Why the new Porsche 911 GT3 could be the best ever
Porsche’s 992.2 GT3 could end up being the last naturally-aspirated, non-hybrid model in the lineage – here’s why it could also be one of the best
Jörg Bergmeister had a hand in developing the 992.2 GT3, but his infectious, almost child-like enthusiasm for the new car is like that of a man who’s never driven one before. Towards the tail end of last year I joined the former Le Mans winner for a passenger lap around Porsche’s Hockenheim experience centre, and from the moment I strapped in, he was beaming at what he was about to show me.
It was dark and the track was damp, but the next few minutes were probably the most intense I’ve ever spent in the passenger seat of a car. A lot of that was down to Bergmeister’s astonishing commitment – he was turning into corners before they’d appeared in the headlights – but more than anything, the GT3 delivered the kind of precision-honed sensory assault that has defined the very best of the breed. And it did so without hybrid assistance or horrible synthesised engine noises. It felt completely pure and sounded incredible.
I know that shouldn’t come as a surprise for a GT3, but at a time when noise and emissions regs have taken the edge off some of our favourite performance cars – or completely reinvented them (the new M5, for instance) – it was a welcome surprise to find that the 992.2 GT3 doesn't seem to have been diluted in any way whatsoever. In fact, it could well turn out to be one of the very best GT3s in the lineage.
That's because it takes lessons from what is one of the greatest road-going 911s of all, the S/T. Very few modern cars force you to think and interact with them like the S/T does, and the rewards are sublime when you do. We found this out at our 2024 Car of the Year test, which (spoiler alert) the S/T won. The 992.2 GT3 makes some of this magic available in a series production car with S/T-derived shorter gearing, steering tuning and more compliant damping – the latter of which supposedly benefits both road and track driving. The way Bergmeister could wallop over kerbs at Hockenheim without unsettling the car attested to the latter.
That sounds like an amazing recipe, so much so that those who stumped up £231,600 for an S/T might feel a bit sour (or not, given that the one example for sale at the time of writing is up for £415,000). And as we discussed on a recent evo podcast, part of the GT3’s enduring brilliance is the fact that it hones in on these finer details of the driving experience rather than radically evolving and chasing power with each iteration.
‘They have the luxury of having the Turbo and GT2 to chase numbers with,’ commented Editor-at-Large John Barker. ‘Matching the GT3 takes the kind of focus you get from Honda with the Civic Type R. It takes that fastidious attention to detail, you really need to hone in on everything.’
The sad truth is that upcoming Euro 7 emissions regulations could force the GT3 in the direction of its turbocharged, hybridised rivals in a few years time. Porsche has already pushed hard to ensure the 992.2’s naturally-aspirated flat-six is compliant with current regs while still hitting the magical 503bhp, 9000rpm numbers – in the words of Porsche GT boss Andreas Preuninger, it was the project’s ‘toughest nut to crack.’ But while we could be looking at the final naturally-aspirated, non-hybrid GT3, it has every chance of going out on a stratospheric high. We’ll find out for sure later this month, when it’s our turn to get behind the wheel.
