The New Porsche 911 GT3, A Motorsport Tuning Like No Other

Porsche Motorsport’s latest creation, the 911 GT3 has been built with top-notch fine tuning and it will come packing with technical motorsport configurations like no other.

Throughout the whole procedure, the technicians from series development and the specialists from the Motorsport department pursued one aim in particular, which is to further enhance the performance of the high-performing sports car without compromising the everyday usability.

“When we have the same engineers, who develop our race cars also working on the design of a new GT car for the road, that is the most direct technology transfer I can imagine,” said Porsche GT Model Line’s director Andreas Preuninger.

Detailing deeper, the 911 GT3 has undergone more than 160 hours of fine-tuning in the wind tunnel and it is the first production unit from the company to feature a suspended rear wing.

Attaching it to the body, the latter uses a swan-neck mounting that sees two aluminium brackets that hold the wing element from above. It enables the airflow to pass undisturbed across the underside, which is aerodynamically more sensitive.

Furthermore, this new design has led to a reduction in the flow losses, increased in the downforce inertia, well-balanced negative lift conditions and together with many other detailed measures.

Porsche’s aerodynamics engineer Mathias Roll explained, “The new 911 GT3 generates 50 percent more downforce than its predecessor at 200 km/h just in the ex-works setting. In the setting with maximum downforce, the increase is as much as over 150 percent”.

Apart from that, the angle of the new rear wing can be set to four unique positions. To match the rear ingenuity, the front diffuser can also be adjusted to four fixed positions.

Meaning alike to motor racing situations, the aerodynamic balance of the new 911 GT3 can be individually adapted to track conditions and individual driving style. 

“Not only are the components very similar to those used in our race cars, the development methods are also similar. In our ultra-modern wind tunnel in Weissach, we do not just drive straight ahead, we simulate every conceivable driving situation. We make the car roll, pitch and yaw in order to simulate the physical influences on the track”, Roll added.

Additionally, in truly embodying the motorsport DNA into an everyday vehicle, the new 911 GT3 has also been engineered with a motorsport oil supply system, which has been adapted to function accordingly.

Akin to the ones used in motorsport vehicles, it has been installed with a dry-sump lubrication system that has a separate oil tank. It comes with seven suction stages, which routes the engine oil back into the external reservoir quickly and efficiently.

Moving over to its beating heart, the 4.0-litre high-revving naturally aspirated mill has been put through some vigorous testing processes on the test rig.

“In total, the engine in the new GT3 ran for more than 22,000 hours on the test rig. During testing, we repeatedly simulated typical circuit profiles and ran the engine at full throttle for a very high proportion of the time”, commented Porsche GT Road Car Engines’ project manager Thomas Mader.

The mill, which was based on the racing engine of the 911 GT3 R race car and the 911 GT3 Cup has been recorded to produce an output of 375 kW (510 PS), which is 10 PS higher than in the GT3 predecessor model.

During the testing, the 911 GT3 could deliver its maximum power at 8,400 rpm with the electronic limiter cutting It out at an outstanding 9,000 rpm. Plus, to add more power, the maximum torque has been increased from 460 Nm to 470 Nm.

After all the dynamic trials in the test rig, the new 911 GT3 was brought onto the racetrack for some real time pacing. It had to adhere to very strict standards and had to perform flawlessly. 

In terms of the engine’s endurance, it was pushed to its limits continuously for over 5,000 km around the oval asphalt at Nardo in Italy, which was done at a constant speed of 300 km/h, stopping only to refuel.

Overall, with the technical fine-tuning it has gotten, the new Porsche 911 GT3 truly personifies the company’s motorsport DNA and with the deliveries of its units to begin in May of this year, everyday drivers now can also feel what it's like to be a racer.