The upcoming 992-gen Porsche 911 GT3 has been spotted in action yet again, but this time, it was filmed in all its glory doing full-beans laps at the Nürburgring.
Recorded buzzing around Nürburg, Germany by a YouTube user, it’s the umpteenth spotting of the yet-to-be-announced track car, and possibly the first video that reveals how the car sounds. Despite debate over whether this 911 generation’s GT3 would go turbo, the car’s exhaust note reaffirms what Porsche officials have repeatedly stated about the car: it’s still naturally aspirated.
What you’re hearing is a 4.0-liter flat-six engine, one likely producing north of 500 horsepower. The 911 project overseer August Achleitner was quoted describing this engine as a middle ground between the 4.0-liter, 520-horsepower unit found in the last GT3 RS and the GT3 R race car’s 549-horsepower race engine, also rounded to about four liters.
Achleitner was also quoted confirming that this engine will continue to be available with a manual transmission (number of gears still unknown), along with a PDK option—heard in the above video, as demonstrated by the near-instant shifts. Due to weight considerations and not needing to accommodate an electric motor, this transmission will reportedly not be the standard 992’s eight-speed, but instead an updated variant of the 991.2’s seven-speed.
Additional track-oriented, GT-branded versions of the 992 will arrive throughout the model’s lifespan, with a GT2 RS seemingly inevitable. Given that the 991 GT2 RS made 700 horsepower, expect the 992’s GT2 derivative to roll out with at least as much power… be it all from combustion, or some from hybrid boost.