Parts bin
(very) special
Manufacturers often boast
of motorsport influence in
their powerplants but the
GT3’s motor is very much
therealdeal–it’sbuilt
alongside the company’s
911raceenginesandwe’re
told it’s almost identical
totheflat-sixintheGT3
Cupracecar.Likeits
predecessor,itstickswith
dry-sump lubrication,
using a motorsport-grade
centrifugal de-foamer
butwithanewsystem
that channels oil flow
through the crankshaft
anddirectlytothebig-
end bearings. The result
is better lubrication from
asystemthatpumps70
litresaminutecompared
with 120 litres a minute in
the previous GT3.NotasfastastheTurboSinastraightline;deletedrearseats PLUS& Manichigh-revvingengine;poiseandbalance;returnofamanual
MINUSstick with natural aspiration.
No, it can’t match the
whizz-bang performance of
turbocharged rivals – including
its own 911 Turbo sister – but,
although the engine doesn’t get
out of bed for much less than four
grand, its enthusiasm for revs –
and the savagely joyful noise it
makes at full chat – encourage the
sort of hard use the car seems to
revel in. Throttle response is also
sharper and keener than anything
with forced induction.
The standard PDK delivers
ultra-quick changes all of the
time, and adds a head-jolting
torque bump to upshifts in its
punchier Sport mode.
As usual, Porsche laid on a
track for its press debut. The tight
and technical 3km-long Circuito
Guadix in Granada, Spain, proved
that the dual-clutch ’box is ideally
suited to hard circuit use. While
the manual is noticeably slower,
and its six ratios are spread more
widely, it has the same near-
perfect shift action as the 911R,
and the engine’s screaming top
end masks the gaps.
Track use also demonstrated
the GT3’s near total resistance
to understeer, certainly once the
super-sticky Pilot Sport Cup 2in the GT3 Cup racer. Power has
increased by 18kW to 368kW,
torque has risen by 20Nm to
460Nm and is available across a
broader spread of the rev range.
More importantly, the redline
is still set at a dizzying 9000rpm,
750rpm beyond where peak power
arrives, making the GT3 – by our
reckoning – the highest-revving
sportscar currently on sale.
Design has been given a
nip-and-tuck, with redesigned
bumpers and a slightly higher-
mounted rear wing which, in
conjunction with a new diffuser,
has increased peak downforce
by around 20 percent while also
cutting drag. Oh, and there are
now some very cool ram-air ducts
to direct more flow through the
engine cover.
Other differences, although
plentiful, soon fade to invisibility;
apart from the welcome arrival of
an improved touchscreen interface- and the same steering wheel that
was fitted to the 918 Spyder – the
cabin feels unchanged.
But while the driving
experience is familiar, it’s
noticeably sharper. The engine
remains a masterpiece and five
minutes in its company is enough
to vindicate Porsche’s decision to
tyres were warmed through. It’s
a car with the security to tolerate
serious abuse, not something
that could be said of pre-GT3
lightweight 911s, but also with
more than enough finesse to
reward accuracy and precision.
On road, it is even more
impressive; the dampers
deliver an unexpected level of
compliance and the steering
remains chatty even without
track loadings. On dusty Spanish
roads the track-focused tyres
were often short of grip, but the
GT3’s helm flags the front end’s
battle between grip and slip better
than a semaphore school.
It’s noisier than a regular
911 when cruising, economy takes
a bit of a hit over the standard
car’s fuel-sipping turbo engines
and it does without rear seats,
but it’s definitely more everyday
viable than anything else this
track-focused.
While this 911 will doubtless
spawn an even faster – and even
more expensive – RS sister, the
regular car could well be the
better piece of engineering.
If we had to choose just one
performance car to keep forever,
it would be this one.
MIKE DUFFThe engine’s screaming
top end masks the gaps
in the manual’s ratios