The New 911 GT3: Is It as Good as a 911R?

To Jethro Bovingdon, yes. Yes it is. He already established that he loves the 911 GT3 on track, and now on the road, the story seems much the same. In the rain, mist, and greasy conditions often suffered by English journalists, the GT3 shone. How then does it compare to the instant-classic 911R? Does the ostensibly more focused GT3 give the same joie de vivre as the R? What separates the two?

Mr. Bovingdon’s critiques and criticisms of the GT3 are somewhat odd. He describes the GT3 as feeling more natural than the R, which seems counterintuitive given the GT3’s rear wheel steering. He also praises the manual gearbox in the R over the PDK unit in the GT3- production (GT3 6-Speeds don’t arrive until later this year). The biggest upside to the GT3 is the new engine, which hasn’t lost any of its rev-happy character, but which has gained a much broader torque curve and a stronger midrange.

Of course, to get the full breadth and depth of changes in the 991.2 GT3, we’ll have to wait until manual-transmission examples enter Porsche’s press fleet later this year.