The aim during design and development of the new car based on the 992-shape 911 was to make it “fast for longer,” according to Sebastian Golz, project manager on the latest-generation 911 GT3-R.
“Our task was less about making the new 911 GT3-R even faster – the classification within performance windows set by the Balance of Performance quickly cancels out this advantage,” explained Golz.
“For us, it was primarily about our customers being able to drive the racing car fast for longer.
“This requires durability, and that’s why we focused predominantly on improved driveability.”
Central to the concept of the car is a larger-capacity version of Porsche’s normally-aspirated flat-six engine, which has been increased from four to 4.2 litres over its predecessor based on the previous-generation 991.2 Porsche 911.
This has allowed Porsche to increase torque at the bottom of the rev range by approximately 9% and by 4-5% in the top half.
The engine has been tilted front to rear by 5.5 degrees to improve the weight distribution and to create room for a larger rear diffuser.
The car also has a pronounced aerodynamic step under the nose of the car, which has been made possible by cutting away part of the boot structure at the front.
The revised front-end aerodynamics allow for a cleaner airflow to the rear diffuser underneath the car.
Together with an increased wheelbase this has created “more stable and constant aerodynamics and lower loads on the rear tyres”, according to Golz.
Porsche has also aimed at lowering running costs of the new GT3 by 10% over the car it replaces.
The new car ran for the first time in July 2021 at Porsche’s Weissach test track and has so far notched up 112 hours of running, including a trouble-free 30-hour endurance run at the Barcelona circuit.
Porsche Motorsport hasn’t ruled out undertaking a test race this year, most likely one of the late-season rounds of the Nurburgring Long-distance Series (formerly the VLN), but its competition debut as a homologated car will be at next January’s Daytona 24 Hours IMSA SportsCar Championship season-opener.
The car will also be eligible for the Le Mans 24 Hours from 2024 when the World Endurance Championship and its sister European Le Mans Series adopt GT3 rules as the basis of a new category to replace GTE provisionally called LMGT.
The new car, which will be on display in the paddock at the Spa round of the GT World Challenge Europe from Saturday, retails at €511,000.
That compares with the 2022 list price of €459,000 for the current 911 GT3-R introduced ahead of the 2019 season.
There are, however, more standard features on the latest car that were extras on its predecessor, including a tyre-pressure monitoring system.
