► New 2025 Porsche 911 GT3 review
► Power remains the same but torque falls marginally
► Priced from £157k in the UK
Does Porsche’s GT department ever grow tired of finding ever finer margins for the facelifted cars? Here we have the latest version of the Porsche 911 GT3 (992.2 to be precise) that at first glance looks like the most minor of updates, but with a set of seemingly minor changes that add up to more than the sum of the parts.
It comes at the same time as the GT3 Touring is also updated, with a predictably stiff increase in list price to £157,300. Both the Touring and the winged GT3 are the same price.
At a glance
Pros: Pin-sharp handling, supportive seats, incredible high-speed grip
Cons: Expensive options, only two colours as standard, big uplift in cost from the previous gen
What’s new?
Power from the naturally aspirated flat six remains the same at 503bhp but torque has dropped by 15lb ft (blame emissions regs that are also responsible for the additional catalytic converters that have led to an unwelcome increase in back pressure). In compensation, the car gets eight per cent shorter gear ratios – the same ones as in the 911 S/T – a reshaped, smoother throttle valve and more aggressive camshafts that yield longer valve opening times, on both inlet and outlet.
More cooling helps both the brakes and engine, there’s an adapted bump stop to give an additional 25mm of linear spring travel and a lower front pivot point on the double wishbone suspension gives more stability under heavy braking.
What are the specs?
More numbers for you. Downforce is 140kg at 124mph, the same as the first gen car, and there are new lightweight wheels available that shave 1.7kg off the unsprung mass. It’s possible to go even further with optional magnesium wheels, again shared with the S/T, that drops the unsprung mass by 9.1kg.
Kerbweight jumps from 1418kg to 1439kg but thanks to lightweighting across various elements – some standard, some optional – it’s possible to get the car’s weight back to 1420kg.
How does it drive?
Even better than ever. As a track car, it is simply mighty. We only got to test the winged car on a circuit but the overriding impression is how close it gets to feeling like an actual racing car. Stability under braking is staggering – because the car doesn’t dive as much now, you can turn in with a huge amount of confidence knowing that it’ll bite with sure-fire predictability. There’s none of the body movement that you get in lesser cars so the nose stays virtually flat even under hard braking, giving even amateur drivers oodles of confidence. We were in a car with ceramic brakes (£9087 option) and you could get on them later and later into a corner, lap after lap, with zero panic.
Even kerbs hold no fear. I had a couple of laps with Jörg Bergmeister, long-time 911 racer and also one of the development team for this car, who didn’t hold back when smashing over some sausage kerbs, but the GT3 absorbs and then settles after each. For a road car, it feels incredibly at ease on a circuit.
The steering is wonderfully fluid and direct but it’s probably worth speccing the magnesium wheels. They save 9.1kg of unsprung mass, which helps free up the steering just off the dead-centre.
What about the interior?
The view forward will be largely familiar to anyone who has sat in one of these cars in the past – the digital dash is dominated by the central rev counter, while the touch screen in the middle falls easily to hand and there are enough physical switches to keep the operation of all the major controls simple.
The incredibly low-set seats are new, though. As before, you can spec your GT3 with lightweight carbon seats (£5390) but the difference this time is that these now split fold making it easier to get into the back of the car. They also come with a removable headrest so you can more easily drive the car with a helmet because without the padding, you’re not forced to crane your neck forward.
Before you buy (trims and rivals)
As we’ve said, there are two flavours of GT3 – winged or not. No other trim levels are available but you can go crazy on the configurator.
The main option to consider on the winged version is the Weissach pack (19,531). This adds carbon fibre body panels and door panels, a roll cage and six-point harnesses. Like the Touring, it also runs to carbon anti-roll bars and rear shear panels but unlike the Touring, the magnesium wheels aren’t included. Those will set you back a further £13,759. Gulp.
The GT3 sits largely in its atmosphere at the moment, while Ferrari has no hardcore 296 and McLaren doesn’t make a Long Tail. Both will almost certainly come and when they do, it’ll be a great time to be alive.
Verdict
Outstanding. Torque might be down on the previous generation but every single one of the other changes made to the 992.2 GT3 have elevated the car even further. It’s difficult to imagine how the 992.2 version of the GT3 RS can possibly up its game to match it.