Andreas Preuninger is the head of Porsche’s GT car division, in charge of removing weight and applying wings (and stickers) in 911s for more than two decades. No one knows more about extreme sports cars with a rear engine than Preuninger. Except, perhaps, Mr. Chris Harris. Before the new 911 GT3 was unveiled, Harris took a trip to Germany to see each generation of the Porsche 911 GT …
Andreas Preuninger: Chris, welcome to our Noah’s Ark. One of every type of Porsche 911 in the GT series of all time.
Chris Harris: Do you know that normal people dream of beautiful women or handsome men? I dream of a room full of Porsche GT3s. Where do we start?
AP: Without me, actually. The gen-two 996 was the first GT3 I worked on. I missed the first edition.
CH: So, since you didn’t develop the original, I can say a few things, right? I remember coming to Weissach, collecting the first GT3 to go to the UK, in July 1999. It was really cool, but it wasn’t perfect. We took it to a track – it wasn’t as fast as I expected and it ran out of brakes. The second generation you developed claimed another 20bhp of power, but it looked like it had 50 more for me and the brakes worked. His magic had begun … How did it evolve into the first GT3 RS?
AP: This was the project of my dreams, because I always had a poster of Carrera RS 2.7 on my bed when I was 10 years old. It happened because we needed to approve new wheel carriers for the 996 RS race car, but I wanted to pay tribute to the 2.7 RS. So, we added a carbon cap and what was, at the time, a huge wing.
CH: It looks tiny now.
AP: Did you know that this was the first Porsche tram upholstered with Alcantara? Only on the steering wheel, gearshift and door handle. It was the first time that we had a polycarbonate window.
CH: This is nerdy. The direction of this car is incredible, isn’t it? He’s totally alive.
AP: BMW had just made the M3 CSL, which I loved: it was a good competitor. We had Pirellis, they had the Michelins and that influences the sense of direction a lot.
CH: Okay, for 997. This car is a little forgotten, because everyone wants the second generation, but in fact this engine is spectacular, isn’t it?
AP: It was a very special, very successful car that had ultra-high performance Michelin tires for the first time. We offer it with ceramic brakes and only a manual gearbox. This is all the sports car you need.
CH: How many times have you gone out on these things to remember the DNA of what you are doing?
AP: I think it is very important to touch the base with the old cars, reset the internal button because in memory, you tend to glorify the past and forget the new one. My entire team drives these cars to make sure that the new car will fit correctly in its ancestral line, so that the values, virtues and DNA of the GT3 remain.
BMW had just made the M3 CSL, which I loved: it was a good competitor
CH: Aha, the 997 gen two. I probably did more miles on this than any other GT3. It seemed to me that their GT division had really established itself. Everyone wanted one.
AP: As we knew we would sell enough cars to pay for our investment, we went to the city. New brakes, wheels with central brake, 3.8 liter engine, different cams, more revs, more power.
CH: You once told me about a new coating on these grids that allowed more air to flow. I remember thinking, “Come on, really?” But you were adamant. And the people who buy these cars worry about the details.
AP: We like to focus on the details because the sum of the little things makes the whole more desirable.
CH: Poetic. Now, here’s the one that everyone still talks about: the GT3 RS 4.0. I remember you having a pale face explaining how much it costs to make a wider indicator repeater to fit the wide arches. How much did that piece of plastic cost again?
AP: I think it was € 250,000 before we even did a play. These were our first carbon buffers. Inside, the car is empty. The whole package is still gauged in some ways for today’s cars. I drove this a lot because of the new GT3.
CH: That is right there under that cover. Can I…?
AP: It is too early to display it. You will have to be happy to look at her with a veil over it, like a bride.
CH: You took me to Germany not to see a car. Are you sure it’s not Ferrari? Okay, let’s take a look at the 991 GT3. I seem to remember that the first time I drove this was in Barcelona. It quickly became clear that the Spanish police were not very satisfied with our presence.
AP: They were chasing us with helicopters, Chris.
CH: That’s right. It was like a bad episode of Team A, and they landed a helicopter on the road and just said, “You need to go now.”
AP: We were worried about that camera standing by the road with all those images of us floating there.
CH: I put the SD cards in my sock. Anyway, the car. This was its most controversial stage. Rear steering, electric power steering and it was just PDK. All Internet forums caught fire.
AP: The phrase I put in this car was ‘shut up and drive’.
CH: So what you have is a lot of journalists like me saying, “Oh, there is no manual box”. What do you do in response?
AP: The 911R. I have to be honest, the 991 GT3 was such a big project that we had to hold the manual gearbox for later and introduce it to the 911R. A star was born and we had the gearbox on the shelf for the next generation GT3.
CH: I know I’m an old man, but I just love them without wings and a houndstooth interior. I won’t be here for long because I can have weak knees. Can we take the cover off the new one now?
AP: I told you, I am not allowed to do that. If I lose my job, I won’t be able to build any of those cars anymore.
It’s like a car that James Bond would drive if there were no Aston Martins in the world
CH: I would have to hide. Wow, I just saw a 991 GT3 RS.
AP: This was a game changer when it comes to skill tracking. We’ve never had a car this radical. We had class-leading downforce. Other companies claimed that their cars generated the same amount, so we put them in the wind tunnel. It wasn’t even close. Our RS actually produces 350 kg of downforce at full speed.
CH: I will ignore the GT3 RS generation two for a minute because of what is next to it: the GT2 RS. What strange part of your brain did this 700 horse monster come from?
AP: I wanted an engine that looked like a 911 Turbo from the nineties with no lag. If I could have just three cars that I helped make, the GT2 RS would always be one of them. The list changes according to my mood, but there is always a GT2 RS.
CH: Now tell me about some details about this 992 GT3. The increase in power is not great compared to the last car, but 500 is enough on the road, isn’t it?
AP: A car of that size and weight with 500 horsepower is enough to put you in jail in minutes. We focus on handling and confidence. The car is much faster in the ‘Ring, so it pays off despite having only a 10 horsepower upgrade.
CH: The noise is good. I feared that with the new regs it would look a little boring on the inside. It doesn’t really matter.
AP: It may seem a little mature, a little more mature, but inside it is even taller than the old one. But it’s not just about the engine. For the first time, we have a double triangle front axle, brand new for a 911.
CH: There are a lot of Porsche racing drivers out there right now saying “thank God, we’ve been waiting for this for 20 years”.
AP: It helps the car a lot. The car got a little bigger, but it has advantages. It has wider tracks, a completely new front suspension and is much better on the tracks now.
CH: So, is the 992 GT3 available with a manual and a PDK?
AP: You have both options because I’m tired of telling people what the right combination is.
CH: Will there be a tour?
AP: A little after we put this on the market, yes. You could go to the opera with that. It is like a car that James Bond would drive if there were no Aston Martins in the world.
CH: Wouldn’t that be cool? James Bond driving a GT3 Touring. Now we’re talking. Will there be a convertible?
AP: No.
CH: Will there be a diesel?
AP: Pffft. Yes, Chris.
CH: Will there be an electric?
AP: Oh, absolutely.
CH: Jokes aside, seeing it all together makes me feel a little old.
AP: Do you feel old? That orange 997 GT3 RS is the same car that brought my son home from the hospital when he was born.
CH: It’s an incredible legacy and it took a few years, but it’s 20 years of good equipment now, isn’t it?
AP: And yet, we still have some ideas for what’s to come …
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