New Porsche 911 GT3 - Geneva 2017
500hp at 9,000rpm and a manual gearbox option? We'll take a piece of that...
Will they? The sales split will make interesting viewing but the bigger story with this new GT3 is actually its engine, the most exotic, highest revving and most extreme version yet of Porsche's current Motorsport flat-six with a power delivery promising to make the RS feel a bit diesel-like in comparison. Put it this way - where that car reached its peak at 8,250rpm the new GT3 has got another 750rpm to go.
Welcome back old friend!
500hp is the headline, the PDK version a token tenth quicker to 62mph than the gen one GT3 and a smidge faster at the top end at 199mph. With one ratio less and the lack of launch control the manual is half a second slower to 62mph at 3.9 seconds but pulls a small extra margin at the top end to record 200mph thanks to reduced mechanical losses. Despite weight increases to the body in white the overall DIN kerbweight (minus driver) remains at 1,430kg even with all the four-wheel steering and other gubbins.
The manual is 10kg lighter and gets a mechanical limited-slip diff rather than the fully active one integrated into the PDK transmission. It doesn't get the lighter single-mass flywheel of the R but Preuninger's enthusiasm for the way it'll pick up from as low as 2,000rpm and rev - in his words - "explosively" through to the 9,000rpm redline is utterly infectious. Granted, some owners of early 991 GT3s may cock an eyebrow at his choice of adjective there. But we'll work on the basis that that particular flaw has been dealt with this time.
That's peak power at 9,000rpm too...
With the finger followers now operating the valves directly the clearances are shimmed when the engine is built ... and that's it. "We ran one engine on the dyno for 300,000km and it did not change, not one half of a tenth," says Preuninger. "And we did it several times - owners do not have to worry they have to go to the dealer every 10,000km to adjust the shims!" Here's hoping.
"The car really goes," he grins, quite possibly understating things somewhat. "The 4.0-litre displacement really helps with the mid-range 'snap' but if you are in a 180-degree bend and have maybe 2,000rpm when you go on the throttle the bandwidth of revs is just mind boggling!"
The seven-speed PDK is updated from before with even faster shifts and new software. The manual is the six-speed from the R, which is no bad thing with its closely stacked lower ratios and short-throw shift. Preuninger accepts it is slower round the track than the PDK but satisfies the "new found niche" for purists seeking a more immersive experience. "We will satisfy the demand of all those people who didn't get an R, and this is I think the right way to do it," he says, pouring a hefty can of petrol on an alreadyheated debate.
Weight remains at 1,430kg without driver
Elsewhere the changes are more detail than those made to the powertrain and aero. Brakes remain standard steel (380mm on both axles) or PCCB with 410mm front and 390mm rear - Preuninger says braking performance is the same but PCCB's reduced unsprung weight is worth having. And that they look cool. The PASM dampers have been revised with a greater bandwidth between comfort and Sport settings, RS-inspired helper springs on the rear struts a further upgrade. Stiffer front bushings are fitted to improve steering response and the EPAS has been recalibrated too. "On the gen one it was great, on the RS even better and on the [Cayman] GT4 super cool," says Preuninger. "Everyone commented it was a dream on the R and this is the next step in feel and feedback, the best we've had so far."
Hopefully this lip can be removed...
Meaning you're going to have to hurry if you haven't already started the charm offensive with your OPC, the official rrp of £111,802 sounding almost reasonable when you consider a Carrera 2 GTS coupe starts at £94,316 and could easily be in the same ballpark with a few options. Official line is production isn't capped by anything beyond capacity, equivalent to around 4,000 units of the gen one. Hardcore or not, the GT3 is now more accessible to a broader range of customers than ever before though. So you can expect demand to comfortably exceed supply.
But the big question. PDK or manual?
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With recent Porsche launches of the more specialist vehicles, it is easy to get the sense that Porsche's UK dealer network is some secret masonic society where they only allow you to buy a car from them if you play golf with the principal, let him use your holiday home in Devon and remember his birthday.
I refuse to fellate a car salesman just for the chance to buy something from him.
Day 1: pick car up
Day 2: drop car back at OPC and sell it for 50K overs.
Day 3:
To all intents and purposes this will be just as limited.
Unless you've spend hundreds of thousands at your OPC and browned your nose on the dealer principles starfish you have just as much chance of getting one of these as you did an R.
Supply issues aside it sounds fantastic and compared to the competition its a steal. Is there any competition to this at this price point?
I'd definitely go manual and I think a lot of purchasers will too.
"We have a new set-up on the stability control ... it's a loose bungee cord but it will save you but it gives you more room to play. Absolutely more slip than a Carrera and once it's off it's off, it doesn't come back after are in an emergency situation. One button and then you are on your own.
"But the set-up of the car is all done without the system active, so we first make the car very stable without anything on and THEN we are adjusting the system, not the other way around. My impression when I drive some cars of the competition is exactly that - the mechanical flaws of the chassis can easily be covered with systems and mostly it's when the system comes in early and then I am asking why. Ours come late because the chassis can take it."
Do you expect your customers to drive without the systems then?
"They want to be on their own sometimes; it's a safety thing, sometimes it's good to have it on the road when you are not concentrating as you are on the race track or a drift event. But we want the driver to be able to decide, not the car, they have to make their decisions. They are grown-ups, and they should be able to live with their decisions, I think that's just fair."
RUF Automobile GmbH just dropped the mic at Geneva - a 225mph, all original carbon monocoque 720 horsepower twin turbo flat six tribute to the original Yellowbird.
One of these please. Wow.
At first I thought it was a no brainier for the manual but after some thought its PDK surely as why buy the cutting edge car and then make it slower.
Then you imagine yourself walking past one and peering into the cabin seeing the PDK stick and you think to yourself 'pussy'.....
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