True to form: Porsche 992 GT3 has not strayed from the ethos of its forebears

Many at the coalface of motoring media are in a mild panic over the imminent tipping point to a world where electric cars become mainstream.

It is not so much the technology — or the difficulty in putting the passion for internal combustion aside — but how to provide a meaningful assessment when there is little to distinguish between the sensations offered by breeds of the genre. One  can enthuse about instantaneous acceleration and silent operation only a few times before those lines sound tired.

Perhaps the real journalistic endeavours will come in where aspects like charging time and overall range are concerned. Or when it comes to their autonomous driving systems, where artificial intelligence plans to turn the person behind the wheel into a passenger with occasional management duties. Probably a good thing, anyway, judging by the number of drivers under the influence of smartphones on our roads.

While a good number of brands have vowed to go all-electric, with deadlines as close as 2030, Porsche has been rather prudent about such claims. Not that the brand is stagnant (they have the impressive Taycan in the range), but to declare the outright removal of certain traits key to their DNA would be foolish.

The 911 experience, for example, is characterised by certain sounds, vibrations and rhythms that penetrate the very heart of the person at the helm. While the Taycan is a rapid, agile thing, it could not match even a basic Carrera for sheer feel and communication.

In 2019 the 992 Carrera version of the iconic sports car landed on local shores, followed by the mighty Turbo derivative, then by the middle-ground GTS flavour. And earlier this month the GT3 arrived: the first tier in the track-ready, road-legal series of 911 models.

We packed an overnight bag and headed to the Western Cape for a stint in the model. Two test units were at our disposal for evaluation. First up, a six-speed manual model, with the seven-speed dual-clutch (PDK in Porsche parlance) reserved for the follow-up.

You could say that a pre-drive pep talk occurred on the inbound flight. Expectation management is important when evaluating new iterations of performance vehicles. Would the GT3 be meeker as a consequence of increasingly stringent regulations in the continent of its development?

My frame of reference is the 991.2 GT3 RS, driven in September 2021. Boy, was it loud at idle. Rattle the corrugated iron of the complex carports type of loud.

We fire up the latest GT3 in the Porsche Cape Town dealership and while the flat-six overture is very much present, nobody appeared to have spilled their cappuccinos. Easing out of Century City onto the freeway, my approach was to drive at a little above crawling pace. That would allow me to get used to the taking point of the clutch, the shift action and overall proportions of the vehicle.

Negotiating through traffic, the eyes need to grow accustomed to certain visual features of the car. This includes a rear roll-cage, part of the Clubsport package, which comes at no-cost if you select the carbon fibre racing seats option, for about R86,000. Then there is that massive rear wing, which is adjustable, claiming to trump the level of downforce offered by the previous car by 50%.

Said wing is made of lightweight carbon fibre replacement plastic (CFRP), as is the bonnet. Buyers can have the roof done in the same material at a cost. Even the glass is lightweight. Versus the former model, the 992 GT3 has a wider body and larger wheels, while the quoted mass of 1,418kg is purported to be on par with its predecessor. Add 17kg extra in the case of the PDK.

And that exhaust? Well, you will be happy to know that it meets EU6 emissions standards. Cruising around town it sounds relatively polite, eclipsed by lesser, obnoxiously modified hot hatchbacks farting and belching their way from one traffic light to the next.

The story is very different out on the open road, chasing higher velocities. There is a loud button, activating flaps in the exhaust. Truth be told, even with the flaps closed the magnificent sound of the 4.0-litre, naturally-aspirated motor screaming to 9,000rpm is hardly muted. Allow the tachometer needle to bounce off the limiter for a second before you grab the next gear and ply on the power.

The motor produces 375kW and 470Nm and is largely unchanged from the unit doing duty in the 911 GT3 Cup cars, running in the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup. It's an engine that relishes lead-footedness, goading the driver into extracting as much out of it as his or her limits allow.

Get your shifts right and the manual can be hustled to 100km/h from standstill in 3.9 seconds. The PDK is notably quicker, at 3.4 seconds. But the involvement afforded by working your left leg and wrist brings far more enjoyment to the proceedings. The close-ratio gearbox is a treat to operate, with each cog clicking into place in a satisfyingly mechanical fashion.

Over various passes and road surfaces in the province, we had the chance to get intimate with the capabilities of the GT3. Road-legal race car is a truthful descriptor, one that the suspension tuning is a frequent reminder of.

On rippled, undulating asphalt it is especially skittish, requiring an alert sense when covering ground at a decent rate of knots. But the immaculate, smooth sections of Franschhoek Pass offered respite, providing an opportunity to really get into the zone.

And so, we did. At the front axle, the GT3 uses a double-wishbone design proven in racers like the 911 RSR (Le Mans). It is is extremely stiff, counteracting lateral disturbances, making for stable, crisp turn-in characteristics. At the rear is a multi-link setup that uses additional ball joints for the lower wishbones. It is 20mm lower to the ground than a regular Carrera. And there is no comfort setting: you choose between Sport or Track.

Quite remarkably, we noted no instances in which traction broke, whether under launch starts or cases of first-to-second snap-changes. Grip is excellent, with a sizeable footprint ensured by aggressive alloys wrapped in Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tyres (255/35/20 at the front, 315/30/21 at the back).

Instead of being cross-drilled for ventilation, the cast-iron brakes are dimpled, with cone-shaped openings serving to remove brake dust and dissipate heat. Drivers with a more focused slant are likely to opt for the ceramic composite braking system, identified by yellow callipers. Our test vehicles were so equipped.

The fade-free confidence imbues driver with heroic levels of pluck when tackling environments like Franschhoek Pass with its lethal drops. But the real trump card of the 992 GT3 is the standard fitment of rear-axle steering. That dials in exceptional manoeuvrability (as experienced on the hairpins) and ought to help in the pursuit of shorter lap times.

Speaking of which, if you want a simple illustration of progress between the original 996 GT3 and this one, consider their Nürburgring Nordschleife performances. The new car managed to complete the famed circuit in 6:59.927 minutes, a whole minute quicker than the 1999 model.

Hopping into the PDK, the mood was a touch less intense than it is in the manual. Its seventh gear means a more hushed application at freeway speed. Traffic driving is more manageable, of course.

The transmission is faultless, swapping cogs faster than synapses carry impulses. It would be the more focused (quicker) tool in a competitive environment and the more enjoyable chariot in traffic. But it cannot match the manual for outright engagement.  

• Price: From R3,109,000