Porsche 911 GT3 2014 Review

Porsche 911 GT3

If you have any petrol in your veins you'll know 911 is a magic number. Add a G, a T and a 3 to that sequence and you’re entering very special territory.

Simply, the GT3 badge is reserved for the very best of Porsche’s 911 clan — at least in terms of road cars. GT3s are not always the fastest (the Turbos usually take that honour), but always the most communicative, the most nimble and hands down the best sounding.

The model designation represents the pinnacle for road-going naturally-aspirated Porsche 911s and in the latest 991 generation, the all-new 2014 GT3 is no exception. Despite the fact the model got off to a rocky start with engine fire problems that grounded it worldwide (and necessitated
engine swaps for every single customer car), the series is now in fine fettle and available for you to buy… As long as you’re quick — the Aussie allocation is almost all gone.

The GT3’s lineage kicked off in 1999 with the 996 series. With two GT3 variants of the 997 family, the new 991 GT3 is the fourth generation. Put simply, however, the latest GT3 shares very little with the car it replaces.

The generational changes that separate all 991 911s from their 997 Series II precedents obviously apply: longer wheelbase; wider track and a new body in white that blends an alloy core with steel panels. But there are even more changes under the GT3’s skin — all new suspension, new (electric) steering, revised aerodynamics and a new direct-injected flat six-cylinder engine that is also all new, but more closely related to the cooking model 991 than the corresponding pairing in the 997 generation.

The new engine is separated from its current Carrera S counterpart in many areas, not the least of which the fact it’s dry-sumped — like a proper race car. The cylinder-heads are reworked and there’s significant effort on reducing reciprocating mass. That’s a good thing given the new GT3’s redline is a very impressive 9000rpm. And remember this is no small-bore four — rather a relatively long-stroke six displacing 3.8 litres!

In fact, peak power of 350kW is produced at a steep 8250rpm, with maximum torque of ‘just’ 440Nm arriving only 2000rpm lower. The compression ratio is a sky-high 12.9:1 and detailed changes include additional oil cooling of pistons and rocker-arm actuation of the valves. The engine also features variable inlet and exhaust valve timing.

Mass reduction and mass centralisation away from the engine room is also a significant part of the philosophy that turns a ‘normal’ 911 into a GT3. Porsche has worked its development engineers hard to achieve weight reductions at each corner of the car. In some places the lost weight has been added back in the form of bigger, stronger components. In others, it’s been ‘banked’ to compensate for the added size and equipment the new car carries.

Classic examples are in the suspension and allied components. Porsche has saved a kilo here and a kilo there (eg: 1.6kg on the springs) and 2.8kg at the rear, by moving to forged alloy wheels. There were commensurate savings and the pointy end of the car, but that weight budget was ‘spent’ on beefier front hubs, bigger brakes and wider 20-inch front wheels.

At 1430kg, its far from the lightest911 road racer ever fielded, but remember this is a significantly larger car with a full complement of equipment including the civilities of things like air-conditioning and a paddle-shift twin-clutch gearbox that itself is a first for the GT3 family.

Indeed, the PDK (Porsche for twin-clutch) is one controversial aspect of the latest GT3. In another first, there is no three-pedal manual offered — the new GT3 is resolutely PDK as Porsche contends it’s the fastest way around the racetrack… And, as you quickly learn, this track car for the road is nothing if not brutally efficient.

There are changes to the box compared to the standard offering in the Carrera. Lower ratios across the seven gears (around nine per cent) and a 15 per cent shorter final drive ratio — all of which work to close up the spread. In contrast to a ‘normal’ 911, top speed (claimed 315km/h) is achieved in seventh.

The gearsets themselves are lighter and there’s also been significant revision of the software that runs the box. Only two auto modes are offered (Sport and Sport+) and manual is manual — it will allow you to run on the rev-limiter all day if you’re that aggressive (or stupid)… The only concession to the technology is the fact the box will stop you from performing destructive down changes.

One feature that perplexed yours truly (and also Porsche’s local tech chief Paul Watson) was the paddle-neutral function. By operating both paddles (left for down change, right for up changes) simultaneously, the drivetrain opens the clutches and drive is cut. Let go and it's re-engaged “at lightning speed”.

Apparently a development insisted upon by world rally champ and Porsche icon Walter Rohl, the feature seems to have little use for mere mortals. Its function is effectively the same as a clutch kick in a manual which Porsche contends is useful for “consciously destabilising for dynamic leaning into the curve”… Hmmm, I think, I’ll pass…

The system can be used as a quasi launch control too. That said, there is a ‘real’ launch control standard as part of the PDK’s functional spec.

Borrowed from the 911 Turbo is another feature new to the GT3 genre in the 991 series — active rear wheel steering. This system steers and counter-steers the rear wheels up to 1.5 degrees to help stabilise the car at high speed and make it more nimble in tight low-speed corners. The effect of the system is to virtually ‘shorten’ the wheelbase by up to 150mm or stretch it 500mm.

The seat of the pants impression can be a little odd in the very first instance (as we detailed in our first local drive of the Turbo S) but that’s a feeling soon forgotten. Go even part way to respecting the unique requirements that fast 911s demand, in terms of driving techniques, and overall the GT3 flatters your abilities.

Our first drive of the 911 GT3 was at Queensland Raceway as part of a Level 4 Masters course via Porsche Australia’s Porsche Sport driving school. And with coaching from respected racers Craig Baird and Alex Davison we were able to at least go some of the way to exploiting the incredible abilities of the GT3.

Affectionately known as the Paperclip (well, perhaps not that affectionately), the Ipswich track looks deceptively simple, but fast lap times require good technique and a car with an equal blend of power, brakes and balance.

QR’s abbreviated Clubman layout represents a lap time of just under the minute mark in the new GT3. It’s a measure of the latest car’s racetrack potential that (according to Porsche) it is up to two seconds faster than the last car. Given the 997 Series II GT3 was no slouch, that margin’s impressive.

What’s equally impressive is the feedback the car delivers — even at my pace.

For all the bleating you’ll hear from me and others about the lack of tactility in most electrically-assisted steering systems, there’s zero to complain about in the GT3’s tiller. The relatively thin-rimmed Alcantara-covered steering wheel is fulsome in its feedback in all situations… Under brakes, and as you enter, carve and exit each corner. You’d need to be ham-fisted to miss how communicative this car is.

So too the rear-end. Thanks to a combination of a clever torque vectoring differential and the linear, progressive and glitch-free power delivery offered by the GT3’s six, it’s simple to meter exactly the right amount of oomph to the wide rear 20-inch Michelins. Again, only the hamfisted will need the safety net Porsche’s Stability Management system offers — certainly that was the case during the at times damp conditions we experienced.

After driving a series of torque-heavy turbo and supercharged performance cars of late, the atmo GT3 engine is a joy. As noted above, the GT3’s 3.8-litre six ‘only’ produces around 440Nm — and that’s at 6250rpm — yet when you drive the car, it’s very clear why Porsche has engineered such power characteristics.

Rather than lump buckets of torque at the rear-end as you come back into the throttle on a corner exit (a la turbo car), the GT3’s beautifully sonorous six evenly but firmly pours on the coals. This maximises traction across a range of situations and is ideal if you’re making the most of the car’s balanced chassis and grip. The resulting pace is genuine, pure and intoxicating.

Given the nature of the 911’s unique mechanical layout and its resulting pitch-sensitive handling characteristics, these power characteristic are also a huge part of the reason you can go so quickly, so consistently and with such confidence.

It’d be an interesting comparison between the mega-grunt (close to double the torque!) and mega-traction of the all-wheel drive 911 Turbo S and the balance and wieldiness of the rear-drive GT3 as to which would be faster around most circuits… In most enthusiast drivers’ hands I’d suggest the GT3 would be faster for longer — especially on more technical layouts.

By the way, I’ll happily volunteer for the experiment if anyone from Porsche is reading this…

And when your day at the track is done, it seems like the GT3 would be no more hardship to drive home than the big-daddy Turbo S. All the mod-cons are retained and most are standard in Australian delivered cars. Sat-nav, cruise control, dual-zone air-con (that was a boon in QR’s 30-degree temperatures) are all available. In addition, there’s a host of other options.

At the most essential level, two versions of the GT3 are available, the standard Touring or the ClubSport, which swaps out electrically-adjustable seats for fixed-back, thinly padded sports buckets with six-point harnesses (in addition to the normal lap-sash inertia reel belts). Oh, and the Clubbie also gets an extinguisher and a bolt-in rear roll cage.

The end result looks deadly serious. I’ll let you guess which I’d opt for…

Steel brakes are standard on the GT3 and feature 380mm rotors all around with the front callipers six-piston monobloc units.

A carbon-ceramic upgrade is an option but it’s telling that Porsche’s driving school does not equip its cars with the ceramics. Even after dozens of laps at QR, the braking performance of steel-braked cars we were driving remained fade-free and 100 per cent consistent.

Unless you’re desperate to save the unsprung mass the ‘black’ brakes gift on each corner, this is one case where less appears to be more…

There are many more details I can deliver about the latest GT3, like 0-100km/h acceleration performance (3.5sec for the record), chapter and verse on the Porsche Active Suspension Management or active engine mounts, even the special racetrack-spec tyre monitoring system. But ultimately perhaps the best information I can offer is that it all works… Stunningly and rapidly well on the racetrack.

What I can’t tell you in any way, shape or form is how it all works on the road. Every metre we spent driving the 911 GT3 was on the racetrack.

That’s bad news for you, but good for me — after all, I wouldn’t be doing my job properly if I didn’t make sure I spent a week or so in a GT3 on the road and report back… Very soon…