Gasoline heads, set it up: it’s a new Porsche 911 GT3. Which is basically like saying ‘it’s a new Bowie album’ to music nerds. This is a benchmark sports car, one by which the feel of the steering, the chassis composure and the engine response of all other supposed supercars on the market are compared.
It looks wilder on the outside – huge gooseneck wing – and maybe even wilder under the skin, with more racing car components than ever before. Its 4.0-liter six-cylinder engine crosses the almost unchanged 911 Cup race car and, as the GT3 tradition dictates, it remains turbocharged.
At 503bhp, it is just 10bhp above the previous GT3, while 0-62mph in 3.4sec and a top speed of 199mph make it marginally faster than the car it replaces in a straight line.
But we can expect something even more surprising to drive, for its 6m 59.927s Nürburgring lap time is not only 13 seconds faster than the 991-gen GT3, but six seconds faster than the more senior GT3 RS. Not to mention the knock on the Porsche 918 Spyder’s lap time door. It’s the pace of the hypercar, basically, but at a non-hypercar price, starting at £ 123,100 in the UK.
That when you learn about the depth of engineering that involved your new lucky double-arm front suspension, or your manually adjustable aerodynamic package, or your slender carbon hood … well, that can be considered a bargain.
As before, it has rear-wheel drive and four-wheel steering. The option of a six-speed manual gearbox and seven-speed PDK gearbox also remains. And, as the photos above attest, Porsche’s Motorsport department gave very little stubby USB gear selector on the normal 992; it was replaced by something with the shape and size of a manual button, still wrapped in Alcantara, with only ‘PRN D’ engraved on it. Most importantly, ‘M’ and ‘+/-‘.
“It is not a coincidence!” says Andreas Preuninger, head of Porsche GT products. “The funny thing is that you have to look closely to see if it’s a manual or PDK. You need access to the foot area, really. We know many of our customers as the manual shift action on the stick with the PDK as well. I like to do that. “
Expect something even more surprising to drive: your lap time at the Nürburgring is knocking on the door of the Porsche 918
If you’re wondering, the outgoing GT3 saw sales split 60:40 in favor of PDK, although some markets – like the US – received up to 70% of manuals. And the paddleshifter used here is modified from the 991-gen car; the eight-speed PDK on Porsche’s latest 911 Carreras and Turbos is 18 kg heavier, again attracting the attention of the Preuninger team.
It is one of the countless decisions that keep the car weight modest: at 1,418 kg (or 1,435 kg with PDK), it is almost 100 kilos lighter than a basic 911 Carrera. The GT3 folded the rear seats, the rear windows are thinner, a light exhaust cuts 10 pounds, there are forged alloy wheels and its front hood is carbon-reinforced plastic. The latter is the first in the world to pass the stringent pedestrian safety tests required when you sell more than 1,000 cars in the EU – a number that other carbon-capped cars have easily gone through in limbo.
The big internal highlight is the ‘tracking screen’: a simple push of a button reduces the information provided on both sides of the tachometer to essential circuit data, such as tire pressure and oil temperature, as well as indicator lights for help you get to 9,000 rpm.
The rear spoiler adjusts manually through four different configurations, offering up to 160 percent more downforce than the old 911 GT3. And if you think it all sounds too serious, don’t worry: there will be a Touring package before the end of the year that leaves the wing.
“We can definitely imagine the car without a rear spoiler, which works very well too,” guarantees Preuninger. “So, yes, there will be a Touring version at the end of the year for the driver who is not hunting race days every weekend and wants to drive a GT car more clandestine.
“We are very successful with Touring. It is something that the customer requires of us and we are very happy to play together. “
So, Internet. Preuninger and his team nailed it, as usual? Or is the GT3 very attached to tradition when a 911 Turbo weighs just over ten thousand dollars more, while shining in technology and has four seats? And with you …