With the electric, digital and autonomous era looming, the days of natural aspiration and manual transmission are numbered.
The internal combustion engine is dying. For petrolheads, this ensuing inevitability won’t come as any shock revelation. For petrolheads, merely contemplating that prospect is still hard to imagine or fully quantify. There is no crumb of comfort to be taken, no silver lining, no particular upside. The adage "you don’t know what you got until its gone" hardly rings hollow here. Its decline really does cut deep to my very core.
I think about its demise every day. In an emotional sense, coming to terms with it gradually fading from existence is tough to take. From a self-serving point of view, I don’t want the ICE to stop being produced, I like its fundamental characteristics too much. The ICE is a remarkable creation, its functional process is as interesting as it is exciting. It resonates on a level that no battery electric vehicle has thus far replicated.
But the ICE has one underlying foible, and it's a rather significant and fundamental one. Resultant emissions produced from burning fossil fuels pollute the planet. It’s undeniably the biggest prohibiting factor of the ICE, and an aspect that no matter how hard petrolheads attempt to contort, have no legitimate comeback to combat against the overwhelming evidence. With this inherent drawback thwarting the long-term viability of the ICE, it means conversion to BEVs needs to happen, even if we don’t want it to.
"There is a holy grail blueprint that purists crave in the ultimate driver’s car, and the 992 GT3 has it"
This reality is tantamount to the sword of Damocles for petrolheads. Thus far car companies have not been able to convincingly recreate emotionally stimulating characteristics in BEVs to captivate petrolheads in a dizzying trance. That authenticity and connection have gone missing. The spark has fizzled out. Right now, BEVs don’t make up for what will be lost when the ICE does eventually cease. It’s a real conundrum for carmakers to remedy.
In this respect, it puts an even greater emphasis on ICE cars right now, and attributes them with additional sentimental value. And there can be no better car exemplifying that point than the Porsche 911 GT3. With carmakers seeking to safeguard their survival triggered by the existential demise of the ICE, the conversion process to the electric and digital era means cars with the makeup of the 992 GT3 are fast becoming an increasingly scarce species indeed.
There is a holy grail blueprint that purists crave in the ultimate driver’s car, and the 992 GT3 has it. It’s for this reason that, in my view, the 992 GT3 could well be one of the last cars of its kind, it’s that rare. There are two parts to the equation that separate the 992 GT3, and makes it different from other supercars. One is the natural aspiration of its engine. And the other is the manual configuration of its transmission. The two together make for a magical combination that firmly goes against the grain.
Let’s start by examining the actual power unit itself. With Porsche motorsport origins, the 4.0-litre six-cylinder engine is rather special. It has been taken directly from the 911 GT3 Cup car, and is built on the same production line. The naturally aspirated part means that the engine is supplied with air without the input of turbocharging, so the upshot is that there’s a consistent delivery of power throughout the engines entire 9000rpm powerband.
That’s helped by six individual throttle valves that gives better air supply to each cylinder for greater engine responsiveness. The use of this power unit separates the 992 GT3 from the rest of the standard 992 911 range. It makes it an entirely different animal. And it also means the engine makes a better noise too, the screaming shrill sends shivers down your spine. With a 503bhp output, an optimum amount for the 992 GT3 remit, it connects to your emotions and spikes your adrenalin levels in such an addictive way.
That experience is intensified with the incorporation of the six-speed manual transmission. Yet the 992 GT3 can be fitted with a seven-speed PDK transmission, which does unlock and extract the maximum performance potential. But while the gear shifts are instantaneous and efficient, the PDK option does not offer the same level of interaction or engagement as the manual alternative. And that’s including using the PDK gear selector, it just doesn’t quite replicate the same sensation, even if the action does look rather cool.
"With the six-speed manual, you feel every nuance of the driving experience, it’s like the 992 GT3 is connected to your central nervous system"
With the six-speed manual, you feel every nuance of the driving experience, it’s like the 992 GT3 is connected to your central nervous system. That amount of driver involvement is rapidly becoming ever more infrequent. And that’s the entire intention of the manual version, it’s about so much more than just a pure velocity. The manual 992 GT3 is about the challenge and reward of driving. In purist petrolhead terms, there’s nothing more satisfying than changing gear manually.
Yet with manual transmission, there is a catch. A price is paid in terms of performance with 0-62mph taking 3.9 seconds, compared with PDK version that takes 3.4 seconds to do 0-62mph. But it’s a price worth paying, cause the 992 GT3 is about so much more than just statistics. It’s about the intrinsic essence of driving. Your sensory network is sent on a rollercoaster ride of emotions in the 992 GT3, that experience is now harder to come by than ever. And there’s no price that can be put on that.
The 992 GT3 rewards the driver with all the thrills and none of the spills. Porsche has achieved this by working extensively on weight reduction, using composite materials such as carbon fibre for the bonnet and swan-neck rear wing, as well as the roof. Lightweight glass is fitted to the side and rear windows, and if you tick the ceramic brake option, another 17.7kg is ditched. It all culminates with the PDK 992 GT3 weighing 1435kg, a mere 5kg more than its predecessor.
You often ponder how Porsche advance each new 911 generation when the current iteration appears to be the cream of the crop. But with the 992 GT3, Porsche has adopted the philosophy of incremental improvement to the race car blueprint. This has been done in collaboration with Porsche Motorsport, and an example of that input is with the revised and reworked aerodynamics. It’s this aspect that has contributed the most to the significant upshot in performance.
Porsche has effectively implemented a new aerodynamic concept on the 992 GT3. On the front apron are large air intakes which channel incoming air to cool the brakes. There’s a wider front spoiler lip that increases downforce across the front axle. A new front diffuser enables downforce and balance to be adjusted in stages. Underbody panelling is new and aerodynamically improved. And air control elements behind the front wheels have been revised to produce twice the amount of downforce but with the same air resistance.
This extensive overhaul has taken the performance of the 992 GT3 into a new dimension. Contributing to that is the swan-neck rear wing that ensures clean airflow around its base which, like the front diffuser, can be adjusted in stages to create more downforce. In addition to that is a new rear diffuser with larger slats which delivers up to four times more downforce compared to the rear diffuser of its predecessor. And the side skirts have been developed to optimize airflow around the wheel arches too.
"With the 992 GT3, form really does follow function, and progression really does come from evolution"
All this aerodynamic hard graft is for one purpose, to increase downforce. The 992 GT3 produces 60% more compared to its predecessor. That downforce is pressed through new GT-specific forged alloy wheels. Compared to the preceding generation, the modified wheels are 1.6kg lighter, that’s despite having an enlarged width – half an inch for the fronts, and an inch at the back. These new wheels are complemented with a new set of high-performance tyres specifically developed for the 992 GT3. But Porsche does provide a street legal track tyre, only previously available on RS models.
This track orientated tyre generates even greater grip, and that means faster cornering speeds. These were the tyres the 992 GT3 had fitted to set lap time around the Nürburgring-Nordschleife, one of the most demanding proving grounds on earth to test a cars credentials. It lapped the 12.9-mile circuit in six minutes fifty-nine seconds, which is really rather quick. To illustrate the advancement of the GT3, that’s twenty-two seconds faster than its predecessor, and almost a minute faster than the original GT3. That's quite remarkable.
With the 992 GT3, form really does follow function, and progression really does come from evolution. Other than the Volkswagen Golf, I can’t think of a significant other car that follows the same motto as the Porsche 911. And the 992 GT3 is the most quintessential of that philosophy. For me, the analogue rev counter in the centre of the digital instrument cluster is symbolic of just how timeless the Porsche 911 is. And the 992 GT3 is the best example in the range, it really is a masterclass.
It’s an extraordinary achievement. I’m not sure if there's a more versatile and adaptable road and track car put together in one package that you can acquire. The Touring version that's just been revealed only serves to reinforce that point. Sure, there are more flamboyant supercars that are more exotic, but the 992 GT3 has such a broad bandwidth that on balance tips the scales to its advantage, and plays right into its hands. It’s one of the most complete cars that has few noteworthy deficiencies to mention here.
On reflection, the 992 GT3 represents a sort of philosophical and watershed moment for the magical combination of natural aspiration and manual transmission. We are into the endgame of the ICE now; the car industry is fundamentally changing the cars they make. Could the Porsche 992 GT3 be the last car of its kind? Perhaps not quite the last, but it's certainly one of the last. We should make the most of it while we can.
Photos: Porsche
Comments