2014 Porsche 911 GT3 drive review

For the first time, Porsche is offering rear-wheel steering.

What is it?

Geneva auto show, Switzerland, March 4, 2013: Latest-generation Porsche 911 GT3 world premiere. “The performance figures will really surprise you,” says Porsche's development boss Wolfgang Hatz, beaming with pride after whipping the covers off the new car. “But it is not the performance figures that make it so memorable. It is the emotional appeal. It gets under your skin.”

It isn't every day a German engineer suggests driving his latest car will be emotional. But Hatz, credited with engineering the original BMW M3 engine and laying the groundwork for Formula One's switch to turbocharged 1.6-liter V6 engines in 2014, is passionate about performance. As tradition dictates, the new 911 GT3 has plenty. Loads, in fact.

Fast forward from Geneva a few months and we've just stepped from the car in question after an hour's driving on smooth, winding roads not far from where it is produced, in an outer-lying Stuttgart suburb. It's hard to imagine what more anyone could ask for in a road car. Like its predecessors, the new 911 GT3 has been developed to provide a platform for Porsche's lucrative clubsport motorsport activities. However, it also stands on its own as a road car. It is sensational.

This is a car that stirs the senses on many different levels. There's the styling for a start. You look at the third-generation 911 GT3 and know immediately it is no ordinary 911 Carrera S. There is a satisfying menace to the appearance -- it shouts Le Mans, Spa, Monza.

For the first time, Porsche is offering rear-wheel steering.

Unique touches include a deep new front bumper with three big air ducts and prominent splitter, a further duct ahead of the hood to reduce air pressure and smooth airflow over the car and new exterior mirrors, as well as a subtle sill element beneath the doors. A giant fiberglass-and-carbon-fiber wing dominates the rear, complete with a ram air intake for the rear-mounted engine. There's also a new rear bumper with vertical air ducts on either side to relieve pressure in the rear wheelhouses and a diffuser to provide smoother air flow beneath the car at speed.

The bodyshell is shared with the 911 Carrera S, but the fenders, roof, doors and engine lid are aluminum. Porsche says weight is reduced 13 percent compared to the second-generation 911 GT3, while additional strengthening measures bring about a massive 25 percent increase in torsional rigidity. The car is 4.6 inches longer and 1.7 inches wider, so the new 911 GT3, at 3,152 pounds, is 77 pounds heavier.

So it's slightly heavier, but friendlier too. The two-seat interior reflects the progress made in other 911 models: The same high-quality dash, center console and trims. There are unique instruments, including a big central-mounted tach with a 9,000-rpm redline. There's a lot more room inside, too. The seats are carbon fiber and covered in leather and Alcantara, the pedals are aluminum. Check the right boxes on your order form and you'll even get twin-zone air conditioning. It's a sumptuous but work-like driving environment.


What's it like to drive?

Slot the key into the ignition -- on the left, of course -- and the 911 GT3 fires with a bark every bit as grabbing as its predecessor's. There is a mischievous pulse to the engine at idle, a nod to the motorsport-derived engine and its high lift cams and other performance-enhancing trickery. Press a button on the center tunnel to engage sport and the familiar bass-heavy rumble hardens in character as a flap opens to increase the lightweight titanium exhaust's volume.

Put the gear lever into drive and we're off with just a small throttle nudge. There is immediate liveliness to the steering; it feels urgent and beautifully weighted. The dual-clutch gearbox automatically picks up first, second and then third as we run up the hill from Zuffenhausen to some more suitable country roads. The new Porsche has a whole new user-friendly disposition. Given its sporting focus, the latest 911 GT3 rides with composure with its adjustable dampers set to comfort. There's an encouraging subtlety to the suspension around town, making it an acceptable everyday proposition.

The new car doesn't have the glorious Mezger engine its predecessors had. In its place is a reworked naturally aspirated 3.8-liter flat-six the latest 911 Carrera S uses. When we first heard that, we worried the decision might leave a gaping hole in the driving experience. We shouldn't have been concerned. From the first shot down the autobahn, any lingering doubts about the new engine's effectiveness are truly blown away in one searing surge to the other side of a buck twenty.

This is a mighty engine, providing a sonorous 475 hp. Torque is up 7 lb-ft to 324 lb-ft at 6,250 rpm, although this figure is misleading because there is now significantly more midrange shove and thus greater flexibility throughout the rev range.

The 2014 Porsche 911 GT3 comes with a 475-hp six-cylinder engine.

Direct injection for the first time, along with special rocker-arm valve operation, also provides more smoothness than before. The exhaust note doesn't so much resonate through your body, it begins to assault your inner organs as you set sight on the dizzying 9,000-rpm limiter. Although only meeting Euro 5 emission standards, it also uses less fuel on the combined cycle at more than 18 mpg. And no, there's nothing mundane like stop/start.

You'll have to make up your own mind on this next point, but we're not buying the argument the 911 GT3 ought to receive a six-speed manual. Preserve its purity? When was the last time you saw one on a Le Mans winner? Exactly. … The seven-speed dual clutch brings a little additional weight and some packaging concerns. However, they are small sacrifices in the big picture considering how it helps widen the performance envelope, allowing you to enjoy the car on more levels than ever. Plus it adds to the car's performance potential in no uncertain terms. Not once during the day did we think a manual transmission would better serve the driving experience. And anyone who suggests no manual takes away the raw emotion likely hasn't experienced the new car the way Porsche Motorsport intended. Yes, it really is that good.

The latest Porsche Doppelkupplung is no ordinary dual-clutch gearbox, but one developed specifically for racing. The shift quality is smooth, and there's impressive part-throttle finesse. Related to the Carrera S' trans, it receives unique ratios including a 3.97:1 final drive, as well as individual mapping. The revised gearing, described as 15 percent shorter than the old 911 GT3, combines with added shove, and frankly scary traction, away from the line. The official 0-60-mph time is 3.3 seconds, a half-second faster than the outgoing GT3. Top speed is 196 mph.

The new car has what Porsche calls a paddle neutral function. When you pull both shift paddles, the clutches open, placing the car in neutral. When the shift paddles are released, the clutches engage again as if you're dumping the clutch on a manual. Doing this at standstill with the stability control switch off and the engine buzzing near the redline results in a huge burnout and then startling straight-line acceleration once traction is restored. Alternatively, it can be achieved on the run.

Like we said, though, judge for yourself.

The new model has its own unique chassis. Suspension is MacPherson struts front and five-link rear, carried over from other new 911 models, but the individual components have been modified for about an inch and a half lower ride height and an 8.5-pound unsprung weight reduction. At 96.7 inches, the wheelbase is 3.7 inches longer than the old 911 GT3, while the front and rear tracks are up 2.1 inches and 1.2 inches at 61.1 inches and 61.2 inches, respectively.

Revised wheel bearings, altered hubs, a new transverse control arm, lighter springs and aluminum dampers are among the developments found up front. The rear gets a similar list, together with a hollow aluminum subframe casting for a more rigid mounting structure. A variable damping system (PASM) with two firmness levels is standard, as is torque vectoring with a locking differential. The standard fit center-lock, forged-aluminum 20-inch wheels have increased in diameter but are claimed to be marginally lighter than the 19-inch wheels on the old GT3. They are now 9 inches wide up front and 12 inches wide rear with 245/35 and 305/30 profile Dunlop Sport Maxx tires respectively.

The steering is new, as well. It's based on the Carrera S but has its own mapping and a revised mounting to provide added rigidity to the rack. It works in conjunction with an electro-mechanical rear-wheel-steer system, set up to provide the rear with a subtle 1.5 degrees of steering. Up to 37 mph, it operates the rear wheels in the opposite direction as the fronts. At more than 50 mph the rears are operated parallel to the fronts.

Once off the autobahn and on undulating valley roads, we learned the steering system imparts a calmer feel without any trade-off in response compared to old conventional hydraulic arrangement. The weighting is spot on, and the rear steer was barely noticeable. As it should be: active, but in the background.

Few questioned the old 911 GT3's mastery. This new one operates on an altogether higher plane, up there with the Ferrari 458 Italia for unadulterated dynamic excellence. The Porsche turns in with rabid intent, the front end settles brilliantly under hard braking and the tires bite hard to suppress any initial understeer under load change.

You can push the 911 GT3 hard in slower, tightly apexed second-gear corners or faster third- and fourth-gear bends and always feel assured the rear will remain planted. There is no knife edge, merely breathtaking body control and wonderful, confidence-inspiring neutrality.

The two-stage stability control system, recalibrated for use both on road and track, allows a little throttle steer before subtly correcting your line.

We're only scratching the surface of the new car's potential. To experience this car best you'll need a race track because its ability to carry big speeds through corners without any premature breakaway on road legal tires is remarkable. Porsche claims the new car has already successfully lapped the Nürburgring in 7:25, more than 10 seconds faster than the last 911 GT3.

What the Nürburgring won't be able to reliably reveal is the new car's excellent ride. Over the years we have come to accept the fact that some race cars compromise comfort in search of inherent dynamic ability. This car turns this all on its head with a deftly tuned chassis with true pothole-defeating absorption during compression and outstanding rebound control.


Do I want one?

What, it isn't obvious? Of course you do. A memorable day spent driving the new 911 GT3 reveals a faster, even more responsive yet more accessible and user-friendly car. Its abilities are quite remarkable and very much the root of its appeal. You can now comfortably drive it to work in automatic mode, something we're sure many prospective owners will do. At the same time it has lost none of the customary race track-derived qualities when you switch into sport and give it hell on a deserted country road. Hatz is right. The emotional appeal is a big part of what makes this car so exciting. It is one of Zuffenhausen's all-time greats.

2014 Porsche 911 GT3

On sale: Late 2013

Base Price: $131,350

Drivetrain: 3.8-liter, 475-hp, 324-lb-ft V6;RWD,seven-speed dual-clutch PDKCurb Weight: 3,152lb (est)

0-60 MPH: 3.3 sec (mfr)

Fuel Economy (EPA City/Hwy/Combined): TBD