Is A Built Porsche 911 GT3 A Better Car To Drive Than A GT3 RS For Way Less Money?

Porsche's 997-generation GT3 and GT3 RS are among the highest rated sports car driving experiences of all time, delivering the absolute intersection of speed and driver involvement. Everything that came before was leading up to this, while everything that came after chased more speed at the expense of engaged driving. There are others joining Porsche at the top of GOAT mountain, but you'd be hard pressed to find anyone who disputes this car's position on the sports car Mount Rushmore. But how do you pick between the 911 GT3 and its much more expensive big brother, the 911 GT3 RS? 

Usually the one you pick will depend on your budget. Because the GT3 RS was a more hardcore track version of the street car than its GT3 counterpart, fewer examples were sold at a higher pricepoint, and that rarity when it was new translates to an exponentially higher pricepoint in today's inflated collector market. A nice low-mile GT3 RS is going to cost you between a quarter million dollars and, say, five-hundred grand for a delivery-mile example in a cool color. A standard, non-perfect, track-modified GT3, meanwhile, can be had for maybe $125,000. That's a big gap, so how do you determine if it's worth the extra money for you to step up to the RS? Ask the guy who has had both! 

Vin Anatra, former-Hoonigan-turned-solo-artist, traded a 997 GT3 for a 3.8-liter 997 GT3 RS, a car he has always said was his dream car. Within the last few weeks Vin has sold off his RS and gone back to a non-RS GT3. Once you've already got the king of all Porsche 911s, why take a step backward to a "lesser" spec? Find out by watching his newest video on YouTube. 

Dang, that's just good viewing. Did you hear how that GT3 Cup exhaust sounds? That has to be one of the best sounding cars on the planet. 

If you haven't been following along with Vin's recent, um, first world struggles, check out his YouTube channel, because it's good. If you want the CliffsNotes, owning a GT3 RS worth as much as most houses got stressful for Vin, and meant he wasn't really able to drive the car and enjoy it the way he wanted to. They say you shouldn't take a car to the track that you aren't prepared (financially) to wad up into a ball and walk away from, and that was where Vin was with his RS. So he sold it, bought a well modified track-ready GT3 with a whole lot of RS (and better-than-RS) parts, pocketing the rest.

Vin doesn't get into exactly how much he sold the RS for, and what he paid for the GT3. It's YouTube, he'd be silly to disclose that kind of information. Either way, it's safe to assume he's got six figures worth of cash in his pocket right now, and a car he can actually drive without worrying about value. 

There's something to be said for owning a car you don't feel bad about adding miles to. Vin's new GT3 has previous crash damage, a few areas of re-paint, lots of track modifications, a non-original engine, and plenty of other things that kill the car's value as a "collector" grade vehicle. 

Personally, I don't think cars should be looked at as stores of value. Cars were built to be driven, and if you aren't going to be comfortable adding miles to the odometer, the best move is to just sell the car on to someone who will and find yourself a less stressful driving experience. This is an incredible move by Vin, and one I totally agree with. To RS or not to RS, that's the real question.