5 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE... PORSCHE 911 GT3
Here’s what’s changed for Porsche’s 992-gen track special
1 ITS ENGINE IS FROM A RACECAR
Its 4.0-litre flat-six engine steps across from the 911 Cup racer almost unchanged. With 503bhp, it’s a mere 10bhp up on the previous GT3, while 0–62mph in 3.4secs and a 199mph top speed make it marginally quicker than the car it replaces in a straight line.
2 IT’S REALLY FAST AROUND THE ’RING
The 992 GT3’s 6:59.927 Nürburgring lap time is not only 13 seconds quicker than the 991, but six seconds quicker than the more senior last-gen GT3 RS. Not to mention knocking on the door of the Porsche 918 Spyder’s lap time. This is hypercar pace, basically, but with an unhypercar price, starting at £123,100 in the UK.
3 YOU CAN HAVE MANUAL OR PDK
As before, it’s RWD, gets four-wheel steering and a choice of 6spd manual or 7spd PDK gearboxes remains. Go for the auto, as 60 per cent of buyers are predicted to, and the normal 992’s stubby little USB-sized gear selector is replaced by something shaped and sized like a manual knob, just with P R N and D etched into it.
4 THERE’S A HUGE NEW WING
The ginormous swan-neck spoiler manually adjusts through four different settings, offering up to 160 per cent more downforce than the old 911 GT3. There’ll be a Touring package this year that ditches the wing. “We can definitely imagine the car without a rear spoiler, that works pretty well too,” says Porsche’s GT line boss Andreas Preuninger.
5 THE BONNET IS PRETTY SPECIAL
A trick new double-wishbone suspension set-up now lives up front, as does a carbon-reinforced plastic bonnet. It’s the first in the world to pass pedestrian safety tests required when you’re selling over 1,000 cars in the EU – a figure other carbon-bonneted cars have easily limbo’d under.