche began using the name for all 911 models, and it has been more or less synonymous with them since.
The Targa was introduced in the mid 1960s, shortly after the 911 Coupe. The original Targa was essentially the convertible version of the 911, featuring a removing roof (what has since become known on all cars as a Targa top), and a fold down plastic rear window. A roll bar remained (due to structural requirements, the Targa design worked better than a straight out convertible). A few years later the Targa replaced the fold down plastic window with a fixed glass window, making it less a convertible and more of what most people recognize as a “Targa.”
The Targa went through another evolution in the late 1990s, when the design was changed to feature a retractable top, married to sides that appeared the same as the Carrera Coupe. Overall, the Targa has been similar to the Coupe, though due to it’s nature it is a little bit heavier and has less structural rigidity (though this are fairly small differences in the most recent versions). The Targa name also derives from a race (the Targa Florio).
The GT2 and GT3 are what would have been called Carreras by older Porsche naming standards, in they are the premium performance models based on current cars. In the late 90s, when both were first introduced, the GT2 was aimed as a car that could be homologated for competition into the GT2 class, and the GT3 aimed at the GT3 class… which led to their names (though current classing no longer matches the names, and the Porsche GT1 is now long out of production).
The GT2 features a turbo charged engine where the GT3 is normally aspirated. The current GT3 (997) was introduced before the current GT2, and the previous (996) version received some updates that took longer to reach the former version of the GT2. These are two major factors why many look at the GT3 more fondly than the GT2. Additionally there is heritage, while the GT3 seems a direct descendant to the early Carreras, and cars like the 911R, 911RS, 993RS, the GT2 seems a little less relevant (with only the 934 and Turbo RSRs of the mid 1970s as earlier reference). The GT3 is also available in RS trim – for practical purposes, this allows Porsche to have the most suitable car to homologate the current GT Class race car (GT3 RSR), but it also produces a car which is a good match to the GT2 even with much less power. The GT3 is the basis for current production based racing… and in terms of ownership, a normally aspirated engine is less expensive to own than a turbo charged car.
The GT2 is a fantastic car, and clearly the top of the heap among Porsches current offerings, but for all of the above reasons… as well as the price tag difference (the GT3 offering not that much of a drop in performance for quite a bit less of impact on the wallet), many will focus on the GT3 over then GT2.
The major difference between the 911 Carrera and the 911 Targa is the body configuration. The Carrera refers to the coupe form of the 911 range currently available for sale (steel roof with sunroof) while the Targa refers to a detachable vinyl covered metal framed roof (from back in the seventies to 1996 when it became redesigned as a coupe with a fully retractable all glass roof).
The GT3 is different from the GT2 in having a normally aspirated 3.6L flat six engine whereas the GT2 is a rear wheel drive only 911 Turbo (all-wheel drive) with most of the grand-touring luxury accessories removed. The GT3 is the ultimate true driver’s car in that it is more in all aspects of the formula (more steering communication, more responsive engine, best brakes, least weight, and focus mainly for track driving) versus the GT2 which also focus on those things but in the form of a turbocharged engine with about 100 more HP but strives to keep it exciting with rear wheel drive only instead of the more stable but more sedate all wheel drive 911 Turbo.
The reason why more people talk about the GT3 is because it delivers on all the hype and involvement while driving it compared to the less well known ( because only about 100 were built 996GT2 and also the 997GT2 in small numbers and demand/appeal is more narrow) and the build numbers are high (several thousands).