Petrolheads, assembled: this is a new Porsche 911 GT3. Which is basically like saying to the music nerds ‘this is a new Bowie album’. It is a standard sports car, which measures the steering feel, chassis calmness and engine response of every other supposed supercar on the market.
It looks wilder on the outside – a ‘big swan neck wing’ and an all – and is perhaps even wilder under the skin, with more components than ever from the race cars. Its 4.0-liter six-and-a-six-engine engine compares almost unchanged to the 911 Cup race car, and as the GT3 tradition dictates, it remains free of turbos.
With 503 hp, it is a mere 10 hp higher than the previous GT3, while 0-62 km / h in 3.4 sec. And a top speed of 199 km / h makes it faster than the car he replaces in a straight line.
But we can expect something even more exciting to drive, as the Nürburgring lap time of 6 million 59,927 is not only 13 seconds faster than the 993 generation GT3, but six seconds faster than the more senior GT3 RS. Not to mention the knock on the door of the Porsche 918 Spyder’s lap time. It’s basically a hypermotor pace, but with a price not higher, starting at £ 123,100 in the UK.
If you find out about the depth of engineering that its new dual portable suspension has in front of it, or the hand-adjustable aero package, or its sleek carbon hood dit, it can be considered a bargain.
As before, it is rear-wheel drive and has four-wheel drive. A choice of six-speed manual and seven-speed PDK gearboxes also remains. And as the photos above testify, Porsche’s Motorsport division gave the regular 992’s blunt little USB stick gear selector very short; it is replaced by something shaped like a hand knob and still wrapped in Alcantara, only with ‘PRN D’ in it. And very important, ‘M’ and ‘+/-‘.
‘It is no coincidence!’ says Andreas Preuninger, boss of Porsche’s GT products. ‘The funny thing is that you have to look very carefully whether it’s a manual or PDK. You really need access to the footwell. We know that many of our customers also like the manual move action with PDK. I like to do that. ”
Expect something even more frightening to drive: the Nürburgring lap time knocks on the door of the Porsche 918s
If you’re wondering, the outgoing GT3 sales split 60:40 in PDK’s favor, although some markets – such as the US – took up to 70 percent manuals. And the paddleshifter used here is adapted from the 991-generation car; the eight-speed PDK in Porsche’s latest 911 Carreras and Turbos weighs 18 kg, and it pulls out of Preuninger’s team again for a short while.
This is one of the many decisions that keep the weight of this car modest: at 1,418 kg (or 1,435 kg with PDK) it gets 100 kilos lighter than a 911 Carrera base. The GT3 has trimmed the rear seats, the rear windows are thinner, a light exhaust shaves 10 kilos, there are forged alloy wheels and the front bonnet is with carbon-reinforced plastic. The latter is the first in the world to pass strict pedestrian safety tests required if you sell more than 1,000 cars in the EU – a figure that other cars with carbon lids easily encounter.
The big highlight on the inside is ‘track screen’: a simple push of a button narrows down the information given on either side of the rev counter for essential circuit data, such as tire pressure and oil temperature, as well as slide lights to help you get up to 9,000 tpm to relieve.
The rear spoiler can be adjusted manually using four different settings, offering up to 160 percent more power than the old 911 GT3. And if you think it all sounds too serious, do not worry: there will be a tour package before the end of the year that drops the wing.
“We can definitely imagine the car without a rear spoiler, which also works pretty well,” Preuninger assures us. ‘So yes, there will be a Touring version later this year for the driver who does not hunt on the track every weekend, and who wants to drive more with a GT car.
‘We are very successful with the Touring. This is something the client demands of us and we are very happy to play together. ”
So, internet. Did Preuninger and his team nail it down as always? Or does the GT3 too cling to the tradition when a 911 Turbo is more than ten thousand more, while having a beautiful technology and four seats? Over to you…