ROAD RACERS
Two 996 GT3S, one standard, one very much modded, on the road
It’s hard to believe, but two decades have passed since the launch of Porsche’s 996 GT3, seen by many as the best of the original water-cooled 911s. On a cold, damp and decidedly unwelcoming Dartmoor, we take a ride in a low mileage factorystandard second generation example and then wrestle with its evil twin: a Cupengined road racer that’s guaranteed to put hairs on anyone’s chest…
So, come on then, what is a GT? We know the letters are short for Grand Touring, but what does the moniker really mean? In times past, the term was used to describe a performance car which could travel vast distances with ease, taking you on your very own Grand Tour. It was a term oft used to describe cars such as Aston Martins, maybe even Bristols, or to take a step further back in time, Facel Vegas and Bentley Continentals. GTS were cars to waft you along in an air of luxury as you sped to your holiday retreat in the south of France.
Ford were among the first to water down the GT label, with cars like the Cortina GT being as far removed from the aforementioned luxo-barges as it was possible to imagine. It was little more than a poor man's Lotus Cortina – or a souped-up family saloon – and it wasn’t long before the GT badge meant very little indeed outside the racing world, where Ford’s own GT40 helped to reinforce the ‘Grand’ element, even if the ‘Touring’ had fallen by the wayside.
The two magical letters returned to Porsche’s lexicon in 1996 after a period of absence with the arrival of the mighty GT1 and the 993-based GT2. In this instance, there was no chance anyone was talking of a long-distance tourer – more a pair of cars aimed squarely at winning the GT championship. The heavyweight 993-based GT2 proved uncompetitive against the seriesleading Mclaren F1, with its advanced carbon-fibre chassis. Mclaren’s crushing victory in the 1995 Le Mans left Porsche’s race department in no doubt that an all-new high-tech machine was needed, a decision which led to the development of the slippery – and ultimately successful – GT1.
In typical Porsche manner, one car and one championship wasn’t enough: Weissach’s wizards wanted to make their presence felt in all levels of GT racing, meaning that there would need to be all-new 911-based GT2S and GT3S alongside the GT1. The GT2 was to be a turbocharged machine, the Gt1-derived engine of which would form the basis of that of the road-going 996 Turbo. The GT3, though, would be normally-aspirated but with its engine still based on that of the GT1, meaning dry-sump oiling at a time when the mainstream 911 models had reverted to wet-sump lubrication with the advent of water-cooling.
Work on race-ready GT3 Cup cars began in February 1997 when Porsche decided to continue its promotion of the Supercup series. These new models were, in their simplest form, stripped and race-prepped 996s, with lightweight body panels helping to reduce overall weight by a little short of 15 per cent, to just over 2500lbs. There was a welded-in roll cage, and what became a trademark body kit, with adjustable rear spoiler, side skirts and a restyled nose to both allow for a third centrally-mounted radiator and to improve the aerodynamics .
Producing 360bhp and 265lb ft of torque, the former at 7250rpm, the latter at 6000rpm, the GT3 Cup’s water-cooled six was hooked
up to a transmission carried over from the 993-based GT2, itself derived from the old G50 unit. The engine featured a revised version of the earlier chain-driven Vario-cam technology, now based around hydraulic valves controlling the inlet valve timing. Revised inlet and exhaust systems allowed the GT3 to breathe more easily.
But the effort that went into developing the GT3 Cup wasn’t going to be restricted to a low-volume Supercup car (of which just 30 were built in 1997), for Jürgen Barth and colleague Hartmut Kristen had their eyes on the GT3 as a customer race car – and that would mean building a series of them for homologation purposes.
Time would be of the essence, though, as production space at Weissach was limited ahead of production of the new 911 Turbo, due to be launched in the first half of 2000. The go-ahead was given for a run of 1350 GT3S, the first of which was shown at the
Geneva motor show in March 1999. Unsurprisingly, customer interest far outstripped availability…
The production GT3 was externally little different to the Cup version, other than the wheels – 18in-diameter rims measuring 8in and 10in in width, front and rear – and the suspension settings, which meant the car didn’t sit quite as low. Front and rear anti-roll bars were still adjustable, while the suspension was stiffer, with heavier springs and gas-pressurised dampers, than that of the regular 996.
As if to prove this was a real driver’s car, Porsche chose not to install the muchvaunted PASM (Porsche Active Suspension Management), or rear seats, but the brakes remained the same, with four-pot calipers, front and rear. A limited-slip differential was supplied as standard, set at 60/40 (overrun/traction).
Porsche offered both road and Clubsport versions of the GT3 for the same price. The Clubsport differed in having a single-mass flywheel (the ‘road’ version had a more driverfriendly dual-mass unit) which made the car easy to stall if the revs weren’t kept up when moving away from rest. Other differences included deleted side airbags, sports seats trimmed in non-flammable material, full harnesses and/or red seat belts. Both road and CS versions could be ordered with or without radio and air-conditioning with no difference in price.
Perhaps a little surprisingly, considering its sporting pretensions, the GT3 weighed more than the regular 996, largely due to changes made to the bodyshell to increase torsional stiffness and the heavier ‘Mezger’ engine. However, this did nothing to dampen the GT3’S performance: with a top speed of 188mph, it was the fastest normally-aspirated 911 by far.
In 2004, in line with changes made to the
rest of the 996 range, Porsche released the second generation GT3, which became widely referred to as the 996.2 GT3. To the casual observer, there were few differences, the most noticeable of which were the redesigned headlights (no more fried eggs…) and a switch to using the bodyshell of the Carrera 4. Under the skin, though, there were six-pot brake calipers used at the front (with
PCCB ceramic discs as an option), and the power output was boosted to 380bhp and 285lb ft of torque, allowing the latest GT3 to top 190mph. Which brings us to our day out on Dartmoor…
So, what we have before us here are two Porsches sharing the common bond of GT3 status. In the blue corner we have a wonderfully preserved, low mileage 996.2 GT3, while in the red(-ish) corner we have its older sibling, a first generation 996 GT3. But this is not just any old GT3 – it's the blue car’s twisted sister… Two more different examples you couldn’t wish to find.
The Cobalt Blue gen 2 – a special order hue and one which shows off the 996’s lines to perfection – is a wonderful example of the breed. It’s covered less than 20,000 miles from new and was first registered in Dubai in August 2004. It changed ha nds the following
“The GT3 is a remarkably docile beast – until you explore its limits… ”
January, still remaining in Dubai, and then made its way to the UK, where it was first registered in January 2016. Since then it’s had just one other owner, who acquired it in May 2017.
Throughout its life it’s clearly been pampered, with a comprehensive service history which shows up nothing more serious than the renewal of the the bonnet struts, driver’s side door sill plate and a pair of front suspension air deflectors. That’s it. Not very exciting – but let’s face it, exciting is the last thing you want if it relates to a long list of repairs in a service book… It was also ordered with a few choice options, in addition to that stunning colour. The original owner chose to tick the boxes for electronic air-con, a centre console, ‘aluminium look’ appearance package, headlight package (which includes washers), sports seats with Porsche logo headrests, aluminium-look gauges and floor mats.
For all its available performance, a GT3 of either generation is a remarkably docile beast – until you choose to explore its limits. Firing up from cold is a similar experience to that of any regular 996, other than the deeper rumble from the rear. The clutch is noticeably heavier, the transmission more ‘robust’ in feel – and noisier – but overall there’s little to suggest this is a race-bred 911 capable of not too far short of 200mph, without the aid of turbos.
While you might be tempted to rag the living daylights out of a GT3 (it invites you to press on harder), to do so on the street would be tempting fate at a massive level. Save that for the next track day. It’s faster than the previous generation 993 Turbo and, to be honest, not that far short of the contemporary
996 Turbo – but it’s the torque which really makes the GT3 feel special.
As far as handling and brakes go, there’s no denying the GT3 is pretty special – it’s firm but not jiggly over rough surfaces, and the six-pot brakes on the gen 2 version bestow confidence in spades. To be honest, there would have been little to be gained from ordering the PCCB option unless you were deadly serious about hitting the track.
Overall, the stock GT3 remains a remarkable package that represents everything that’s great about Porsche’s customer race department. This is a car which, in its day, formed the basis of a highly successful attack on the GT championship. And to think it could be sitting on your driveway ready to drive to work on a Monday.
But then we have the equally attentiongrabbing example sitting alongside it on a windswept Devon hillside. If you thought Cobalt Blue looked special, then how about Zanzibar Red? It's most certainly one of the more unusual hues and has a touch of Marmite about it: that is, you either love it or hate it. In this instance, we are in the former camp, for this is no car for the shrinking violet. This is a car with the soul of the devil.
Looking through the comprehensive (and eye-wateringly expensive) history file, it’s very obvious that from day one this was destined not to be ‘just another’ GT3. In an earlier life, the car had been the subject of an extensive rebuild in the quest to create what promised to be the ultimate road-going GT3. The transformation began back in 2005 when the Zanzibar Red machine was the subject of a Manthey K400 engine conversion, which boosted power to 400bhp. This was accomplished by a change in exhaust, a new carbon intake system and an ECU remap.
Now by most people’s standards, 400bhp would be pretty adequate but the then owner was clearly in the ‘enough is good, more is better’ camp and three years later, after some more work had been carried out by Fearnsport in Silverstone in the interim, the GT3 headed back in the direction of Manthey where over €26,000 was spent on yet another upgrade – this time to Manthey’s M440 spec. That yielded 440bhp and featured an increase in capacity to 3.9-litres.
That surely must have been enough, right? Wrong! Soon after, the engine was rebuilt yet again, this time with a 4.0-litre crank from the 997, Capricorn rods and Cup-spec RSR heads, liners and pistons. Custom-made throttle bodies, a Motec M600 engine management system and a £10,000 titanium and Inconel exhaust system added up to 489bhp at 8800rpm.
Not surprisingly, plenty of attention was turned to the suspension, with a fully adjustable JRZ damper set-up installed, along with a host of goodies from the Elephant Racing product line. The total bill at the time for the suspension upgrades came to over £12,000… Added to this was a brake upgrade featuring 362mm Alcon floating discs and gen 2 six-pot calipers at the front, and 350mm Alcon discs at the rear, with spacedout stock calipers
But there was more to come. The shell was stiffened by the addition of a 996 Cupspec roll-cage, which is tied into the A and B posts, meaning that getting in and out of the car is not quite as quick and easy as it might be, but it's a small price to pay for the added security and rigidity.
A change of ownership saw the car undergo a steady period of revision, some planned, some a consequence of past mods not proving to be quite as well executed as expected. The braking system was upgraded
yet again, this time with 365mm AP Racing discs, usually destined for use on an Audi RS4, which were around the same weight as the previous Alcons thus significantly lighter than the stock 350mm discs.
Although first impressions were good, the JRZ suspension – and track-oriented geometry – proved to be less than ideal for extended road use, and the decision was taken to change the whole set-up. As it turned out, there was a massive improvement in feel once the new Ohlins suspension package had been fitted. With damper settings optimised to suit the car and the owner’s preferred driving style, the result is as close as you can get to a full-on race car experience without the obligatory bonejarring ride.
But the engine proved to be the biggest headache. The mighty 440bhp ‘six’ was clearly not at its best – the owner recalled his first experience as a passenger which had left him breathless at the savage power delivery. Somehow it no longer felt as potent as it once clearly had been. Checks carried out by Fearnsport confirmed that all was not well, with blocked cats, badly worn cam lobes and evidence of overheating. It was obvious that, at the very least, a full rebuild was in order. But there was an alternative…
And that came in the form of a call to Porsche Motorsport in Germany, where it turned out that a 2009 997 Cup engine, with just six hours’ running time since a full rebuild, was available for the bargain sum of a little over €21,500. This 3.6-litre unit had been dyno’d at 420bhp at the factory, although as we shall see, there was plenty more to come.
The installation included reverting to the original factory ECU (which had been retained alongside the Motec unit to operate such things as door locks and immobiliser) which proved perfectly suited to running the Cup engine’s management requirements. The bespoke BTB titanium/inconel exhaust system was retained, but the new engine now breathed through a 997 4.0 RS inlet manifold. A regular throttle cable also replaced the usual 997 ‘fly by wire’ throttle actuation. The previous 996 Cup air filter and Manthey carbon-fibre air ducting was replaced by a 997 Cup filter and housing, also from Porsche Motorsport.
Although the installation went to plan, and the engine fired up without drama, it still required mapping, and for that task the services of Wayne Schofield of Chip Wizards were called for. Although there had been some concern about whether the two resonance flaps in the inlet manifold could be made to function with the stock ECU, Wayne was of the opinion that it wasn't a problem and, indeed, was a necessity. Initial dyno runs proved this to be the case and, following an extended mapping session, the outcome was an extremely impressive 465bhp from the 3.6-litre engine.
But what of the longterm reliability of such an engine? After all, it's designed for racing. And thereby lies the rub: in its simplest terms, it is essentially a regular 997 GT3 engine with high-lift cams, larger ports and inlet manifold, no Variocam system and a bespoke exhaust system. It's not an ultra-high compression
‘screamer’ requiring a rebuild after each race, but an engine intended to live at higher than normal rpm, so the use it’s going to see on the road or occasional track day is nothing compared to what it’s capable of. With regular service attention, there’s absolutely no reason why it won’t last equally as long as any regular GT3 engine.
Firing the beast from cold is no problem. It'll even idle for you, with the Cup/rsr-spec gearbox chattering away behind your left ear. Foot on the heavy clutch and the chattering disappears, just like in the days of the old 915 transmission. The gear lever feels positive in action and engages first with a slight crunch before the gearbox oil gets up to temperature. Move away and…i stall. Damn. I’d been warned to keep the revs up but it felt a little embarrassing doing so as the lightweight flywheel means the engine zings up the rev scale with ease.
OK, let’s try again. Bring the rpm up and feed out the clutch as normal. Stalled again. OK, I’ve got this – the sintered clutch feels like it wants to be either in or out, and takes a degree of finesse to achieve a smooth getaway. Once on the move, the rifle-bolt action of the gear lever suggests the mods carried out to the Cup-spec d rivetrain were
“It will surely put a smile on your face – and hairs on your chest ”
definitely aimed at race track use. Positive doesn’t even begin to describe it.
To begin with, I have to admit I thought the car too uncompromising: firm suspension, noisy transmission and a heavy switch-like clutch. But then, as the miles ticked by, things began to change. The suspension felt suddenly far less ‘severe’, presumably as the dampers began to warm up – the tyres, too.
The gearbox became a delight to use as the oil reached temperature, the engine…well, what can I say? It was nothing short of a sensation from the off.
Once oil and water had reached operating temperature, it was time to explore the upper reaches of the rpm range. In modern textspeak, the expression would be OMG! Damn this thing’s fast – as the tacho needle rocketed round the scale, the world around became a blur like a scene out of Star Wars. 6000rpm, 7000rpm, 7500rpm – and breathe. This was getting silly on a public road. Although the engine could safely scoot round to something over 8000rpm, you’d be crazy to push it that far on the open road. Save it for the track – if you dare.
The sound is intoxicating, the adrenalin rush second only to that I’ve experienced in a 2000bhp Pro Mod drag car. This Zanzibar Red GT3 is quite probably the ultimate roadlegal incarnation of the model. Its final specification has only been achieved at huge expense and many, many man hours, but all the effort was clearly worth it. It’s not a car for the faint of heart, nor a car to use on the school run. But it will surely put a smile on your face – and hairs on your chest…