Nice review!
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Aa Porsche 911 (996 series) GT2
Here's the revised review on the Porsche 911 GT2.
Background info on the real 911 (996 series) GT2
Porsche's 996 GT2 is a combination between the GT3's sporting character and the Turbo's power and performance. The result is a no-frills, lightweight, road-legal racer. The GT2 shares the same engine with the Turbo - a 3.6-litre, twin-turbocharged, flat-6 unit - but with a significantly higher boost pressure than the engine in the Turbo, the GT2's engine puts out 462bhp, 48bhp up from the Turbo's 414bhp. Using rear-wheel drive only (the Turbo was 4WD), replacing the Turbo's metal brake discs with ceramic discs and removing the rear seats and sound-proofing, the GT2 is about 100kg lighter than the Turbo. The GT2 has and adjustable rear spoiler replacing the speed-deployable spoiler on the Turbo which came up when its speed exceeded 75mph. The traction control system is absent in the GT2 so the driver must give 100% concentration at all times where he could relax (slightly) in the Turbo. The GT2's suspension is fully adjustable so that even at maximum ride height, it sits 20mm lower than the Turbo. These changes on paper should make the GT2 significantly faster in a straight line but its 0-60mph time (4.0 seconds) is only 0.2 seconds faster than the Turbo's time and its top speed - 196mph - is only 7mph faster than that of the Turbo. However, it is the performance beyond 60mph where the GT2 shows its true colours - the GT2 can get from 0-186-0mph (0-300-0kph) within 50 seconds and it takes the Turbo 75 seconds to get from 0-186mph let alone stop so the GT2 does have some significant superiorities. Buyers may be put off by the GT2's price tag of $185k compared to the Turbo's $140k but the GT2 offers more thrills, sharper handling and has more raw performance than the Turbo. Even with that said, anybody who be can afford to blow $140k on a car shouldn't be worried about a $45k price difference.
The Model Itself
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PAINT
The AUTOart 996 GT2 is available in two colours: Basalt Black and Silver. The paint quality on both models is outstanding - the application is complete and even. Like with most AUTOart models, you cannot easily tell the difference between the painted plastic parts and the painted metal parts by looking alone.
8/8
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EXTERIOR
The model is to scale even though some people say that it is slightly too small but I have first hand experience since I have been in a real 911 (996 series) GT2 and it is a fairly small car considering its performance. Even though the model is fairly light at 600 grams it is still of high quality. Because the GT2 is based on the Turbo, AUTOart could cut costs by making the parts that both cars share (main bodywork and doors) from diecast metal and the parts that they don't share (air dams, engine covers, spoilers, sideskirts) out of plastic and they did just that. The air intakes for the brake cooling ducts, the front air dam and the air intakes for the engine on the rear fenders are not perforated but simulated by plastic moulded to simulate mesh. The lights are reasonably good although you can see where the rear lights are mounted through the plastic and the side repeaters are not separate pieces but are painted on (but this is forgivable since making plastic side repeaters for the 996 series of Porsches would be fairly difficult given their position). The logos which, are stickers, are nicely applied and don't look like they'll peel off any time soon. The exterior is not as good as most AUTOart exteriors in all honesty.
6/8
INTERIOR
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The interior isn't bad - not even slightly - but it looks rather unremarkable (but this is the case with the real GT2's interior). The floor is carpeted and the rear seats are missing (as they should be) but the racing seats are hard plastic - the alcantara effect should have been used for the seats - albeit well detailed. The dashboard but the moulding is of very high quality. The instruments are painted correctly and the dials are stickers. The seat belts are also a nice touch. The front compartment is well detailed and even has carpet detailing and the toolboxes are simulated.
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Using the alcantara-like material on the racing seats would have probably raised the score to a perfect eight.
7/8
WHEELS & BRAKES
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The wheels are excellent and the brakes even have the ceramic effect etched on to them. Quite correctly the discs rotate with the wheels and the calipers (which have "Porsche" etched on to them) remain fixed. The detail is excellent. However the Michelin tyres are unbranded.
5/6
ENGINE & UNDERCARRIAGE DETAIL
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The engine (which can be seen both below the car and under the engine cover) is nicely detailed and you can even see the fuel lines that run underneath the car. Some people say that the engine on the model isn't detailed enough but that is rather harsh considering that you can't see much of the engine on the real car (which isn't surprising considering that the cylinders are horizontally-opposed). The undercarriage detail is mostly engine and gearbox detail but there is still a reasonable amount of suspension and wiring detail. On personal gripe I have is that I'd have preferred if AUTOart would have made the engine cover from metal rather than plastic however and the finish is surprisingly poor in the engine bay as the metal is very rough.
7/8
COMPETITION
AUTOart only make the 996-series GT2 so there is no direct competition. The company who make models close to the 996 GT2 are UT (defunct now but previously owned by Gateway Global, the owners of AUTOart) who made the 993-series GT2 and Maisto who make several 996-series 911 Porsches including the Targa and the C4S. Unsurprisingly, AUTOart's quality is by far the best.
6/6
DESIRABILITY
The model is of high quality and even though it has no direct competition, it is not easily available and is likely to be found in major toy stores or model specialist stores.
6/6
OVERALL
AUTOart did a very good job of making the 911 GT2. However you do get the feeling that they were more interested in making a few cost-cuts to make more profit than putting the quality up and make it as close to perfect as possible.
Total Score - 45/50
***Pictures added by DX Staff***
© 2003 www.DiecastXchange.com All rights reserved
Background info on the real 911 (996 series) GT2
Porsche's 996 GT2 is a combination between the GT3's sporting character and the Turbo's power and performance. The result is a no-frills, lightweight, road-legal racer. The GT2 shares the same engine with the Turbo - a 3.6-litre, twin-turbocharged, flat-6 unit - but with a significantly higher boost pressure than the engine in the Turbo, the GT2's engine puts out 462bhp, 48bhp up from the Turbo's 414bhp. Using rear-wheel drive only (the Turbo was 4WD), replacing the Turbo's metal brake discs with ceramic discs and removing the rear seats and sound-proofing, the GT2 is about 100kg lighter than the Turbo. The GT2 has and adjustable rear spoiler replacing the speed-deployable spoiler on the Turbo which came up when its speed exceeded 75mph. The traction control system is absent in the GT2 so the driver must give 100% concentration at all times where he could relax (slightly) in the Turbo. The GT2's suspension is fully adjustable so that even at maximum ride height, it sits 20mm lower than the Turbo. These changes on paper should make the GT2 significantly faster in a straight line but its 0-60mph time (4.0 seconds) is only 0.2 seconds faster than the Turbo's time and its top speed - 196mph - is only 7mph faster than that of the Turbo. However, it is the performance beyond 60mph where the GT2 shows its true colours - the GT2 can get from 0-186-0mph (0-300-0kph) within 50 seconds and it takes the Turbo 75 seconds to get from 0-186mph let alone stop so the GT2 does have some significant superiorities. Buyers may be put off by the GT2's price tag of $185k compared to the Turbo's $140k but the GT2 offers more thrills, sharper handling and has more raw performance than the Turbo. Even with that said, anybody who be can afford to blow $140k on a car shouldn't be worried about a $45k price difference.
The Model Itself
PAINT
The AUTOart 996 GT2 is available in two colours: Basalt Black and Silver. The paint quality on both models is outstanding - the application is complete and even. Like with most AUTOart models, you cannot easily tell the difference between the painted plastic parts and the painted metal parts by looking alone.
8/8
EXTERIOR
The model is to scale even though some people say that it is slightly too small but I have first hand experience since I have been in a real 911 (996 series) GT2 and it is a fairly small car considering its performance. Even though the model is fairly light at 600 grams it is still of high quality. Because the GT2 is based on the Turbo, AUTOart could cut costs by making the parts that both cars share (main bodywork and doors) from diecast metal and the parts that they don't share (air dams, engine covers, spoilers, sideskirts) out of plastic and they did just that. The air intakes for the brake cooling ducts, the front air dam and the air intakes for the engine on the rear fenders are not perforated but simulated by plastic moulded to simulate mesh. The lights are reasonably good although you can see where the rear lights are mounted through the plastic and the side repeaters are not separate pieces but are painted on (but this is forgivable since making plastic side repeaters for the 996 series of Porsches would be fairly difficult given their position). The logos which, are stickers, are nicely applied and don't look like they'll peel off any time soon. The exterior is not as good as most AUTOart exteriors in all honesty.
6/8
INTERIOR
The interior isn't bad - not even slightly - but it looks rather unremarkable (but this is the case with the real GT2's interior). The floor is carpeted and the rear seats are missing (as they should be) but the racing seats are hard plastic - the alcantara effect should have been used for the seats - albeit well detailed. The dashboard but the moulding is of very high quality. The instruments are painted correctly and the dials are stickers. The seat belts are also a nice touch. The front compartment is well detailed and even has carpet detailing and the toolboxes are simulated.
Using the alcantara-like material on the racing seats would have probably raised the score to a perfect eight.
7/8
WHEELS & BRAKES
The wheels are excellent and the brakes even have the ceramic effect etched on to them. Quite correctly the discs rotate with the wheels and the calipers (which have "Porsche" etched on to them) remain fixed. The detail is excellent. However the Michelin tyres are unbranded.
5/6
ENGINE & UNDERCARRIAGE DETAIL
The engine (which can be seen both below the car and under the engine cover) is nicely detailed and you can even see the fuel lines that run underneath the car. Some people say that the engine on the model isn't detailed enough but that is rather harsh considering that you can't see much of the engine on the real car (which isn't surprising considering that the cylinders are horizontally-opposed). The undercarriage detail is mostly engine and gearbox detail but there is still a reasonable amount of suspension and wiring detail. On personal gripe I have is that I'd have preferred if AUTOart would have made the engine cover from metal rather than plastic however and the finish is surprisingly poor in the engine bay as the metal is very rough.
7/8
COMPETITION
AUTOart only make the 996-series GT2 so there is no direct competition. The company who make models close to the 996 GT2 are UT (defunct now but previously owned by Gateway Global, the owners of AUTOart) who made the 993-series GT2 and Maisto who make several 996-series 911 Porsches including the Targa and the C4S. Unsurprisingly, AUTOart's quality is by far the best.
6/6
DESIRABILITY
The model is of high quality and even though it has no direct competition, it is not easily available and is likely to be found in major toy stores or model specialist stores.
6/6
OVERALL
AUTOart did a very good job of making the 911 GT2. However you do get the feeling that they were more interested in making a few cost-cuts to make more profit than putting the quality up and make it as close to perfect as possible.
Total Score - 45/50
***Pictures added by DX Staff***
© 2003 www.DiecastXchange.com All rights reserved
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Nice work
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I also like your new sig
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I also like your new sig
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