Porsche Confirms 2018 911 GT3 With 500 Horsepower And Optional 6-Speed Manual Transmission
We’re betting everyone that paid over a million dollars for a 911R feels like a fool right about now
There are still a few hours to go before the official unveiling of the 911 GT3 at the Geneva Auto Show, but Porsche dropped the press release a few hours early. By accident, we're sure. This press release was posted initially without any photographs, and it's since been deleted from Porsche's press site (but you can read a copy here on the Rennlist Forum). When the car officially launches tonight, we'll have some photos here for you.
The gist of things, it would seem, this is the 'mystery' two-seat, motorsport-inspired, daily-drivable sports car Porsche gave us one sentence about last week, and it's basically a 911R without the insane price tag. Using the same 4-liter 500-horsepower flat-six that Porsche built for the current GT3 RS and 911R, mated to either the GT3 RS' 7-speed PDK dual clutch or critically the 6-speed manual transmission from the 911R.
The new GT3 is stated at 3,153 pounds when equipped with a PDK transmission, which is give-or-take the same as the old GT3. With the dual clutch equipped, this car will wail to sixty miles per hour in just 3.2 seconds and keep running to a top speed of 197 miles per hour. If you want to run the gears with your right hand, you can opt for the 6-speed stick, for which you're given a 40-pound weight advantage. However, your 0-60 time will suffer with the manual, making the run in 3.8 seconds, but you'll gain one mile per hour on the top end (198 miles per hour).
There is a new front fascia, and out back there is a carbon fiber wing and a new rear diffuser, but aside from that things look to be mostly the same. Inside the car, you'll get the 14.1 inch diameter 918 Spyder-inspired steering wheel, and you have a choice between three seat options (Sport Seats Plus, Adaptive Sport Seats Plus, or non-adjustable carbon fiber buckets).
As with the old 911 GT3, you'll still get rear axle steering, active engine mounts, and a rear locking differential. It should drive quite similarly to the prior GT3, though with a smidge more power. That is to say, it'll drive really well.
Porsche says the 2018 GT3 is on the docket for a fourth-quarter 2017 delivery, and you can order one up for just a base MSRP of $143,600. Considering this is a very similar specification to the $184,900 911R, it's seeming like something of a performance bargain right now.
[Note: The photo above is of the 991.1 GT3. Porsche has not yet released photographs of the 991.2 GT3. Watch this space for more soon.]
