There’s a 911 for everyone. From boggo Carrera to the mighty Turbo S, there’s a type for every type – whether you’re searching for a mid-life crisis time machine or looking to blast all away with a missile on the road. RWD, AWD, tin top, targa top, no top – you choose.
It’s hard to think of another car that appeals to such a wide audience as the Porsche 911. It’s a 50-year old sports car icon that has maintained its enthusiast following while selling in numbers to people who don’t care too much about driving.
But behind all the sales records, slick marketing and SUVs, Porsche is still very much a brand with a motorsports heart, and no other model encapsulates the essence of racing better than the 911 GT3.
First shown at the 2013 Geneva Motor Show, the 911 GT3 is the race car of the 991 range, with an illustrious line of forebears dating back to the 911 RS of 1973. This latest fifth-generation GT3 takes over the baton from the 997 series GT3, of which the RS 4.0 topped. The pedigree is unquestionable.
So the 911 GT3 isn’t something to mess around with, or mess up. But this is Porsche and its high standards we’re talking about, so there’s no chance of that happening, although some “purists” would have written off the 991 GT3 for being PDK-only. Yes, there is no manual option for this GT3, which is also the first GT/RS Porsche with an automatic gearbox.
More on that later, but here’s what the GT3 is made of. The racing 911 is powered by a tuned version of the 3.8 litre flat-six engine from the Carrera S. Here, the dry sump lubricated direct injection unit pushes out 475 hp through the use of a new GT3-specific crankshaft, valve gear, titanium connecting rods and forged pistons for a 75 hp jump over the Carrera S. It revs up to a stratospheric 9,000 rpm, 500 more than before.
Engine problems that plagued the first batch of GT3s have been solved with an optimised piston rod screw connection. Damage resulted from a loosened screw joint on the connecting rod – the loose connecting rod damaged the crankcase that in both publicised fire cases led to a leakage of oil, which then ignited. 785 units were recalled in early 2014 and given brand new engines and an extra year of warranty, plus compensation.
A seven-speed PDK gearbox customised for the GT3 does transmission duties. The revised Doppelkupplung ‘box lets you DIY with the gear stick (race car-style pull for upshift, unlike other auto 911s) and steering paddles, which have 50% less travel here.
GT3 owners also get to enjoy shorter ratios (top speed in seventh gear), faster shift times (under 100 milliseconds) and a gearchange algorithm that mirrors the sequential units in Porsche Motorsports’ race cars in PDK Sport mode.
There’s also a “paddle neutral” function. If the driver pulls both shift paddles concurrently, the clutches of the PDK are opened and the force flow between engine and powertrain is interrupted. If both shift paddles are released again, the clutch closes with “lightning speed”.
Two advantages: if the GT3 understeers, the driver can neutralise by pulling the paddles, buliding up additional cornering force on the rear wheels. The second aspect influences the driving dynamics via the pulse-like inset of the drive power when coupling. Comparable to a traditional clutch in a manual gearbox, the rear of the car can be consciously destablised when turning. Kicking the tail out, in other words.
This 1,430 kg track special is very, very fast – 0-100 km/h is now done in 3.5 seconds, 200 km/h takes less than 12, and top speed is 315 km/h. At 7:25, it laps the Nurburgring’s North Loop faster than the outgoing turbocharged 911 GT2, two seconds faster than the 997 GT3 RS 4.0 and even coming close to matching the Carrera GT’s time.
Contributing to the impressive lap time is the use of active rear-axle steering, which turns the rear wheels into or away from the corner according to speed, resolving the inherent conflict between agility and stability. It comprises two electro-mechanical actuators at both sides of the rear axle (instead of conventional control arms) that allow the steering angle of the rear wheels to be varied by up to about 1.5 degrees.
Under 50 km/h, the front and rear wheels steer in the opposite direction, giving an impression of a shorter wheelbase and reducing the turning radius for better agility. Above 80 km/h, both front and rear wheels point in the same direction for increased stability.
Also, the side force on the rear axle triggered by the steering input of the driver is built up much faster than with a non-steered rear axle, which leads to more spontaneous direction change. Like all other 991s, the steering system is electric, and Porsche Torque Vectoring Plus is standard on the GT3.
The GT3 really looks the part as a road-legal race car. That iconic body shape – sitting 30 mm lower than a Carrera – looks perfectly at home on track with enlarged air intakes, extra ducts, lip and skirts, central twin exhaust and that big fixed rear wing, not forgetting those gorgeous 20-inch forged alloys with central locking. All ready, just add livery, like the Martini-striped example you see here.
Not just for show, of course. The above combine for considerable downforce for added stability and a drag coefficient of 0.33 thanks to new underbody panelling with diffuser function at the rear.
We went to Sepang International Circuit for a short spin in the GT3 recently to find out if all the above tech will translate to real world performance and fun. Let’s cut to the chase. The new GT3 is fantastic, and here’s why.
The motor rumbles into live and settles on a deep beat at idle, menacingly hinting at what’s to come. The dark clouds encircling Sepang look threatening, so we wasted no time – tight-fit optional racing seat pulled forward, bare Alcantara steering tilted, PDK Sport activated and on we go.
The thing I dislike about media track events, besides the fact that we usually get only two or three laps, is the unavoidable rushed flow due to the number of participants and precious track time – Sepang is very expensive! There’s barely any time to get settled in and comfortable before blasting away at full pelt, which is less than ideal in mega buck machines. Thankfully, the 911 interior is a relatively familiar place and the ergonomics is perfect for serious driving.
Much has been said about Porsche succumbing to electric steering, but the GT3’s helm has lovely weight and feel. Along with the pleasing steering, one lap on track is all it takes to realise that this 911 has heightened senses.
Now, the Porsche 911 is no longer a small sports car, having grown by quite a bit over the generations, but the GT3 feels like one as you throw it around. Could be the rear-axle steering doing its thing, but this writer isn’t sure because he didn’t feel it working. All I know is that the GT3 is brilliantly alert and agile. The front end darts in and grips very hard once there, and the limits are high, but I still managed to test the safety net.
The reason is not because I’m very ballsy, far from it, but because the GT3’s motor is just irresistible. Push it you will when there’s such a crescendo to build up to. This flat-six begs for revs and truly comes to life in the second half of the rev range. The final third as it howls towards the 9,000 rpm redline is spine tingling, intoxicating stuff.
For the sake of future generations, I hope and pray that this naturally aspirated gem of an engine won’t go the way of the E92 BMW M3’s V8 and Honda’s Type R NA VTECs.
And what about that elephant in the room? Sorry to disappoint you but I think that PDK is a great partner to the brilliant engine. Smooth and sharp may be hard to compute, but that’s how it works in the GT3, with no holes in its ratios or overall armour.
We love our sticks at paultan.org, but I just couldn’t find any chink in this auto, not when it helped me access every inch of the motor so effectively. Without having to worry about executing a perfect shift, one gets to focus on other facets of this amazing car. One regret is that I didn’t get to try the paddle neutral function.
That the GT3’s powerful brakes has been reduced to a footnote is a testament of Porsche’s excellence in this department. Not that the anchors – front six-piston calipers with 380 mm discs all round on our tester, PCCB ceramics optional – aren’t impressive, it’s just that we expect no less from Zuffenhausen.
We aren’t sure if this RM1.23 million track-focused Porsche will be bearable on Malaysian roads, but it sparkles on track and is certainly more exciting than the 911 Turbo S we sampled last year, although it lacks the latter’s mega shove. Porsche says that around 80% of all 911 GT3s are also driven on racetracks. That’s a good amount, but hey 20%, what the heck is wrong with you?
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no manual….regardless how quick the car is with the PDK, a manual should be offered, which is why i would buy a jaguar, who is doing something different to everyone else buy offering one
Why not iriz? Got manual 6sixbags n cheaper also…
What is iriz? Hey, we are talking bout cars here. Dun oot, wilya?
For Iriz, you have no fun if you don’t have a buddy tow truck and garage.
The funniest thing with Proton is the break downs and garage repairs. Which Toyota hardly have any, that’s why people calling us boring car.
Junk of a car. A proton Iriz can trash this Porsche crap.
Why buy Porsche when an Iriz can pull all the awek kilang?
I don’t need a Porsche to tackle chics. Proton Iriz alone I can dapat.
most manufacturers aren’t providing manual options nowadays because only less than 10% of buyers opt for a manual variant. They also want to comply with emission & fuel consumption regulation in which most modern auto trans out perform manual trans.
What Jaguar are you comparing with a GT3?
Agreed. The reason why i fell in love with a 996 GT3 was solely because of its no nonsense approach.
Sad to see the demise of the manual gearbox in this model.
Why couldn’t they keep the clutch pedal instead of the silly pull both flappy paddles.
because rich fat uncles like me don know how to press clutch
Because we have two feet and three pedals, one pedal should go :) and make use of our hands and technology. How come F1 cars stop using 3 pedals?
U mean u use both feet to drive a 2 pedal? Right foot Accel and left foot braking.. wah u must be a pro race driver then
Then build it like a real f1 clutch. Pulling both flappy pedals is just dumb silly and slow.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Rsz4yW53aM
F1 version with dual clutch paddle is too cumbersome for most drivers too use daily on the streets, hence the software to operate for us.
Had the please to drive my colleague’s previous generation GT-3, 997 version, the manual version is harder to drive in my opinion. I find the heel and toe not manageable for me on track. A lot easier to click the PDK level and let the car blip the throttle itself on down shifts.
all i hear you saying is that you don’t know how to drive a manual.
When I did my driving test, only manual tests locally. Go find a chance and drive a manual performance car and then drive one with PDK or similar and the answer is yours to decide.
to KarTiN (Member) on Jan 18, 2015 at 9:14 pm
sure….everyone also can do test in kancil or datsun manual….after that straight jump into auto car….PDK…great….i love it actually….even on the GTR….but i rather be slower with a manual everyday….PDK systems are only good if u are the prick that speeds on highway with no regard for anyone elses safety
Yes you’re right. These idiots think it’s easy to heel and toe at 9K rpm. You people are idiots think you can pull of heel and toes like you’re stupid Honda’s. 997 and see what it’s like. Most of you haven’t even driven a Porsche but talk cock.
Nope…Malaysian roads will kill the car’s setup and rims…especially where I live but this machine is meant to be driven in race tracks…for everything else there’s the normal breed of Porsche road cars.
I’m fine with no manual as sales percentage for manuals are dropping anyway in favor of rapid shifting.
Now to save up on cash to purchase a recond entry level Boxster…
why don’t you just admit you can’t drive a manual =P
the whole world only u know how to drive manual..proud?
Why don’t you just admit you can’t afford it?
cannot afford…taking br1m to finance my bmw
Whatever said and done, dual clutch autos when done right are actually really nice. Even good torque converter autos too. In fact, just look at the ZF8HP. When sold alongside a manual variant most reviews favour the auto cause it is so so good.
For entry range cars (which commoners like me buy), auto sucks.
DSGs are fine for race cars. In fact, nowadays it can actuate clutches way faster than what your left leg can.
Even a very very quick cog change of a manual (this I timed with the Data logger takes 0.28s for 1-2, 0.37s for 2-3 – from data coming from the clutch switch which activates the rev control and shift limit, activates the timing retard aka “misfiring system”.) on a drag strip. Its quick enough to not have to lift off the accerator – important for turbo cars, but no where near the speed of modern dual clutch. A well sorted VW DSG will do the shift in 0.08s
The only problem with these gearboxes are city driving, which more often than not, throws in situations that flumoxes even the best of them gearboxes.
The Porsche PDK is a good performer in auto mode, can drive 70 kph in traffic on 7 th gear without any issues, did it for 4 years in mine. Push the sports plus button for track day, it’s a different beast. I use it as my commuter car. Drives like any automatic in traffic.
DSGs are NOT fine for race cars. NO race cars use DSG. Only road going cars have it.
We will see more and more, softwares can do wonders in car transmissions.
AFAIK, DSG is more suitable for city driving rather than use for racing purpose because it was designed for city driving, it has better fuel economy which is suitable for city driving. Furthermore, it also has better performance than normal manual transmission as well as faster shift times.
most probably your only experience of a manual is that awful one in the datsun 120y or kancil when u took ur license
Your car is obsolete, manual oso much more awful than modern auto trans
As a manual lover I’m okay with no manual option on supercar. Their main objective is to get fast as possible as manual probably going to slow it down. It may be going to be less fun. People who bought this kind of car is very rich anyway so its not going to be a problem for them to pay if anything problem with the gearbox.
But in my opinion, car which aim to be fun to drive or low budget sports car like subaru wrx, golf gti, golf r, polo gti, subaru brz, etc.. should offer in manual at least as an option which sadly we only got the auto one in Malaysia.
brother…brz can buy in manual form la….wrx….salesman told me officially don have but can arrange for a manual
I thought brz officially sell auto only but you are right about wrx, I’ve contact subaru last year and have to wait 5 month for it after booking.
if ure willing to pay….no problem cos the car is on order basis…..not brought in one big stock
Pity you cannot afford one
The PDK is lightning quick. Faster than any human hand/feet can shift gears.
Anyways, that Martini colour scheme is just badass.
BMW M3/M4 is better then this junk car.
Although I drive a beamer, I have to disagree with you here.
Although I drive a beamer, I have to disagree with you here.
I have a BMW now, trust me, my 997 Gen2 is a pleasure to drive daily as an automatic car, I even send both kids to school in it.
i also got bugatti….its a pleasure to drive daily as an automatic car, i even send all the massage girls to work in it.
i’d choowse proton myvi ovwe this car anytime
People buy honda…upgrade to bmw….upgrade to porsche
They all have something in common….Handling and Engine character
i love watching chris harris review and drvie this monster on youtube.
My SUPERCHARGED Mustang GT has a ‘real’ clutch and is a blast to drive … it’s no supercar but it’s more car than most people can handle.