IGNITION
The 992-gen GT3 eschews big power gains for improvements where it really matters. Here’s everything you need to know
Porsche has revealed its new 911 GT3, Lotus has shown its vision of an electric endurance racer for 2030, and we’ve got the story behind a V10-engined Lamborghini that predated the Gallardo
WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT A LAP TIME. BUT before we get heavy with the numbers, I think it’s worth taking a moment to appreciate the aesthetics, because this new GT3 feels like a much bigger transformation than with previous generations. Devoid of its disguises, it looks startlingly more trim and taut than a standard 992. It’s as though, in order to match the kerb weight of its forebear, it didn’t just need a strict diet but full-on surgery. The way the standard car’s bulbous bottom has been sliced into. The way the lower front looks as though it has been pulled open and a jaw removed. The deeply sunken nostrils… it’s almost brutal.
It has to be the most aggressive GT3 to date. The most RS non-rs. Just look at the rear wing. Even regardless of the swan-neck design, the pierced black supports are so much more Rennsport than any other GT3. Below it, the prominently jutting vanes of the new rear diffuser ratchet up the aero ante even further. The wheels are now 20in diameter at the front and 21in at the rear, matching the previous RS and filling the arches like a glass left unattended under a running tap. It’s serious stuff. The colour looks a little bit Miami and a little bit Riviera, but is in fact Shark Blue (code D5C). And while it’s striking, there’s a no-nonsense air about its non-metallic flatness. It means business.
Having said all that, a quick glance at the spec sheet might make you wonder if it’s all for show. Power is up by only 10bhp (in the past it has been a 30-40bhp jump between generations), the 0-62mph time is exactly the same at 3.4sec (with PDK) and the top speed of the manual car has increased by a single mph to 199mph. Hardly earth-shattering gains. But the reason is the retention of the 991’s glorious, naturally aspirated, 4-litre flat-six. It’s an engine derived from the one in the GT3 R and almost identical to that found in a GT3 Cup. Leaps in power and straight-line performance have been eschewed in favour of preserving pin-sharp throttle response and a 9000rpm soundtrack to make your spine tingle. Sacrifices worth making, in our book.
But before you start to think this GT3 is simply an exercise in maintaining the status quo, it’s worth considering its ability against a stopwatch around a track. A very particular track. You know the one.
If you want to know just how much of a step-on the new 911 GT3 is, then consider its lap time around the Nürburgring Nordschleife. A full lap of the famous 20.8km circuit took Lars Kern 6min 59.9sec, making this the first GT3 to drop under the seven-minute mark. But that’s not the extraordinary bit.
It’s the lap time around the 20.6km section of the circuit (cutting out the 200m alongside the pits at T13 for logistical reasons) that is really interesting. This is the time that we can compare directly with previous 911s. The new 911 GT3 took 6min 55.2sec to complete this portion. The previous-gen 911 GT3 RS took 6min 56.4sec. And the reason for picking the RS and not the standard GT3 (which took 7min 12.7sec) for this comparison is that both cars were wearing Michelin Cup 2 Rs when they set their times, albeit the RS’S were 10mm wider. Putting out 503bhp, the new GT3 was also 10bhp down on the old RS.
So, despite the same but narrower tyres and less power, the 992 GT3 still managed to go quicker. That’s how much of a difference is made by the GT3’S new platform, new aero and its adoption of doublewishbone suspension at the front.
The last of those is really the biggest new piece of the jigsaw puzzle with this latest car. It’s a set-up that is swiped directly from Porsche’s 911 race cars, but one that has never been seen in a road-going 911 before. It was by all accounts a hugely difficult task to package double wishbones where once there were Macpherson struts yet retain the front luggage space, but the engineers have managed it. The rear suspension remains the same in broad concept, but is totally new in terms of parts and there are almost exclusively ball-joints in the GT3.
The reason for the switch to double wishbones at the front is that it allows better control of camber during cornering and therefore increased contact between the tyre and road. The overall increase in stiffness of the 992 platform has also opened up opportunities in how the suspension can be tuned.
When I rode in the prototype, it was noticeable even from the passenger seat that there was greater lateral grip but also increased vertical compliance.
Significant parts of this equation are, of course, the wheels and brakes, as they are unsprung mass. The standard iron discs are larger in diameter, up to 408mm on the front and 380mm on the rear. However, despite the increase in size, the weight penalty is apparently negligible thanks to the way they have been built. Even lighter Porsche Ceramic Composite Brakes (PCCB) will be an option. The wheels are forged alloys with centre locks. The spokes look almost impossibly spindly and, in keeping with the rest of the car, the design is more angular than those of previous GT3 wheels. A body-colour pinstripe around the black rims is also available, and the tyres are 255/35 at the front, 315/30 at the rear.
Other lightweight parts include the exhaust system, which saves 10kg, the engine cover and the carbonfibre bonnet. The rear screen is the same lightweight Gorilla Glass first seen in the 991.2 GT3 RS, while more sound-insulating material has been
‘IT’S THE FIRST GT3 TO DROP UNDER THE 7MIN MARK AROUND THE NORDSCHLEIFE’
stripped out of the interior compared to the previous GT3. If you want to go further still, then a lightweight carbon roof will be an option. Spec the Clubsport pack, however, and you will add a bit of weight back in, because the half cage adds about 15kg.
If you want to attach a bit of weight to your wrist, then you could of course choose to buy a new chronograph to go with the car (and you can’t buy the former if you don’t have the latter). Its case is made of the same titanium as the con rods in the GT3’S engine, the winding rotor is shaped like a GT3 wheel and the dial can be painted to match the car.
Anyway, retreating from the horological to the automotive, if you’re not so fussed about the more than 50 per cent increase in downforce achieved by the new GT3 then you may be interested in one without a wing. A Touring has been confirmed, but it won’t be unveiled until later in the year. Even with the deletion of the rear wing, it will be interesting to see how this more aggressive GT3’S looks adapt to the subtler character of a Touring version.
One area of the car that will easily fit in with a Touring, though, is the interior. That’s not to say the standard GT3 won’t be at home on a track, it’s just that the fundamentals of the 992 cabin are noticeably more luxurious than previous generations. The central touch-screen and mostly digital dials lend a tech-heavy ambience. In order to scale-back the distractions, there is a new Track Mode for the instruments, which just leaves the central, 10,000rpm rev-counter with the minimum of necessary information either side, such as tyre pressure, oil pressure, oil temperature, water temperature and fuel level. Further reducing the need to take your eyes off the tarmac ahead are the new shift lights, which progressively encircle the revcounter in yellow and then flash blue just before the limiter cuts in. The lights are said to be easily visible in your peripheral vision, just like in a race car.
And if you’re someone who enjoys pretending that you’ve got a race sequential, then you’ll be delighted to see the return of a proper shift lever in a PDK 992. This has been possible because the ’box is the old (significantly lighter) seven-speed PDK rather than the new eight-speed. The lever itself has been redesigned to look just like a manual gearstick at first glance, which is a nice touch. Of course a real, sixspeed manual is also available should you so wish.
The price for all of this? In the UK the new GT3 will start at £123,100. If we were to draw up a group test right now, then we would probably be looking at cars like a Lamborghini Huracán Evo RWD, which starts at £164,400, a Mclaren Artura, which will be around £180,000, and Aston Martin’s Vantage AMR, which comes in at £149,995. If we included a Ferrari, then it would have to be the £200k F8 Tributo. In other words, the new GT3, just like its ancestors, still looks like a relative performance car bargain. The king is dead. Long live the king.
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