Porsche 911 GT3

Typical. No sooner has the 718 GTS 4.0 deployed all its considerable, ruthless charm to utterly vindicated my preference for a Cayman over a 911, than along comes this machine to throw the whole debate wide open once more.

Having at least a modicum of respect for the laws of physics, I confess to a certain wariness in the context of a car which hangs the full weight of its powerplant out behind the rear axle. A concern relentlessly reinforced back in the day by the regular roll-call of city urchins who arrived in my local looking like they’d just been dragged through a hedge backwards; which, of course, courtesy of their whale-tail 911 Turbos, is precisely what had just happened.

Matters were not helped by my subsequent, ham-fisted, blink-of-an-eye rotation of a 911 GT2 (a car so stiff it would regularly pick a tyre off the tarmac on any surface save glass) through 180 degrees on a Vosges mountain hairpin…

Today, despite the fact that Porsche has now spent over 50 years precision-engineering those laws of physics into submission, sensible adjudication is still not abetted by the fact that the majority of buyers of what is widely considered to be the world’s ultimate sports car actually opt for Porsche’s PDK automatic transmission, whilst those that do pick the stick tend to brag somewhat slyly about just how superb a driver you must be to get the very best out of a 911.

In truth, since 911 Carrera and Turbo models found themselves equipped with seven-speed manual transmissions, I do rather empathise with PDK buyers; not only is a manual box with five gates something of a nightmare to navigate in any kind of haste, but the PDK option also manages to combine fully auto pottering with blindingly quick, politician’s patter-smooth paddle shifting. Bit lazy, perhaps, but somewhat lovely to boot.

Happily, in the interests of both weight saving and compact packaging, this GT3 makes do with older generation transmissions with one ration less in both manual and PDK guise; married, in the case of the latter, to a proper shift lever rather than a new-fangled toggle switch. But hang on; we’re getting ahead of ourselves. More of that later…

Presented in ‘Shark Blue’ with yellow brake callipers and a swan-neck rear wing the GT3 looks the business from any angle – perfectly toeing the fine line between pretty and purposeful. Aerodynamics have taken a major hike in the right direction, that swan-neck hung wing ganging up with serious front splitter, underbody contortions and rear diffuser work to improve the car’s downforce over that of its predecessor by 50% at 124 mph. Both the wing and front splitter are manually adjustable, and if you set them for maximum attack, the car generates a whopping 385 kg of downforce – besting the old car by 150%.

On board, the cabin is regular 992 911 up front, which means ergonomic perfection wedded to a wonderfully tactile, wieldy helm and instrumentation now erring towards the digital, with the merciful exception of the central rev counter. The car I drove is fitted with £3,788-worth of full carbon fixed bucket seats which, unless you’re going to spend time on a track, are just a pain in the arse. Literally. Not only is the lack of seatback rake adjustment less than ergonomically satisfactory, but the thin, rigid seat base side bolsters do their very best to cut you in half on egress.

Astern, track-time considerations also apply to the optional roll cage. Unless you’re luggage is all modelled on chunks of Toblerone, you may struggle access the considerable loadspace afforded by the absence of rear seats. So those with a bent for touring as well as thrashing my choose to forgo the frame. If it helps with your decision; the roll-cage is part of the Clubsport no-cost option, but you do have to have the rump-dicing carbon bucket seats with the package.

Even further astern hangs one of the world’s last, great, naturally aspirated engines, which has a deal more to do with that used in Porsche’s GT3 Cup racing car than the 4.0 litre flat-six unit found elsewhere in the 911 range.  Power and torque are fractionally up from the last generation car – to 503 bhp and 347 lb ft respectively.

That may not sound all that butch in the context of today’s supercars, but it’s enough to fling the GT3 to 62 mph in only 3.4 seconds, and on to 198 mph. All the while accompanied by the glorious, lycanthrope wail of a unit that doesn’t really wake up until you hit 4500 rpm, and then howls all the way on to a spine-tingling 9000 rpm. If ever noises off were worth chasing…

The undercarriage department undergoes a significant change, with front MacPherson struts now replaced by a double wishbone arrangement – previously the exclusive preserve of 911 racing machinery. This has allowed for an increase in camber stiffness and, hence, a more consistent front tyre surface patch marriage with the road, even under seriously hard cornering. That, allied to a 48 mm increase in the car’s front track, sounds promising.

And everywhere, weight saving. Lightweight glass, new front wheels, carbon fibre roof and frunk lid, carbon seats, new rear fascia, lighter battery and gearboxes, carbon ceramic brakes and less sound deadening material all add up to a GT3 that weighs just five bags of sugar more than its predecessor.

Now, I recall the last GT3 I drove a few years ago still boasted the vestiges of that old air-cooled 911 trick of shrinking round the driver like cling film round a hot sausage the faster you travelled; quick, but also otherworld wieldy and nimble on its toes. That extension-of-the-limbs immediacy of reaction to your inputs more usually associated with riding a motorcycle. Don’t quite feel that with this latest iteration. This one seems shrink-proof. Wouldn’t want to see the 911 grow any larger.

The new suspension system certainly makes the front end more communicative than before; stiffer and a deal chattier, it does tend to fidget fairly constantly, and is now more distracted by road camber and bumpy surfaces. However, rather than making you feel at one which the machine, this constant stream of road surface information is almost too much -a distraction calling on you work to somewhat harder than feels strictly necessary behind the wheel.

And this requirement to maintain focus is amplified by the quantity of initially road noise and, fairly promptly thereafter, engine bellow that accompanies you pretty much throughout. It’s intoxicating, but at no time is relaxation an option.

Thing is, to make the most of a machine with this astonishing combination of pace, agility and raw grip… To make everything gel… Flow in harmony… You need to be travelling fast. Properly fast. And that means, alas, you’ll need access to a track to reap anywhere near the full gamut of rewards the GT3 offers. Either that, or be prepared for them to throw away the key.