If you’re looking for a car you can drive to a race track down winding B roads, race a couple of fast laps in times that were solely the province of dedicated race cars on slicks just a few years ago, and then return home by zipping down the motorway, you’ll probably wind up with the Porsche 911 GT3.

You don’t believe it? Buy anything else, and after a couple of months you’ll be scratching your head, then you’ll sell it and buy something different. A Porsche 911 GT3, naturally. We can see it in our driving tours. A Ferrari can put on a show, a Mercedes is amazing, a Mclaren is technically precise, and a Lamborghini has guts. But only a Porsche offers a perfect mix of speed, handling and everyday use.

All 911 GT3 versions have always managed to combine daily use with stunning capabilities on demanding roads and racing circuits. For the new 992 series, there was a lot of talk that the GT3 may not be the way it used to be because of direct injection, hybrid technology, and so on. Instead, Porsche presented a car with a high-octane naturally aspirated engine tuned to perfection, with automatic and manual transmission options, a front axle from a racing car, and ingenious aerodynamics.

Along with a host of additional improvements, the new GT3 finished the Nürburgring north loop in under seven minutes—with a time of 6:59.927—seventeen seconds faster than its predecessor. Are you surprised?  No, there’s no reason to be …

The 4.0 l engine has a power output of 375 kW and produces a staggering 9,000 rpm. The GT3 accelerates to 100 km/h in 3.4 seconds and has a top speed of 320 km/h. It weighs 1,418 kg with a manual transmission and 1,435 kg with a PDK transmission. Andreas Preuninger, Head of Porsche GT, proudly said:

“It has a carbon roof , light forged rims, the exhaust with adjustable flaps is 10 kg lighter, and thanks to the use of carbon-fibre-reinforced polymers (CFRP), lightweight glass, lighter brakes and many other small details, the new car is only five kilos heavier than the previous model.”

Weight and power output are important for straight-line acceleration and braking, but the outstanding feature of the new Porsche 911 GT3 is its aerodynamics. The deeper front bumper has a simplified shape, large air intake openings for the brakes work fantastically, and bonnet vents improve air flow at higher speeds. The GT3 also has a wing remarkably similar to the one used on the racing 911 RSR. “Swan-neck wing stands are a standard feature in motorsport. It has been known for a long time that the shape of the lower part of the wing is the important factor for downforce,” said Preuninger.

When set up normally, it provides fifty per cent more downforce at a speed of 200 km/h than the previous model. In Performance mode, it’s as much as 150 percent! But please bear in mind that this setting should only be used for driving on a circuit. We could have achieved even more downforce, but it would have been at the expense of speed. Our aim was to have the car accelerate sharply to a speed of over 300 km/h. The aerodynamics were tested in approximately 700 simulations, and overall, the car spent around 160 hours in a wind tunnel.

At the famous Italian circuit of Nardo, which Porsche owns, the new 911 GT3 underwent extreme stress testing, driving for 5,000 kilometres at a speed of 300 km/h. The only stops were for fuel and to change drivers. “Overall, the new GT3’s engine ran for more than twenty-two thousand hours on the testing circuit. We simulated various circuits and extended full loads,” said Thomas Mader, Project Manager for Testing at Porsche GT Road Car Engines.  

Add a front axle with double triangular arms from a racing 911 RSR and a rear axle with an adjusted multi-element suspension from a standard 992 and rear wheel steering. The springs are harder than in the previous GT3, but the car is at least as comfortable. 

“Tuning the shock absorbers was the key, and we spent more time on that than we wanted,” admitted Preuninger. “However, application and setup of the front axle from the racing 911 RSR was simpler than we expected, and thanks to that, the new GT3 looks sharp.” The new GT3 has three driving modes, Normal, Sport and Track, and each is fully configurable. “Our main aim though wasn’t purely speed and time at Nordschleife but emotions. Our customers don’t want to be teleported, they want to drive.”

According to the first tests by journalists abroad, it seems that this has worked out. They are all enthusiastic about how the new GT3 drives on a racetrack, how intuitive and lightning fast its controls are. They talk about the engine and chassis in superlatives, and everybody agrees that the crucial test will be a longer trial on a normal road. We look forward to you being able to try it out on a driving tour with us or when you come to one of our events in your new GT3!