Porsche 911 GT3 Touring 2018 Review

The Porsche 911 GT3 with Touring pack may fly under the radar – as much as any Porsche 911 can – but it's all GT3, which means it's a car that redefines steely-edged focus and raw energy.

Situated in the rear of the Porsche 911 GT3 Touring is an incredibly docile horizontally-opposed six-cylinder engine that can nonetheless pin your ears back at full song. It's a powerplant that sounds busy when you have the time to listen to it, which is NOT when you're hurtling along short straights towards the next hairpin. There are plenty of whirring, rotating and reciprocating parts all collaborating to produce motive power and dramatic sounds. If the very thought of combustion, thrust and torque all audible in parallel excites you – and it should – the GT3 is an aural kaleidoscope.

There's prodigious torque available from any revs for driving at slower speeds and taking it easy around town, but once the tacho hits 5000rpm with the throttle wide open, the GT3 is just explosive. Such is the performance and the closely clustered ratios of the six-speed gearbox, there's a very usable power band of 3000 revs from 5000rpm. The tachometer is redlined at 9000rpm, but there's still abundant performance to be had changing up to the next gear at 8000rpm or lower. It's a monster of an engine that removes the need to wring its neck.

The engine of the Porsche 911 GT3 Touring pack is rowdy at any time, but it's noisier still with the bi-modal exhaust valve open. So overpowering is the racket from the rear that everything else – tyre noise principally – fades into the background.

It's not as if buyers will care, but on a test loop of around 70km the GT3 posted fuel consumption of 13.7L/100km. In a regular daily commute it was up around 16L/100km or more most days.

Shifting gear is accompanied by a raft of thumps and clanks as the lever actuates long-and-winding linkages and transaxle components just to find the right cog. No matter how smooth a driver you may think you are, you'll not manage to change gear in this car without unsettling any passenger along for the ride, yet the gear shift itself is short and direct. You can change gear quickly, but the occasion might conclude like a pre-emptive act of war. And forget about short-shifting, the transmission works better (faster) with the engine running up to about 4000rpm. Shifting gear rapidly takes some assertiveness – and the results are not always pretty.

As Emile Levassor, inventor of the first practical gearbox noted: “C’est brutale, mais ça marche.” That roughly comes down to “It’s brutal, but it works”, for we Anglos. Indeed, the Porsche 911 GT3 Touring honours that remark 127 years later.

With all the powertrain's weight over the rear wheels, the GT3 exhibits unexpectedly good traction, even with so much power and torque available. That's not to say you can't induce power oversteer with relative ease...

The rear-end grip of the Porsche 911 GT3 Touring is determined, to say the least. Take the right line into the corner and the car will turn in quick smart and hold steady. It takes more brave pills than my doctor will prescribe to excite lift-off oversteer in this car. And even on a right-over-crest at speed with the power applied, the GT3 just bucked slightly, then dug in and pointed in the right direction. Brakes are phenomenally strong too, but with terrific pedal feel.

The GT3 is not a car recommended for daily driving, of course. Its ride properties are unforgiving, there are only the two seats in the cabin, the noise can be deafening and even with the front suspension raised some care must be taken negotiating driveways.

Rarely before has a car's suspension setup made me so intimately familiar with manhole covers, expansion joints and repatched bitumen as the GT3's did during my first commute behind the wheel of the Porsche.

Climbing in and out is more of a challenge than usual, thanks to the very low ride height, the already-low roofline, the deep buckets and the high bolstering at the side. Leaving the car is an ungainly process indeed.

The optional buckets offer no adjustment whatsoever, other than sliding fore and aft. They do tip forward, not that there are rear seats to access anyway. All that said, the GT3's seats are surprisingly accommodating. They're the sort of seats that will hold you in place, even approaching the event horizon of a black hole. And they're also quite comfortable, supporting every last square millimetre of corpulent journalist at all times. They will set you back $8870 over the price of the standard units however.

The seats are one of numerous options that came with the GT3. For a car that's so raw and pure at the same time, there's a cornucopia of options fitted – more than $39,000 added to the GT3 Touring's already head-spinning purchase price of $326,800. Are any of them worth ordering? Absolutely... the reversing camera ($1690) is a must. The leather package ($7490) maybe not so much.

Satin aluminium finish really sets off the wheels, but is the aesthetic appeal worth $2390? Personally, I could be tempted if money were no object.

Despite the plethora of extra-cost kit, there's no actual switchgear on the GT3's steering wheel – none at all. There's the horn pad with an airbag and that's it!

For all its ascetic nature, the 911 GT3 is ergonomically functional, with instruments that are easy to read and controls mostly where they should be. Most of the comfort and convenience features owners are likely to need are there – including dual-zone climate control, trip computer and Bluetooth, for instance. And the systems operate effectively too, with the smartphone reconnecting much faster in the GT3 than with Caymans in the past, for instance.

The 911 GT3 is really a car at its most satisfying on smoother roads, where you can open it up and point it away from dead straight and level directions. This is a race car masquerading as a road car – and there are no beg-your-pardons about it.

Placed in that context, this is a highly convincing package. It has the same power to enthral as the xenomorph from 'Alien', the same slam in the back as a Saturn V booster.

This, I think, is my favourite Porsche ever...

How much does the 2018 Porsche 911 GT3 Touring cost?
Price: $365,930 (As tested, drive-away with options worth $39,130)
Engine: 4.0-litre six-cylinder petrol
Output: 360kW/460Nm
Transmission: Six-speed manual
Fuel: 12.9L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 290g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety rating: TBA