Porsche has updated the mighty GT3

Wednesday, 17 February 2021

Porsche's 992-generation GT3 has lapped the Nurburgring in less then seven minutes.

We knew it was coming and here it is – Porsche has just revealed the latest member of the GT3 family.

At the heart of the new GT3 is the same 4.0-litre flat six with no sign of forced induction. It now produces 374kW which is only a small bump over the previous generation, but the GT3 has never been about outright power.

Fear not though, because the mill still revs out to 9000rpm and breathes through six independent throttle bodies. That means it will sound properly angry at pace.

The new Porsche 911 GT3 is here, with a new bonnet and a new rear wing.

As standard, the GT3 will get a seven-speed PDK transmission, but buyers can also opt for a manual.

**READ MORE:

The new ring offers a bunch of downforce but sometime before the end of the year Porsche will ditch it for a Touring version.

* This is the latest and greatest Porsche 911 GT3

* Porsche working on 373kW Cayman

The gear lever is sneaky – the GT3 comes standard with a PDK transmission but the shifter looks like a manual. You can get one of those too, by the way.

* Porsche gives 911 Turbo S lightweight and aero kits

With Porsche's trick automatic, 0-100kmh takes around 3.3 seconds. As I mentioned, the GT3 isn’t a car concerned with power figures or, really, 0-100kmh times. The metric you want is the Nurburgring lap time, which is a rather spectacular 6 minutes and 59.927 seconds. For reference, the last GT3 took 7:12.7 to complete the same circuit while the previous GT3 RS needed 6:56.4.

Part of that improvement comes from a refined chassis. There are double-wishbones up front instead of the MacPherson struts of the standard Carrera – in fact, there aren’t any suspension components that carry over from the normal 911.

There’s a new front fascia with integrated cooling intakes and an adjustable front splitter and diffuser. The track is 1.9-inches wider than the standard 911 Carrera.

Around back is a great honking swan-neck wing, which can be manually adjusted to four different levels, offering up to 160 per cent more downforce than the old model. Not a fan? A Touring version should debut before the end of the year that ditches the wing.

Weight is kept to a trim 1435kg (with the PDK), close to 100kg lighter than a base Carrera. The GT3 goes without the rear seats, has lighter windows and forged alloy wheels, uses a lightweight exhaust system and that sexy new bonnet is made from carbon-fibre reinforced plastic.

Porsche NZ has confirmed that we’ll get the GT3 here, starting in the second half of 2021. It’ll start at $337,000 for the PDK-equipped version. The manual transmission is a no-cost option.