Sunday, March 10, 2013

2014 Porsche 911 GT3 First Look

2014 Porsche 911 GT3 First Look We all want a GT3, but very few of us have the means to acquire one. Luckily, Porsche has given you the perfect fuel for your “I hate it because I love it but can’t have it” engine. The next-generation GT3, one of the greatest driver’s cars in the world, will come with only two pedals. Yes, folks, you read that right, the performance purist’s Porsche is PDK only. 2014 Porsche 911 GT3 Front Clearly Porsche has decided that performance trumps purity when it comes to its highest-performance naturally aspirated 911. Besides the dual-clutch seven-speed transmission, the GT3 will use active rear-wheel steering, a computer-controlled rear differential with torque vectoring, and a liberal amount of aluminum in the unibody and body panels. The torque vectoring and rear steer technology was developed for the 918 supercar. In the past, trickle-down from supercar projects could take years to hit higher production models. It was 14 years after the 959 until a twin-turbo, all-wheel-drive 911 was in showrooms.

2014 Porsche 911 GT3 First Look

2014 Porsche 911 GT3 First Look

 2014 Porsche 911 GT3 First Look

2014 Porsche 911 GT3 First Look










2014 Porsche 911 GT3 First Look

Now, it seems as though tech has gone from a trickle to a torrential downpour in mere months.
Powering the new GT3 will be a direct-injection 3.8-liter flat-six that shares architecture, but very few common components, with the Carrera S. Everything from the redesigned crankshaft to the titanium connecting rods and forged pistons is GT3-specific, as is the entire valvetrain. An emphasis on weight reduction allows the new engine to spin all the way to a 9000-rpm redline, although the peak 470 hp is achieved at 8250 rpm. The peak torque of 325 lb-ft also arrives at a lofty 6250 rpm. For those keeping track, that’s 20 more horsepower and an additional 8 lb-ft of torque more than the outgoing GT3RS. It is, however, 30 hp and 14 lb-ft short of the mighty, yet very limited production 2012 GT3 RS 4.0. 2014 Porsche 911 GT3 Inteiror Porsche has always been conservative with its performance figures by a large margin. For example, when Porsche launched the 991-based, 3.8-liter Carrera S, it stated a 0-60-mph time of 4.1 seconds when equipped with the PDK. Our own testing has produced a 3.7 second run. So while Porsche is claiming a 3.5-second 0-60-mph time for this new GT3, we won’t be at all surprised if we can shave 2 to 3 tenths off of that time. At the top end, Porsche is claiming it will top out at 195 mph—that we are inclined to believe. As the GT3 is the basis for the majority of Porsche’s racing efforts around the world, a big boost of tech seems appropriate for the naturally aspirated flagship.