2025 Porsche 911 GT3 (992.2) | UK Review
We've tried four seats and the manual - only right to drive the GT3 in full road racer spec, too...
As part of the development process for this latest 911 GT3, Porsche spoke to its existing customers about what they wanted to see in future models. Unsurprisingly, almost all were extremely keen on retaining the atmospheric flat six - and given recent developments, it would seem that 9,000rpm is probably safe for a while yet. Thank heavens. Another call was for greater personalisation possibilities in the GT3 lineup, more scope to create individual cars without having to go the full Sonderwunsch. So it means a 992.2 can be had with all sorts of bits and bobs that weren’t possible before, from 911 Design Wrapping to the ‘Born in Flacht’ LED courtesy lights.
It also means that what appear like significantly different cars can emerge from the configurator. Recently, we tried a GT3 with four seats, six gears and three pedals; this car has half the seats, another gear and just the two pedals in the footwell. While it would be daft to expect night and day difference from two near identical Porsches, an opportunity to try a PDK GT3 in any context is not to be passed up. How much can everyone's favourite 911 be changed from one extreme of the configurator to the other?
Certainly, there’s something quite cool these days about seeing a GT3 that isn’t trying to hide the fact. The Touring obsession feels a tad overdone thanks to the sheer volume; a dark colour and no spoiler on a GT3 felt quite novel once upon a time - not so much when everyone is doing it. So really owning the road racer vibe, complete with fixed spoiler, gold magnesium wheels and beautiful lattice of roll cage - plus no daft decals - feels like the ideal alternative. And goes to show the scale of what’s possible with the new range of options, of course. To most, the green one is another 911; nobody is mistaking this thing for anything but a track special. Pay your money, take your choice…
The interior feels like it could be bespoke, such is the way it fits so absolutely flawlessly. Where cars like the Corvette Z06 offer their own appeal over a GT3 in some regards, the usability of a 911 isn’t to be overlooked. The ‘vette sits the driver a bit high and makes key alterations fiddly sometimes; the GT3 feels like your own race car by comparison, low and snug and with everything vital in easy reach. Some of that will be familiarity, but touches like a physical ADAS switch on the dash, a steering wheel wheel shorn of many distractions and a gear lever that plainly requires no second guessing do make a difference. Making plain sense perhaps isn’t all that sexy, though it means all your attention can be on the drive. And not where the volume dial is.
While it would be great to talk of some infinitesimal differences between GT3 and Touring, of how a different tyre exhibits a different behaviour or the weight of a PDK has some influence, it’s simply not possible this time around. Maybe a back-to-back drive on a circuit would reveal something, though to all intents and purposes, on the public road the GT3 feels like a Touring and vice versa. As they should. The Touring isn’t some softer-edged GT product, the spoilered car not a drastically more intense proposition. Just so we’re clear.
But it means this is another absolutely stunning 911, and a reminder that very little can match a GT3 for everyday excitement. Especially as a PDK, it should be noted. It dawdles around so amicably that you could almost forget about the sub-seven Nordschleife laps. There’s precious little penalty for the phenomenal circuit ability, a neat trick to pull off and one seldom seen elsewhere. The ride is tense if a long way from implacable, the sound is far from overbearing at low revs, and the odd brake squeal seems very far from the end of the world. While inevitably subject to a little more commotion than a Carrera (as it should be), the biggest change from any other 992 to this initially seems to be the lack of turbo (or hybrid) assisted torque. It won’t effortlessly chug away at less than 3,000rpm, making easy progress.
Agreeable or otherwise, a GT3 still requires effort and concentration to get the very best from the experience. Which is part of why they’ve proven so irresistible in recent generations: by and large, they could serve as everyday 911s, complete with (optional) nose lifts and everything, while also boasting the ability to transform into captivating sports cars as required. That’s very much still the case. PDK most certainly exaggerates the impact of the final drive change, making shorter ratios feel even more frantic with instant kickdown and blink-of-an-eye shifts possible. What felt thrilling in the Touring is completely wild here, knowing that glorious final flourish to 9,000rpm is even more easily accessed than ever. Paddles with a proper click and a lever with a proper thunk ensure the tactility boxes are ticked. While a dual-clutch will never quite deliver the same gratification and reward (or financial return, it would seem) as a manual, this Porsche PDK remains a gearbox of rare quality, and fits the package just as well as the six-speed.
Perhaps more so, heretic though it might sound, because its flawless, unbeatable nature complements a chassis of unimpeachable quality. Doesn’t matter how late you stand on the superb brakes, the downshift will always arrive; an upshift right on corner exit (and the limiter) is never delayed. The whole car operates on such a high plane, with steering, brakes and suspension all in such perfect union, that any powertrain imperfection would be easily exposed. Sometimes your clumsy clodhoppers introduce those in the manual; no such problems here - it’s magnificent.
As is so often the case with a GT 911, once you’ve guffawed at 9,000rpm a few times, it’s the damping of the 911 that marks it out as something exceptional. Its two settings are called Sport and Track; they could just as easily be named ‘WRC’ and ‘LMGT3’. When the roads are craggy and textured, Sport has the travel and control of a tarmac rally car, that front splitter that looks so vulnerable never scraping and the bump stops undisturbed. It’s borderline miraculous given how the car looks with huge wheels tucked so high. When there’s a smoother section, Track locks the GT3 down like it’s a genuine competition car, more easily disturbed but unflinchingly focused. With the four-wheel steer and the revised front axle, the boundaries feel limitless. Which is pretty enthralling, as you’d probably have guessed.
But even with a grippier, keener, more circuit-focused GT3 underneath than ever before, because there’s such a rich seam of feedback, the driver feels like a key component rather than a bystander. It doesn’t require maximum attack to feel alive, and neither is ordinary driving unduly taxing. It always feels like an immensely special car.
Which is useful, because the GT3 as it sits here is £218,000. And it always felt like more than £200k was RS territory. But that’s how extra effort on the personalisation front adds up - the customer’s always right in matters of taste and all that. Nevertheless, whichever contrast stitching you go for, whichever decorative inlays for the seat backs are optioned on, whether manual, PDK, two-seat or four-seat, the core appeal of the GT3 goes unaltered. Track cars that can be enjoyed on the road still come no more exhilarating, no more talented and no more desirable than the Porsche 911 GT3.
SPECIFICATION | 2025 PORSCHE 911 GT3 (992.2)
Engine: 3,996cc, flat-six
Transmission: 7-speed PDK/6-speed manual, rear-wheel drive
Power (hp): 510@8,500rpm
Torque (lb ft): 332@6,250rpm
0-62mph: 3.4 seconds (3.9 manual)
Top speed: 193mph (194mph Touring)
Weight: 1,439kg (DIN, 1,420kg with Weissach/Lightweight)
MPG: 20.5-20.6
CO2: 310-312g/km (WLTP)
Price: £158,200 (as standard; price as tested £218,650 comprised of 20/21-inch 911 GT3 forged magnesium lightweight wheels for £13,759, Interior with extensive leather / Race-Tex items – Black with contrasting colour, Guards Red for £1,017, Lightweight sport bucket seats (foldable) for £5,390, ISOFIX fastening system for £154, Weissach Package for £19,531, Club Sport Package £NCO Front lid, roof and rear wing in exterior colour £NCO, Protective foil front for £2,054, Tinted HD matrix LED main headlights and accent ring in White for £2,495, ‘BORN IN FLACHT’ logo LED door courtesy lights for £246, Extended Package Race-Tex with coloured decorative stitching, Guards Red for £1,067, Seat belts, Guards Red for £380, Chrono stopwatch instrument dial and digital tachometer, Guards Red for £462 Lifting system front axle for £2,701, Chrono package £NCO Porsche Ceramic Composite Brakes (PCCB) with brake calipers painted in Black (high-gloss) for £9,797 ParkAssist (rear) £NCO, BOSE® Surround Sound System for £1,269)
I have a manual 992.1 GT3, in crayon, buckets, lift, carbon roof, mirrors, PCCB and manual.
Black inside with yellow contrast stitching- to match the gear knob.
My wife prefers it to have the wing, than to not.
Lovely car and always raises a smile wherever it goes. Not really sure what I could replace it with.
Porsche haven't completely overcome the pendulum effect, it is has been improved over the years but it will still bite you with a trip into the scenery if you are complacent in one.
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