Friday 8th March 2013

The new 911 GT3: PH Blog

Why 'GT3' is now a trim level, not a statement of intent

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'Roots in racing. Not posing.' boasted Porsche not so long ago. After a couple of days to digest it I'm not so sure this applies to the new GT3 in the way it has the previous ones. And this is about more than that gearbox; brilliant as it surely is the new 991 GT3 has subtly but fundamentally shifted the goalposts of what made previous ones so special for geeks like us.

That'll be the roots in racing bit then

Look at the last model in the context of the 997 range and the hoops you'd jump through to end up with one. You'd have started thinking 'yeah, GT3, like the idea of that.' And then began the process of qualification. Level one? Gearbox. Don't want a manual? That's you out. More interested in all-weather traction, in-gear grunt or vmax and 0-62 bragging rights? Off you go and buy a Turbo instead. And lots of fun you'd have had too - no shame in any of that.

If, however, you'd think 'top bloke' hearing the chief engineer for the GT3 range dismiss top speed as 'a by-product' you'd be through to the next level. Having decided you'd happy with a two-wheel drive, normally aspirated 911 with a manual gearbox the next question would have been are you going to track it? As in, would you ACTUALLY track it? Or just think you wanted to when actually a nice road-going 911 with a few tasty trimmings was actually what you wanted? A GTS or a thoughtfully specced Carrera 2 S perhaps, both also under the radar of any midlife crisis wannabe racer accusations from friends and family.

There's more to this than just the gearbox

If you'd got this far and not been swayed by any of the above you might just have fit the profile. Of course, if you were taking it further and wanted something with an RS and/or 4.0 badge Porsche played its final joker - the real end of level boss. Did you want this car enough to put up with some really, really tacky graphics? One loud enough to turn every head within half a mile but equipped with a hairtrigger biting point that meant they'd then be primed to point and laugh when you stalled it - again.

All of which is a very long-winded way of saying very few people will have ended up buying a GT3 by accident. Or keeping one, little things like the fact the pedals are only set for heel'n'toe when you're using track braking pressure meaning you need to be truly dedicated to enjoy one day in, day out.

So that glorious, unapologetic elitism is gone; likewise the nerdy joy in knowing your 911 had a different engine derived from a racing car, not a Carrera. In its place, the new GT3 offers eye-boggling gadgetry and pace, democratised and accessible to all up to a point. Where previous GT3s demanded a base level of competence anyone will be able to drive this one fast and feel like a hero, even if you'll still need big brass ones and a lot of talent to fully exploit its talents. Even then the opportunities to do that will be so fleeting and the stakes and speeds so high it risks irrelevance.

This stands for something else now

Overly romantic fanboy that I am I love the fact that you see more GT3s parked outside hostels at the 'ring than you ever will driving into the Square Mile or Canary Wharf. And they're the ones streaked in brake dust, windscreens covered in noise test stickers with and with empty Red Bull cans rattling around the passenger seat. Which brings us back to 'roots in racing, not posing.' For all the spine-tingling 9,000rpm redline, technology and talent I fear the new GT3 will be too accommodating of those more interested in the latter. And they were already perfectly well served by other 911s.

Before I sign off I, of course, reserve the right to renounce every word I've just written as utter cobblers at the first sniff of a drive...

Dan

 

[AxelS]

You do reckon the irony though of Porsches marketing vid ending with images of a turbo an not a GT3, right?

[legalknievel]

Wasn't the writing on the wall already with torque vectoring, stupid levels of grip and downforce, and as acronyms became so prevalent in the last generation? Even track focused 911s seems to be wanting to take on the GTR autopilot philosophy. Then again, I agree that the opportunity to drive one can quickly stop all the moaning!

[DonkeyApple]

The ethos of the RS, has to me, always been crucial. The tool box that justified the handbags.

I think you are right that if you start to see them cruising Mayfair they may have lost something important.

Edited by DonkeyApple on Friday 8th March 15:14

[dandare]

Good article.
It's true that the 'Ring is the only place I've seen lots of GT3s together, and is encouraging, but I will add that not many of those drivers are good, in my experience, so maybe they're also poseurs.

[Alex]

This sadly happens to all sporting divisions, BMW M, Honda Type-R, AMG. The enthusiast engineers within the company build a true sporting derivative, it's successful, builds a reputation. And then the marketing men take over...

[Stedman]

Alex said:

This sadly happens to all sporting divisions, BMW M, Honda Type-R, AMG. The enthusiast engineers within the company build a true sporting derivative, it's successful, builds a reputation. And then the marketing men take over...

Unless you're Volvo. In which case you skip the true sporting bit

[TomTVR500]

Great article, I absolutely agree.

It's a shame....a real shame

[TomTVR500]

Alex said:

This sadly happens to all sporting divisions, BMW M, Honda Type-R, AMG. The enthusiast engineers within the company build a true sporting derivative, it's successful, builds a reputation. And then the marketing men take over...

This^^

[Cheburator mk2]

On the subject of the PDK box... When was the last time anyone saw a 996/997 generations 911 racer with an H-pattern manual box? OK, there are perhaps one or two 996 chasis knocking about, but the stark reality is that 99.9% of these machines have sequential boxes. They are not PDKs for sure, but I am yet to see how you can fit an X-trac/Hewland into a road car and remain sane for more than 1 hour. I love manual boxes, but if Porsche wants to give you that "race car" feel by fitting a PDK box, you cannot blame them for wanting to make money...

[Snubs]

I think the GT3 maintains the 'roots in racing' ethos. Surely racing is about going as fast as possible, which is what a lot of the tech on the GT3 is for? I doubt that F1 teams thought "perhaps which should stick with fully manual so our drivers can continue to enjoy that nice rifle bolt feel". Traction control was used in F1 to the same end and again i doubt that their top concern was the fact that their drivers would no longer enjoy a gratuitous dab of oppo'.

If the tag line was 'roots in driver enjoyment, not posing' the argument would of course be very different. But racing isn't about enjoying a B-road blast, it's about winning. So i'm afraid i don't really see where the new tech on the GT3 goes against the aforementioned 'fast as possible' approach?

[LaurasOtherHalf]

Load of old bks.

The gearbox is pdk because the market demands it.

The engine shares a crank case with the carrera? Good I say, gives the 911 more cache especially once the racing cars start using it (as Andreas stated in the evo magazine interview that you guys didn't get yet ). Remember all RS's that went before were based on the standard carrera.

I'm not sure what point you're making about the stickers? Porsche haven't yet released details of an RS but it was always that halo model that was stickered up, the standard gt3 never was.

Remember the gnashed teeth when the first GT3 was released? It was heavier than a standard carrera! I've got an article by some bloke called Harris somewhere from period where he wines on about this very fact.

Oh & by the way, perhaps try commenting once you've driven the car!

[Aizle]

Any chance the RS may be manual/Manuel/spanish?

[Kawasicki]

TomTVR500 said:

Alex said:

This sadly happens to all sporting divisions, BMW M, Honda Type-R, AMG. The enthusiast engineers within the company build a true sporting derivative, it's successful, builds a reputation. And then the marketing men take over...

This^^

Yep, and because the extreme model was so successful, the non enthusiastic/zero passion management decide that the next model has to be toned down, more mainstream, more comfortable & refined, as obviously all those buyers couldn't really of wanted such an extreme car...."it's our volume seller!" they declare.

Then the average to bad motoring press reviews come in, and the sales are lukewarm.

[LaurasOtherHalf]

Aizle said:

Any chance the RS may be manual/Manuel/spanish?

Personally I hope they offer it as an option-but will enough go for it to warrant the developement costs when it will be so much slower?

[sad61t]

LaurasOtherHalf said:

... where he wines on about this very fact.

Oh & by the way, perhaps try commenting once you've driven the car!

Hopefully he was whining about the weight, as a motoring journalist deep into his cups will have a short career.

+1 about driving the car, and as it's a Porsche, I'm sure he will.

[Dr G]

I was going to suggest anyone that wants a manual box buys a used one...


...but then I remembered it's impossible to actually buy a used Porsche just in case the previous owner put the wrong sized cappucino in the cup holder and the ECU logged it thus invalidating the OPC wiper blade warranty.

[Aizle]

[George29]

Surely the PDK gearbox is closer to the racing 911 than any manual? Makes much more sense to have a track focused gearbox on a track focused car imo. I'm sure all (or most) of the electronics can be turned off if you so wish too, so I don't get what the big problem is?

[Stedman]

Very good Dr G

[mat205125]

The GT3 Cup race cars haven't used a manual box in quite a few years, and iterations of the 997 car (996 too maybe?). I can think of NASCAR, and not a lot else that still uses a manual gear box in top level motorsport.

I'm well aware that a proper race sequential box and the PDK are completely different animals, however from the drivers seat it could be argued that the PDK is closer to a track experience than continuing with a manual.

I will mourn the passing of the manual shift as much as the next person, however think that the (Clarkson!) media tend to overstate it's importance to the overall driving experience.

A normally aspirated engine that wails all the way around to 9000k and produces 400bhp to the rear wheels, with a model specific suspension setup and focus ...... "GT3 just a trim level"????? B0ll0cks!!! The new GT3 is right at the pinacle of desirability for anyone with an ounce of driving enthusiasm in their blood, and love of automobiles and engineering.