Styling
Like any other 992.2 911, the visual changes to the GT3 - and its more sedate Touring derivative
sans wing, as seen here - are minimal. In short, there's been a general tidying of the lights fore and aft. In the former case, all forms of illumination, including indicators and ancillary light signatures, are now in the circular lamps, so the bumper is freed up for bigger air intakes and a subtle resculpting. Meanwhile, at the back, the full-width light strip has a cleaner yet more dominating appearance, and then there's also a change to the standard forged aluminium 20-inch front, 21-inch rear wheels - they've got axial cut-outs in their spokes, saving 1.5kg from the rims on the previous
992.1 GT3. But whether you pick the fully winged model or this elegant Touring, which looks utterly magnificent in Oak Green (£3,234) on the gold forged magnesium alloys (saving another 9.1kg on kerb weight and only available as part of the Lightweight Package, at - you ready for this? - £29,223...), the 992.2 GT3 looks thoroughly fantastic.
Interior
Again, there's more obvious motorsport purpose to the winged GT3 model's cabin with the rollcage-equipping Weissach Package (£19,531!) and carbon Sport bucket seats (£5,390), but any 992.2's interior is a special place to be and the Touring's passenger compartment is no exception. Beautifully built and ergonomically brilliant to use, the major change here is that the 12.6-inch Curved Display digital instrument cluster has been drafted into service, complete with a unique-to-the-GT3 dashtop cowl moulding above (no other 992.2 has this extrusion on top of the fascia). This digital switch means the analogue tachometer has gone, replaced by a TFT item; it might annoy some, but we found it perfectly fine, and it performs a neat visual flourish in Track mode of rotating anti-clockwise to put the 9,000rpm redline at the top of the dial. The GT3 also retains the twist-key fixed ignition device on the dash, rather than a round button, and a tall lever for the PDK, instead of the stubby device you'd find in, say, a
992.2 Carrera, all adding up to an interior ambience that's suitably tantalising and inviting for this most special of 911 models.
Practicality
Even when only considered among other 911s, the GT3 is hardly the height of practicality. It has the 132-litre front boot you'd find in any other model in the range, but as the back of its passenger compartment is typically filled with rollcage, that cuboid space under the 'bonnet' is about all the stowage you get. The Touring can be specified with the '+2' rear seats if you want them, though. So, um... that's something, we guess.
Performance
Across seven transitions between the eight different variants of GT3 - running 996.1, 996.2, 997.1 and so on - this is the first time the track-focused
neun-elfer has failed to gain any power as part of the update schedule. In fact, even though it still has 510hp and a 9,000rpm redline on its 4.0-litre flat-six non-turbo motor, it has lost 20Nm of torque to stand at a new peak of 450Nm.
A first retrograde step, possibly, in the storied and 25-year-plus GT3 history? Well, maybe. But Porsche's hand was forced by both trying to satisfy its demanding customers, who were adamant that the GT3 must not become either turbocharged or even hybridised like the
992.2 GTS, and also the stricter global legislation regarding tailpipe emissions. In order to keep the 4.0-litre going for a few more years yet,
without resorting to either forced induction or part-electrical assistance, Stuttgart has done a heck of a lot of work to get the boxer-six to comply.
Firstly, extra catalytic converters have been added to the short exhaust system. They're after the particulate filters and their inclusion brings the total number of cats in the 992.2 GT3's pipes to four, which has reduced back pressure in the system and results in the minor drop in torque. Further alterations include cam profiles which keep the valves open for longer, a revision to the profile of the valves within the 4.0-litre's individual throttle bodies to optimise airflow, and changes to the air intakes and filter box, plus the oil cooling, to counteract the negative effects of cleaning up the waste gases coming out of the Porsche's exhaust.
Therefore, with 20Nm less to play with, the company has also shortened the final-drive ratios of both the six-speed manual - now equipped with the short-shift lever from the 911 S/T - and the seven-speed PDK by eight per cent, which sacrifices a few meaningless mph right at the top end in favour of maintaining the GT3's ability to hit 62mph from rest in just 3.4 seconds (as a PDK with Launch Control; the manuals take 3.9 seconds). It also means the 911 has more torque being thumped at its rear wheels slightly earlier in the rev range for every gear it is occupying in whichever 'box you've chosen, which Porsche says makes it feel more intense and urgent than its immediate predecessor.
Then there's the weight gain. This 992.2 is about 21kg heavier than the 992.1 in certain trims, but Porsche has worked ridiculously hard to ensure than in its lightest specification, namely a Weissach winged car with magnesium wheels and carbon seats, it's only 2kg more than the trimmest 992.1 was (1,420kg plays 1,418kg). Obviously, you need to spend a lot on top of the 992.2 GT3's basic list price to get its weight down to 1,420kg, but if you do then - courtesy of other items such as the roof, underside shear panels and anti-roll bars being made from carbon, as well as stripping out of carpeting and the fitment of a lithium-ion battery - you get a featherweight 911 GT3 as tradition dictates. Even at a maximum of 1,439kg, you can hardly accuse any 992.2 version of being fat, eh?
Whatever your thoughts on all of the above, we're happily here to tell you that you needn't fret about whether the GT3 has lost some of its spark, or whether the engine and exhaust sound more muted as a result of their extra green measures, or if you really notice that lack of torque when you're thoroughly extending the Porsche. Because this 4.0-litre powertrain remains comprehensively immense.
We almost don't need to say the throttle response is immediate at any point on the rev counter, nor that the strong, deep pull of acceleration the car provides is beautifully linear and majestically predictable. We don't need to go into a huge debate over whether the PDK ruins the experience compared to the manual 'box brought back into the GT3 fold with the
991.2 variant - because the twin-clutch unit is a gem, if you decide to opt for it, and you'll never be disappointed with the immediate way it shifts ratios to let you access the wondrous reserves of that flat-six.
No, we just need to talk about the noise. It's heavenly. It's unlike anything emitted from any other road-going car we can think of. It's a massive, massive part of the GT3's enduring appeal. And it's going to be little short of a tragedy when this soundtrack has died away for good, strangled into eternal submission by ever-tightening emissions regs. So, perhaps rather than getting maudlin and gloomily looking forward to that point in the not-too-distant future when such a thing comes to pass, we should revel in this shrieking, howling, scintillating masterpiece while we still can.
The 911 GT3 sounds terrific from tickover to about 3,000rpm on the dial, where its voice takes on an additional layer of intensity and ramps up into a familiar Porsche six-pot growl from there, right the way up to 7,000rpm. But where other powerplants from this manufacturer have to give up the ghost at such a point, the MA2.75 seemingly develops another pair of lungs and then sings its finest spine-tingling, nape-tickling, body-shivering aria from seven thousand all the way to the redline. Long gearing will mean listening to such a thing on the roads in any cogs beyond second is going to, um, flirt with the legality of speed limits somewhat, but if you can get the 911 GT3 into this acoustic sweet spot, you'll never want to listen to anything else again. Nothing comes close to it. And it's feasible that it's even more delightful as you're decelerating into a corner on track, from high speeds and a high gear, and you make the rear-mounted six bark out a series of rasping 'braaaaaps!' as you click down three gears on the left-hand paddle of the PDK. It's phenomenal, plain and simple.
The NA pay-off is rampant fuel consumption. Even on our 100-mile-plus road route in the Touring with PDK, the GT3 averaged out at a crippling 16.4mpg. And it was doing substantially less than that before we had a bit of seventh-gear motorway cruising to level things out a tad. Concomitantly, we didn't dare look at the winged car's fuel use while it was pounding around Valencia's Circuit Ricardo Tormo, but obviously the sort of people who can afford a 992.2 GT3 in the first place and then, more to the point, further afford to put their prized financial asset at great risk by attending track days in it probably don't give two shiny hoots about the fact their yowling 911 will be supping down Super at single-digit mpg rates while they're having fun. They'll just be listening to the glorious music coming from the back of the car and grinning. Hugely.
Ride & Handling
The engine still dominates much of the GT3's character, which is why its threatened existence does call into question what Porsche does with this fabled model line from hereon in. But this is not a car that's all about the straight-line speed, and it never has been either. And, in terms of its sheer race-car intensity, the 992 GT3 has always been the wildest of the breed. This is because it borrowed directly from the mighty RSR competition versions in a number of areas (the most obvious being that four-way-adjustable swan-neck spoiler sitting on the back of the non-Touring variants), with the key factor for the handling being its double-wishbone front suspension - the first time such a focused, high-end system had been seen on a road-going Porsche when it arrived in 2021.
As dynamically brilliant as this arrangement made the 992.1 GT3 on the one hand, it could also make it a spiky so-and-so if the conditions weren't in its favour. Therefore, with the torque trimmed back and the weight (marginally) up, Porsche's engineers have focused on sharpening the drive to yet more exalted planes of operation. To that end, shorter bump stops in the Porsche Active Suspension Management (PASM) Sport-equipped chassis provide 27mm of additional spring travel at the front of the car, with 24mm added at the back. That's designed to bless the car with finer wheel control, allowing it to ride the kerbs on track with less deflection and drama, while also supplying it with a greater ability to soak up lumpen road surfaces on the public highway.
The steering has been refined to provide less friction, primarily through its control software but also with the addition of automatic friction compensation, with the aim of making the GT3's behaviour more linear and precise off the dead-centre. A trick learned from the
monstrous RS derivative sees the front pivot point of the control arms moved forward and lowered, to reduce dive under extreme braking by precisely half; the nose of the 911 will only dip 6mm now, instead of 12mm as before. It's the sort of fascinating, nerdy attention to detail that gets petrolheads all hot under the collar, but the key question to answer is: have these changes improved the 992.2, beyond what the 992.1 could offer from a kinematic perspective?
Well, we don't know what we can say here, other than it's hard to know what more anyone could reasonably ask for in dynamic terms from a sports car than this. The chassis coupled up to that sensational engine at the back of the GT3 is more than equal to the task of showing this Porsche in its best light, with no evident area of it we think requires improvement. Sure, a
718 Cayman GT4 RS might run it incredibly close in the roadholding and involvement stakes, and a
911 Turbo or the related (and hopefully forthcoming) GT2 will do it for outright speed, but nothing matches a 911 GT3 for the consummate purity and sparkling cohesiveness of its driving experience.
When it comes to the feel, weighting and accuracy of the marvellous steering, or the pedal modulation and vicious yet progressive bite of the brakes, or the unrelenting composure of its suspension and thoroughly exquisite damping, or the masses of mechanical grip the thing can summon up
in extremis, the 992.2 GT3 is about as close to flawless as we could possibly imagine. It's more predictable now, the front end of the car as rabidly eager as it ever was, yet without displaying any of the occasional nervous twitchiness of the 992.1, but if you think more predictable equals more boring, think again. When you've got the latest GT3 all fired up and driving near its limits (or, more accurately, yours as the driver; the car's talent is undoubtedly going to be way in advance of what the vast majority of people could cajole out of it, us included), you know instantly that this is the greatest example of this revered machine yet. The 992.2 GT3 is an unmitigated joy in every conceivable detail.
Value
The GT3 with the wing starts from £157,300, while the GT3 with Touring Package (which is the correct, full name for the car, but everyone just calls it the GT3 Touring these days) is... exactly the same money. There is obviously also a lengthy and, in places, very pricey options list available for both cars, with plenty of five-figure extras on there to ramp up the purchasing ticket ever higher. Furthermore, it's not just a case of the expense of trying to park yourself behind the wheel of a 992.2 911 GT3, but supply and demand - the reality is that if you've not owned a previous Porsche GT product of some sort, and/or your name's not already on the list for the latest version, then you're highly unlikely to get one.
But if you do, the reason that at £157,000 the car doesn't seem overpriced boils down to two things: first, just how bloody good it is to drive, justifying the soaring asking price; and second, the fact that GT3s simply do not depreciate. Drive a 992.2 away from a Porsche Centre of your choosing, and the likelihood is that it'll have gone up by 50 or 60 grand in the process. Such is the special and top-end nature of this car - which will only be enhanced in this case by the fact you're probably looking at the last, new, nat-asp 911 GT3 of them all. A collector's piece on four wheels, if ever there was one.
Verdict
A bittersweet moment in the automotive industry is reached here, as Porsche (we think) signs off on a little more than 25 years of unremitting 911 GT3 excellence with the most supreme variant yet. Powered by a legendary engine, underpinned by an unimpeachable chassis, and dripping with the sort of unquenchable desirability and exceptional driver engagement that only this German sports car company can provide, if this really is the end of the nat-asp GT3s then what a spectacular, spectacular way to bow out. You're just not going to do any better, at any price, than the 992.2 GT3.
