2025 Porsche 911 GT3 & GT3 Touring: Celebrating 25 Years of Performance Excellence - A Must-See!

2 months ago
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The GT3 nameplate first came to the Porsche 911 lineup before the turn of the 21st Century. Debuting in 996-generation 911 bodywork and with a pseudo-Mezger engine that rang up to just under 8000 rpm, the GT3 has retained a stranglehold on the enthusiast community ever since. Now, 25 years on and with the 992-gen car entering its mid-cycle refresh, Porsche is making a few (small) changes to the beloved GT3 as a sort of quarter-of-a-century anniversary present to it.

For 2025, the Stuttgart-based manufacturer will continue to offer the GT3 in two trim levels, separated by their missions. The 2025 Porsche 911 GT3 will stick to its track-focused roots, while the wingless Touring version of the GT3 becomes more usable for drivers who prefer to exercise their cars on the street — or, perhaps, just prefer a less-extroverted look.

The heart of the GT3 — the naturally aspirated, 4.0-liter flat-six engine sending 502 hp and 331 lb-ft of torque to the rear wheels — has received a clean bill of health, and is free to run all the way up to 9000 rpm for another year. And, best of all, the manual transmission is here to stay a bit longer, making the new GT3s the first 992.2-gen 911s to offer a stick.

911 GT3 customers will have the choice of a seven-speed PDK gearbox or six-speed manual transmission on either model. Both transmissions feature a final drive ratio eight percent shorter than its predecessor; while Porsche chocks up this change to a number of emissions standards changes made to the engine, the shorter ratios are likely to fix some of the long-gearing complaints levied against Porsche's GT-badged performance models.

There's a semi-significant gap in 0-60 mph time between the PDK and manual transmission; the dual clutch does it in a mere 3.2 seconds, while the row-your-own version does it in 3.7. Manual transmission models top out two miles per hour faster than their PDK siblings, however, at 195 mph.

Speaking of emissions, Porsche admits it had to significantly re-work the 4.0-liter flat-six to meet strict emissions standards. The GT3 now has two particulate filters and four catalytic converters, as well as improved camshaft profiles, revised cylinder heads, and optimized butterfly valves in the individual throttle bodies. The end result, of course, is that the GT3 meets emissions standards and keeps its 500-hp rating.

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