That title was an absurd mouthful, but I couldn’t think of any way to shorten it up. Sorry.
I know, we didn’t see another 911 variant coming either! Although that video of those people being ripped around the track in this car might have given it away. Maybe not though. Well here it is, the revised 997.5 GT3 in all its extroverted glory. Just days after we got a peek at the new RSR, we have this red little bugger with the engine in the wrong place and a spoiler befitting the Chelsea Piers driving range. The Porsche Train just keeps on rollin’! Details on just how fast and how good the newest GT3 will be, after the jump.
The new boxer engine gets bored out to 3.8L (despite what Autoblog might have you think) topped off with direct injection. This adds up to an increase of 20 horsepower for a total of 435. Zero-100 km/h comes up in 4.1 seconds and you’ll top out at 312 km/h. These are pretty much identical times to the previous GT3 so methinks that improvements will be seen in the bends, not a straight, where traction is limited by RWD. In the slightly modified words of Larry David, that’s pretty, pretty, pretty quick. Let’s see if this one is faster than the GT-R. Not that it’s a competition or anything.
The new GT3 also benefits from a spoiler that obtains twice the downforce of its predecessor. This, along with revised PSM electronic magic, should make this the best handling GT3 ever. But you already knew that. Every new GT3 is the best ever. They just keep getting better and better while losing more and more character. In my humble opinion, if you aren’t afraid of snap oversteer and heading into the concrete barrier backwards, it’s not a 911. The 911 should instill fear and envy. If you want to have a car make you look like you’re a better driver than you are, get a Nissan. If you want respect because you’ve earned it, get a 911. At least that used to be the case. Now these cars are all so bloody good that my half-blind mother could handle it.
It’s not as if the driver is getting any better to actually take advantage of these modifications. We’re just expected to pony up the cash every 3-4 years when Porsche tweaks the headlights and taillights, adds 20 hp, and generally makes a better car. This is exactly what will happen when we start to see the 998 variants popping up in 2012, mark my words. This is hardly prophetic, Porschephiles know this better than anyone. It’s just frustrating because it leads one to believe that Porsche isn’t building the best car they can. They’re just building a car that is just incrementally better in terms of power, handling, and styling so that Joe Consumer has to keep coming back for more. To me, this isn’t what Porsche should be about. Porsche should be about excellence and character, not incrementalism and consumerism.
Anywho, you should probably also know that this new GT3 gets a new front and rear bumper and that the front bumper can raise 30mm at the push of a button to help get over speedbumps.
