Street Racer – Porsche 911 GT3

LossKARn spent an exhilarating day with the purest 911 available, the naturally aspirated GT3 – a race car for the road.

Up until I turned the ignition key, I was convinced that the 911 GT3’s most striking features are its looks. The obscenely large spoiler in the rear, the huge air intakes in front. But when the naturally aspirated six-cylinder boxer engine roars to live and immediately massages my ear drums, I change my mind. This is aural wellness from the finest kind. That’s why the sound (or neighbourhood war) button in the middle console stays on. Always. By the way it does not only enhance the sound, but slightly increases mid-range torque as well. And the rear spoiler is not only for show, but results in 155 kg (!) of downforce.
And what does ‘Flacht’ on the GP number plate mean? ‘Flach’ means flat in German, but Flacht is a small village, close to Stuttgart. There, not in Zuffenhausen, where the ‘regular’ Porsches roll of the production line, lies Porsche’s home of motor racing. That’s where all race cars originate from. A modern, clean 12 000m² dream machine facility. 911 GT3 Cup, 911 RSR and 919 Hybrid are all born in Flacht. From the first sketch to the test drive on their very own race track, everything is done here. Including tests in the wind tunnel and real live drive simulators.
The purest 911, the new GT3, comes straight out of Flacht. The 4.0-l.-six cylinder boxer engine is almost identical to the 911 GT3 Cup racing car, the red line is at 9000rpm. Time to go. I climb into the body-hugging bucket sport seat, the mighty roll cage is right behind me, grap the steering wheel, left foot on the brake, gas pedal to the metal – and release the brake. What follows is an intimidating, ear-deafening spectacle. Pure car porn.
With the best Cape roads in front of me, I can’t ask for more driving bliss. The car eats the bends as they come. On Franschhoek pass and on the magnificent Clarence coastal drive I can take full advantage of the razor sharp handling, precise direct steering and raw power. And if there is ever any need to recover your breathe, just turn the PDK sport button off and the Flacht racer turns into a relaxing cruiser. Until you release the beast again.


Porsche 911 GT3
Engine 4.0-l. 6cyl. naturally aspirated engine paired with 7-speed PDK or optional 6-speed manual transmission, rear-wheel drive
Power 368kW and 460Nm
Top Speed 318/320 km/h
0-100km/h 3.4/3.9 seconds
Price R2.8k
porsche.co.za

Boys will be boys:
Lego Technic Porsche 911 GT3
More affordable than the original and easier to store. One of the coolest Lego creations up to date. Between R8k and R10k online.
And this shows how it performs in a crash test: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=221&v=dCPWPj4JHqg

dieterlosskarn

28 February 2018