Man who's 3D-printing an entire Porsche GT3 shares how much it's all really costing him

3D-printing a Porsche GT3 might sound like a Marty McFly scheme, but YouTuber Mike Lake proved it was actually possible.

The content creator had been documenting the ambitious build on YouTube, where he gradually assembled a life-size replica of the iconic supercar using hundreds of 3D-printed parts.

Along the way, many of his viewers have been asking one big question.

How much does it actually cost to print an entire Porsche?

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3D-printing takes a lot of time

We’ve previously written about Lake’s adventures on multiple occasions.

He recently drove his 3D-printed Porsche GT3 for the first time, and also took a major risk to make it look perfect.

Now, Lake has finally revealed the numbers.

Before diving into the total, he made one thing clear.

The calculation only included the cost of the 3D printing filament used to create the body panels and exterior pieces.

It doesn’t include the price of other components required to make the car functional, such as suspension parts, wheels, electronics, or mechanical hardware.

The numbers he quoted were also in Australian dollars.

For the project, Lake had been using PETG filament, a strong and durable material commonly used in large-scale 3D prints.

On average, each roll costs him about $22 AUD per kg ($15.53 USD) or $10 AUD (around $7 USD) per lb.

Using that price as a baseline, he tracked every single printed part in a spreadsheet that logged the material used, print time, and cost.

Some of the parts were surprisingly affordable.

The massive front bumper, for example, required 61 individual pieces and took 381 hours to print, using 10.5 kg (23.14 lbs) of filament.

Even with all that effort, the total material cost came out to just $231 AUD ($163 USD).

Other panels were even cheaper.

Each front fender took only 55 hours to print and used 1.9 kg (4.19 lbs) of material, costing roughly $42 AUD ($29.64 USD) per side.

The hood required 44 pieces and about 5.2 kg (11.46 lbs) of filament, bringing its cost to around $114 AUD (roughly $80.46 USD).

3D-printing a Porsche GT3 is surprisingly cheap

Things start to add up when the larger sections of the car are included.

The rear quarter panels required 56 pieces each, while the complicated rear bumper alone took 288 hours to print and consumed 7.5 kg (16.53 lbs) of filament.

Even so, the material cost was just $165 AUD (roughly $116 USD).

For comparison, Lake pointed out that an authentic Porsche rear bumper can cost nearly $19,000 AUD ($13,410 USD).

Yes, prices of Porsche parts really sting, and Lake isn’t the only one trying to 3D-print some parts to save a little bit of cash.

Then there’s the massive rear wing.

Made from 26 individual pieces, the spoiler took 195 hours to print and required 5.5 kg (12.12 lbs) of material, totaling about $121 AUD ($85.40 USD).

When Lake added up every part in the body kit, the numbers were impressive.

The entire car consists of 477 individual printed pieces, using 62 kilograms (136 lbs) of filament and nearly 2,000 hours of print time.

The total material cost? About $1,373 AUD ($966 USD).

Of course, that figure assumes a perfect printing process.

In reality, Lake experienced about 7 kilograms of failed prints along the way, adding another $154 AUD ($109 USD) in wasted material.

Still, for someone who started the project without any prior 3D-printing experience, the results are remarkable.

And in case you’re wondering how safe a 3D-printed Porsche GT3 is, you should know there are plenty of Airbus planes out there with 3D-printed parts flying without a problem.

If you want to learn more about the full breakdown, you can watch the full video below:

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