3. Porsche 911 GT3

Porsche 911 GT3 (2007 onwards model)

• What: Porsche 911 GT3
• Where: the Three Counties, England
• Date: April 2007
• Price: £79,540
• Available: now
• Key rivals: Ferrari F430, Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera, Aston DB9 Prodrive, Black Series AMGs, Audi R8

Summary

Trading some of the 911’s legendary day-to-day practicality for one of the most thrilling, involving drives you can have on either road or track. The GT3 is sensational.

• Likes: sensational performance, chassis balance, steering feel, noise
• Dislikes: grounding front splitter, difficulty getting into seats, we can’t afford one

Worth the effort

It takes me a while to slot myself into the heavily bolstered sports seat. Longer still when I realise I’m sat on the seatbelt buckle and need to haul myself almost completely out to get at it. It is worth it though, as once I have squeezed my not-so-sporting frame into the thinly-padded £3,130 optional fixed back carbon-fibre seat I am held in very snugly indeed. Aside from the tight-fitting seat my surroundings are pretty familiar, being much like every other 911 I have ever been lucky enough to drive. However in the centre of the rev counter there are two letters and a number that underline this is no ordinary 911. This is a GT3.

That might mean nothing to you, but to Porsche enthusiasts that letter and number combination has come to signify one of the purest 911 driving experiences ever. The GT3 is all the best parts of the 911 concentrated, designed to deliver an intravenous shot of pure 911. And it is a highly intoxicating one, which is why it is worth all the effort to get into the hip-hugging seat. Aside from it other areas of the interior signify the GT3’s intent. Grippy Alcantara covers the steering wheel rim and gear-shift gaiter, and there is a half roll cage behind me where usually there would be two ‘seats’.

No extinguisher, plenty of fire

Porsche has gone short of fitting the fire extinguisher that comes with that cage as part of their ‘Clubsport’ package, which, seeing as I am not intending on putting stickers on the doors and taking it racing, is a good thing. Plenty of people do though; indeed, it is the reason why the GT3 exists. And the link between it and the racetrack is highly credible, with GT3s and its Cup, RS and RSR relatives taking trophies every weekend. Like those racers the flat-six engine is slung out back, in typical 911 style. It is a mere 3.6-litre engine though, odd given the standard Carrera S boasts 3.8-litres.

It might be a smaller capacity engine but it is no ordinary 3.6-litre unit. The GT3’s engine has real pedigree being based on the block of Porsche’s 911 GT1 racer – a car that won at LeMans in ’98. Constant honing by Porsche has resulted in quite sensational stats – 415bhp from 3.6-litres equates to a heady 115.3bhp per litre. I could use this entire page to detail the meticulous engineering that has gone into it to reduce weight, maximise power and, crucially these days, reduce emissions and maximise mpg (a hugely impressive 307g/km and 22.1mpg combined respectively) but I won’t. All you need to know is that it is one of the greatest engines ever built.

Pedigree engine with a rough edge

Turning the key to start it fills the interior with a cacophony of metallic noise. It is a harsh noise, the flat-six sounding like it is going to self destruct messily and expensively spit out its internals. It doesn’t, instead it quietens down to a lumpy, irregular idle. Surprisingly, given its stats, it is not a highly-strung, temperamental performer. From low revs it’s enormously tractable, the linear delivery hardening from 4,000rpm right up to the 8,400rpm red-line. The performance that accompanies exploration into the upper rev reaches is phenomenal. The numbers say the GT3 is able to reach 100mph in under 10 seconds, a top speed of 193mph and 62mph in 4.3 seconds.

Honed to perfection

That performance is exploitable too; everything on the GT3 has been tweaked to allow you to extract the maximum from it. Shortened gear ratios are selected by the beautifully mechanical six-speed shifter, the brakes, Porsche’s optional carbon ceramic discs, could probably stop a fully-laden Boeing 747 all day long. The aero package provides downforce at speed, and its trick rear spoiler helps the engine breath deeply when it’s needed. The suspension has been lowered by 30mm over the standard car and for the first time features PASM (Porsche Active Suspension Management) allowing you the choice between beautifully fluid, but firm, to a rather compromised track stiff set up.

There is traction control too and a ‘Sport’ button. Why a sport button on a car already so sporting? It is there to allow you to bypass two of the GT3’s three silencers. Doing so not only increases the treat you give your ears when exercising that glorious flat six, but also increases the torque in the engine’s mid range. Add a sharper throttle and increased thresholds on the Carrera GT derived traction control and that Sport button’s worth having. That traction control is excellent too, the limits high enough to let you enjoy the GT3, even the limpet like grip from the semi-slick GT3 specific Michelin Cup tyres easy to overcome with the 3.6-litre’s grunt.

Best 911 ever?

Doing so is best left for the track. However, that doesn’t mean that the GT3 isn’t a fantastic road car, quite the opposite. The quick and super accurate steering is absolutely loaded with feel, the gearbox pleasingly mechanical and swift, the brakes hugely strong and fade free. Combined with the sensational and prodigious linear power from the engine, the aero package that helps keep you on the road (and in the case of the front splitter – regularly scrapes it), the beautifully judged suspension and chassis balance, the GT3 is not only one of the best 911 variants out there, but one of the most exploitable, enjoyable and useable performance cars you can currently buy.