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How much? £81,914
On sale in the UK: Now
Engine: 3797cc 24v flat six, 429bhp @ 7600rpm, 317lb ft @ 6250rpm
Transmission: Six-speed manual, rear-wheel drive
Performance: 4.1sec 0-62mph, 194mph, 22.4mpg, 298g/km CO2
How heavy / made of? 1395kg/steel
How big (length/width/height in mm)? 4460/1808/1280mm
Need to know

CAR's rating

Rated 5 out of 55

Handling

Rated 5 out of 55

Performance

Rated 5 out of 55

Usability

Rated 2 out of 52

Feelgood factor

Rated 5 out of 55

Readers' rating

Rated 3 out of 53

Porsche 911 GT3 (2009) CAR review

By Ben Barry

First Drives

23 April 2009 10:00

Click here to watch the video

Back in our January 2007 issue, CAR Magazine named the then-current 911 GT3 as the best Porsche ever. So you could say its updated successor has quite some act to follow. Priced at £81,914 (up from its predecessor’s £79,540), it goes on UK sale in autumn 2009.

This new Porsche 911 GT3 looks like the old GT3 to me

Yes, it’s another evolutionary crawl from VW Beetle towards supercar for Porsche, but the details are there for us anoraks to relish. The wheels (still 19s wrapped in the familiarly hopeless-in-the-wet Michelin Pilot Sport Cups) are replaced by more fiddly, less substantial looking lightweight items with a race-style centre cap. There are also fresh LED lights, subtly reprofiled bumpers, a new front splitter, and new cooling vents at the top of the front and rear bumpers.

And let’s not forget that distinctive new rear wing...

Indeed, what a whopper! Its end plates, too, give a clue to the fettling that’s gone on beneath the skin – 3.8, they say. So the naturally aspirated flat six has grown from 3.6 to 3.8 litres. That 200cc extra capacity, plus Variocam technology acting on both intake and exhaust cams (it’s similar to BMW’s double VANOS system, where before only the intake cam was automatically tweaked as revs changed) allows power to edge up from 409 to 429bhp, while there’s more torque on tap – up to 317lb ft from the old car’s 289lb ft.

>> Click 'Next' below to find out how the new Porsche 911 GT3 feels on the road 

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Porsche 911 GT3 (2009) CAR review

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medrad

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medrad says

RE: Porsche 911 GT3 (2009) CAR review

A brilliant machine...but we need always a track to extract the whole 429hp...If I would buy a 911, I will choose the basic 911 and enjoy the historical ride rather than drag racing in strictly speeding roads in this crowdy world...though I am happy with my R36...Das Auto!

25 April 2009 08:09

 

ga41

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ga41 says

RE: Porsche 911 GT3 (2009) CAR review

It looks amazing. May 911's always look the same!

25 April 2009 07:29

 

JohnnyBimmer

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JohnnyBimmer says

RE: Porsche 911 GT3 (2009) CAR review

Dejavue, since 1962!

24 April 2009 19:05

 

daveandrews13

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daveandrews13 says

RE: Porsche 911 GT3 (2009) CAR review

JB, get used to it, you'll be seeing it again in a couple of years.

24 April 2009 18:16

 

JohnnyBimmer

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JohnnyBimmer says

RE: Porsche 911 GT3 (2009) CAR review

Lovely alloys but I just got this feeling I've the rest of the car somewhere before?!!!!

24 April 2009 17:01

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