IT might appear strange to be starting a Porsche review with a few paragraphs about Ferrari, but bear with me on this one as I must let you in on a secret: Porsche never really floated my boat in my youth.
Like most impressionable youngsters, I was inevitably attracted to the red carpet glitz and glamour Ferraris brought to the table in their F1 heyday with road-going, track-biased cars such as the 360 Challenge Stradale and 430 Scuderia being the pin-up supercars of my teenage years.
A passing glance was all I afforded to the blue and red-wheeled 996 GT3 RSs of the time - weird given it’s now one of my favourite ever cars - but as time goes on and you start viewing the motoring world without Rosso Corsa-tinted glasses, you realise there’s so much more to the world than a marque which clearly takes itself far too seriously.
Reading about diva-like demands and its engineers turning up to optimise cars for group tests, the magic started to wear off somewhat and the lure of Porsche - a simple, nonsense-free manufacturer which makes cars for you and I who love the simple thrill of driving - became ever stronger.
There’s a reason for this - there’s nothing quite like a 911 to drive. It doesn’t matter how old it is or how many years of development there’s been, they all have that intrinsic feel which is why their sales - and indeed residual values - have remained strong. Although they’ve been around for more than 50 years, they’ve been incredibly consistent in attempting to perfect their unconventional rear-engined layout and it’s this aspect which dominates the whole experience - no other car feels like it.
This car, the revised 991-generation GT3, could well be the last of its kind if Porsche’s recent switch to turbocharging its Boxster, Cayman and ‘lesser’ 911s is anything to go by. But for now, the GT3 remains true to its ethos and is powered by a 4.0-litre version of its famous flat six - an engine that sings to an astonishing 9,000rpm thanks to being virtually identical to ones found in the 911 Cup racing series.
You approach the GT3 differently as although it’s typically 911 in its appearance - especially in the classic GT Silver hue made famous by innumerable Porsches - you drink in its racetrack-derived details such as its low stance, its centre-locking wheels and of course the gigantic rear wing.
Open the door, noticing just how light it feels, and you’re confronted by a pair of carbon-backed bucket seats lifted from a 918 Spyder. They sit low and have high sills so getting in isn’t especially gracious - you sort of drop in and brace yourself for the imminent thud as your backside lands on the thinly-padded alcantara that swathes most of the cabin. It’s snug in the optional seats, which cost just over £3,000. They’re also fixed so you’re unable to make adjustments, but their upright stance helps the GT3 to have a nigh-on perfect driving position behind its fuss-free steering wheel.
Twist the traditional key and the engine awakes with an indulgent dose of revs which makes you think your right foot has inadvertently prodded the throttle. It hasn’t - it’s just noisy, uncompromising and an utterly glorious tone which grows into a high-pitched howl as you conduct a few exploratory blips on the razor-sharp throttle. Given most manufacturers’ move to forced induction and indeed Porsche’s own recent changes, from the off you know it’s a masterpiece of an engine and is something that should be lauded. It’s a two-fingered salute to hybridisation and the reduction in displacement.
This car, which is fitted with the no-cost PDK semi-automatic gearbox, can be put into its drive setting and it’ll waft along like any other 911. Sure, it feels a little different to regular 911s because it’s noisier and harder riding but it’s not intimidating. The first few miles are always intriguing and the GT3 is alive with feel as it reveals the intricacies of its steering, throttle and braking at low speed - a feast for the senses.
As far as sense of occasion goes, the GT3 is sensational. The optional seats, although costly, are wonderfully supportive and the ride has an unerring knack of being undeniably taut but well-judged thanks to its adaptive damping - obviously it’s stiff but it remains useable.
Head out onto more open roads, take control of its gearbox through its steering wheel-mounted paddles and it feels full of torque throughout its rev range - something you’d not expect given its engine’s high-revving capability. Although not a Top Trumps-style car, key is the 4.0-litre’s flexibility as there’s that in-gear grunt, all 339lb ft of it, and 493bhp which is delivered beyond 7,000rpm. That enables the GT3 to complete the 60mph dash in about three seconds and have a 193mph top speed.
In most cars there’s a stand-out performer, the aspect which makes it so special but in the GT3 there’s a multitude of brilliant parts. Its engine, of course, is a big part of the experience but things like the optional carbon ceramic brakes - which have incredible bite and pedal feel - are mind-bending and that’s before you mention its handling, its driving position and its suspension.
Eye-opening pace it may have, but the delicacy of it is the thing that really shows no matter where you are or what road you’re on. It’s a brilliant piece of engineering, one which shows how each part works in harmony together to create the ultimate driving machine.
That combined magic shines on fast-flowing roads such as the B6255, which snakes its way through ten-and-a-bit miles of beautiful countryside from Hawes to the Ribblehead Viaduct in the Yorkshire Dales. It’s well-sighted, wide and smooth and the GT3 - as you’d expect by now - feels other-worldly. Although damp patches prevent an all-out attack, the way in which the car grips, tucks its nose in and barrels down third gear straights is nothing short of remarkable.
There is the option of specifying a manual gearbox, but the PDK proves to be one of the best semi-auto transmissions in the game and in truth is a formidable match for that singing engine. Do I miss a having a manual? Not once - the ferocity of its acceleration, the way the revs zip around to 9,000rpm and how the PDK slams home into a higher gear without any let-up is not only infectious but incredibly involving.
The rear-engined part of the 911 experience is something you’re aware of - especially when the Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2s find a damp patch and the rear gives a playful wiggle - but it’s not the swinging pendulum effect it perhaps once was. There’s never any notion, when you’re really on it, that the GT3 is going to let go as the grip it generates and the tactility it shows to your inputs is endearing.
So how do you sum up a car as inexplicably brilliant as this? The fact used versions are commanding up to £70,000 more than their list price speaks volumes about how special, how intoxicating, the GT3 is. It’s the amalgamation of what brilliant engineers can achieve when they’re given free rein to use ultra-focused components such as a motorsport-sourced engine, brakes, suspension and steering.
The effects are mind-blowing.
