It’s almost over.
We still haven’t seen the Porsche 911 GT3 track toy in its entirety since the original Porsche teased it in its Super Bowl commercial on January 26th last year. The wait is almost over, as Zuffenhausen announced last week via a teaser the world premiere of the 911 GT3 in full. To ease the wait for next Tuesday’s big debut, a new video has been released.
Porsche does not explicitly state that it is the GT3 but only describes it as the “new GT sport car.” The 14-second clip also shows the GT3 in the same shade of blue as the GT3 we saw a year ago. Chris Harris’ video for Top Gear ended November 2020 also showed a similar-looking car.
We were invited by Porsche to test drive a prototype at the end of last year. Now we have confirmed technical specifications that we can share. The new 911 GT3 will feature an evolution of the naturally-aspirated 4.0-liter flat-6 engine from the 91.2 Speedster. The new 911 GT3 boasts a 9,000-rpm redline, 510 horsepower and 10 more hp than the previous-generation GT3 while weighing in at 3,116 pounds.
Andreas Preuninger (Porsche’s GT boss) told us that around 80 percent of engineering team’s efforts were directed towards making the engine comply with increasingly strict emissions regulations. The remaining 20% were used to improve aerodynamics, which has seen downforce increase by 50% without affecting drag.
Even though spring stiffness has increased by 25%, the prototype still offers a “compliant and supple ride”. This is despite Porsche’s GT division spending hours tuning damping. Rear suspension was essentially copied from the 991.2 GT3, so it still features a multi-link arrangement and rear-wheel steering.
The front suspension has seen more changes. Next-generation models will use forged aluminum wishbones from the race cars. The wheels are larger than ever, measuring 20 inches in width and 9.5 inches at the front axle. At the rear, the wheels measure 21 inches in width. The wheels come with bigger brakes and are fitted with Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires.
The driver has the option to use the seven-speed PDK’s shift paddles or the tunnel-mounted transmission shifter. The old-school six speed manual will be available with three pedals, one for the regular GT3 and one for the more subtle GT3 touring.
We’ll have all the details, as well as a gallery of images, on February 16, when we’ll broadcast Porsche’s livestream.