The fact that the Porsche 911 was always engineered and built by passionate individuals is clear through the quality and high enthusiast value of the product. The basic 911 is meant to offer the most usable sports car proposition available without making any real compromises to achieve that practicality (aside from keeping the engine at the very rear).
However, while the basic 911 (any model-year) was always nice to have, like with many other performance cars, it is the special versions that people really want, and it was through these versions that I think the 911 achieved the level of popularity it boasts today.
Now, in the days of the electrically-four-wheel-steered 991 model, they are still at it with the confusing array of very different versions. I mean the Turbo is such a different proposition to the new GT3 that they shouldn’t even be mentioned in the same sentence.
Still, it’s the GT3 that most enthusiasts want to have a go in, and not the force-fed all-wheel drive model. Sadly, no matter what Andreas Preuninger, chief 911 GT3 engineer says, they have definitely lost a lot of the “emotion” that he keeps talking about in the narrated promo video we have posted below.
Sure, we bet it’s every bit as capable as he and the company say it is, but really, don’t call it emotional when it’s lost both the more direct hydraulic steering rack and the manual gearbox that made the 997-based GT3 such a (scary) hit with keen drivers.
Yes, it is made up for with the 9,000 rpm redline and benchmark sprint in 3.3 seconds, but don’t try to sell it like it’s better than the previous (simpler and more direct) car. Opinions on it vary, from very good, to calling it a bit “sanitized.”
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