Catch a glimpse of an early 996 GT3 these days and it looks tiny, tough and absolutely rippling with intent. Star quality doesn’t just fade away and especially when it comes to track-focussed 911s. From the original 2.7 RS via the 3.2 Club Sport, the 964 and the 993 RS, there’s just an innate rightness that seems to amplify rather than diminish with time.
Even so, who could have imagined back in 1999 – more than a quarter of a century ago now – that this fierce car would be the progenitor to a whole new branch of the 911 family? Every generation has grown in intensity and come to dominate racetracks and, in fact, the entire Porsche scene. Everyone wants a GT3, so a new version of this hallowed model is pretty big news – even in a world where the gloriously extreme 992 GT3 RS exists. Or the Goldilocks S/T... which, honestly, could be called the GT3 S/T, seeing as it owes so much to the standard car.
The upshot is that we arrive in Valencia in Spain for the launch drive event of the 992.2 GT3 with a sense of excitement and almost zero trepidation. Porsche Motorsport doesn’t get the GT3 wrong. Unless something very strange has unfolded behind the scenes, I would bet my house that the newest GT3 will be, er, pretty damn good. How good? We have a couple of hours on track and an afternoon on Spain’s mouth-watering roads to find out.
The day starts with a slightly deflating press conference that mostly demonstrates how difficult it is merely to fight for the survival of a normally aspirated sports car like the GT3. Ever-tightening emissions and noise legislation threatens to literally strangle and suffocate the GT3’s 4-litre flat-six. For example, NOx legislation in the USA demands a 44 per cent reduction in emissions even since the first generation of 992 GT3 was homologated. It’s mind-blowing and has forced huge effort to be spent to both retain the GT3’s 9,000rpm rev limit and make sure it’s worth holding out for the needle to sweep into the upper reaches of the rev counter.
And it is. The engine produces 503bhp at 8,500rpm, just as it did before, despite a new exhaust with four cats and two particulate filters and hence higher back pressure. New GT3 RS-spec camshafts with a longer duration, flow-optimising of the individual throttle valves to increase cylinder filling (worth around 5bhp alone), improved cooling and a host of other small detail changes keep the engine and the spirit of the GT3 alive. Torque does fall slightly (from 347lb/ft to 332lb/ft) but, to compensate, the GT3 has an eight per cent shorter final drive in both manual and PDK configurations features. Great for performance and interaction too. Slightly long gearing is perhaps the closest thing the outgoing car had to an actual ‘fault’.
Six of the best
Our weapon for the track is a Paint to Sample Greenyellow GT3 inspired by Manthey’s ‘Grello’ livery that’s often seen winning little races like the Nürburgring 24 Hours. It proudly wears a wing and comes with the no-cost option six-speed manual ‘box. The wing cars are PDK by default, whereas the Touring (which we’ll drive later) is fitted with the manual unless you deliberately tick the box for paddles. It might seem perverse to have a manual for our laps of the Circuit Ricardo Tormo, but I’m not complaining. For me, a few tenths of a second sacrificed is worth it for the added entertainment of working that engine with three pedals and a stick.
Maybe the optional Weissach Package, also fitted, will win those fractions back anyway. This 992.2 GT3 really is a GT3 of firsts. The first time a Touring has been available from launch. The first Weissach Package offered on a non-RS product. Oh, and the first GT3 Touring available with rear seats. Our GT3 for the racetrack has the full fat (or should that be skimmed?) Weissach Package, which adds a carbon fibre roll cage to the carbon fibre front air blades, bonnet, mirror shells, roof and end plates for the rear wing (which is carbon regardless), plus carbon fibre rear anti-roll bar and shear panel. It saves around 20kg and costs £19,531 with the carbon roll cage or £15,597 without. A steel roll cage is a no-cost option in Clubsport configuration.
The same old song and dance
Immediately, so much is familiar. Just pulling out of the pit lane, the GT3’s killer ingredients make themselves known. The engine remains something truly special. In fact, its incredibly accurate throttle response, intense howl and savage top-end power only become more covetable with time. Getting access to that magic zone more frequently due to the shorter gearing is a joyous thing indeed. Oh, and the six-speed manual is probably the very best in the world; tight, mechanical in feel and so accurate that you never even think about it.
I’m also pleased to report that the soundtrack still has the capacity to make you involuntarily blurt out expletives, building in perfect harmony with the frenzied power as the revs rise. Porsche has worked hard to ensure the GT3 has put on just 2kg despite new emissions and safety equipment and part of that process was removing what little sound deadening was left for the interior. Another inspired decision.
There’s a hint of RS here too. No, the GT3 doesn’t have the immense downforce-enabled Hand of God high-speed grip of that car, but changes to the suspension and steering have brought a level of response, stability and absolute body control that feels like real progression. The car stays so flat even as you ask more and more of it. A new lower pivot point for the front suspension (it also benefits from an aero-sculpted rear trailing arm, borrowed from the RS) has significantly improved its anti-dive characteristics.
Porsche claims that an emergency stop from 200kph would previously elicit 12mm of dive at the front. That’s now been reduced to just 6mm. Hard to visualise but, on the track, the tangible benefit is that the car feels impervious to longitudinal forces, allowing you to carry more speed into corners and smooth the transition between braking, turning and acceleration. Shorter bump stops have also created more suspension travel and necessitated a new damper strategy, again with lessons learned from the RS. Any thoughts that the GT3 would simply be an S/T in all but name are eradicated. With rear-steer, the adoption of many RS learnings and this remarkable platform control, the GT3 feels more precise, more alert and a very different flavour.
Perhaps most impressive is that, despite the subtlety of weight transfer and iron control, feel and communication through the steering and seat have a high-definition clarity. To me, the new GT3 makes another little step forward here and it breeds amazing confidence. On the wide-open spaces of a track, that means you can push right to the limit and beyond and find the usual sublime 911 balance. Nothing slides with the grace, efficiency and ever-building momentum of the rear-engined icon.
An automatic hit
Our road car for the afternoon is a Touring fitted with PDK and rear seats. For many, this is A Very Big Deal and it certainly gives the new GT3 a new breadth. I get it. However, the best seat in the house remains the (carbon-shelled but now foldable) driver’s bucket. There’s not the opportunity to try the Leichtbau Package, which is essentially the same as Weissach but with the addition of optional magnesium wheels, so saving a further 9.1kg. It costs £29,223. Our car even has the standard iron brakes.
Yet there’s no disappointment here. On the road, the new GT3 is sensational. At lower speeds, there’s more time to enjoy the subtle changes. The steering has a new ‘automatic friction compensation’ programme and feels slightly calmer but more intuitive than before. Moreover, it should remain absolutely consistent regardless of temperature, tyre wear and a whole host of other factors. It acts on a chassis that really does have rare balance. Each tyre seems to share the load evenly and the result is you feel absolutely at the centre of everything, orchestrating a virtuoso performance like you were born to do it.
The PDK ‘box is, as ever, almost annoyingly faultless. Shifts are instantaneous and suit the blade-like sharpness of the power delivery. For me, the manual remains the choice, but there’s no question that PDK is enthralling and rewarding in its own right. Even the new digital display adds a bit of theatre because it’s possible to rotate the rev counter so 9,000rpm is located at the 12 o’clock position, just like an old race car. Digital with an analogue heart, then.
Spain’s deserted roads soar and flow just as reliably as the sun shines bright and warm, even in winter, and the GT3 is in its element. A side effect of the shorter gearing isn’t just that you get to zing it up to the red line more often on track or when conditions allow. It also means you don’t have to shift quite so frequently and can enjoy the character of the engine in the mid-range too. So, alongside making the GT3 an even bigger thrill at full noise, I think it’s more satisfying to simply stroke along. It seems impossible that a car of such precise and instant response also possesses almost effortless fluidity, but such is the magic of the GT3. In short, everybody should still want one of these cars. Did you ever doubt it?
This feature was written by Jethro Bovingdon and first appeared in the March 2025 issue of our monthly Club magazine, Porsche Post. to receive your copy, as well as enjoying a host of exclusive member benefits and savings.