Overview: Porsche 911 GT3 Touring manual in brief
We already driven the updated Porsche 911 GT3, in both winged format and as the demurer, road-biased Touring. But both those cars were fitted with Porsche's dual-clutch automated gearbox, so when a chance arose to have a relatively brief blast (well, almost 280km, to be fair...) in a GT3 Touring fitted with the three-pedal manual transmission, we couldn't possibly refuse.
And a good job we didn't, because this might very well be the greatest road-going performance car we've ever had the privilege of driving. It's a truly spectacular machine.
Pros & Cons of the Porsche 911 GT3 Touring manual
Pros: Astonishing to drive in every single possible detail
Cons: Try getting hold of one
What's different from the Porsche 911 GT3?
Externally? Absolutely nothing. Where the only other manual-equipped Porsche 911, the Carrera T sitting almost completely at the other end of the range to the halo GT3, likes to loudly broadcast its three-pedal status with exterior stickers, optional H-pattern puddle lights and various interior details extolling its increased levels of driver interactivity, the Touring makes no such loud proclamations.
This, of course, is not a bad thing, because any GT3 looks sensational. We've got no problem at all with the 'winged' car, which some find too extreme with its swan-neck rear spoiler and aggressive appearance, but for our money the sleeker Touring is as good-looking as any 911 gets.
With its smooth rear, menacing stance, host of subtle but oh-so-important details (such as the bonnet vents, the twin centre-exit exhausts and the beefier bumpers fore and aft), it immediately marks itself out as something very serious indeed.
Top tip: in glorious Oak Green metallic neo (€5,414) and with its 20-inch front, 21-inch rear wheels finished in silver, it could not possibly look any finer on the outside if it tried.
Performance of the Porsche 911 GT3 Touring manual
• Phenomenal 510hp 4.0-litre engine
• Manual not quite as accelerative
• But easily the best to drive
The storming, magnificent, inimitable powertrain of the GT3 is unchanged here, which means 510hp at 8.400rpm - with a 9,000rpm redline and a 10,000rpm-marked rev counter - along with 450Nm of torque, the latter a slight drop from the pre-facelift model due to the extensive work Porsche's engineers did in getting the 4.0-litre petrol engine to meet the latest, toughest, global emissions regs so the motor could continue in service for a few more years yet. What's changed is how that power is transmitted to the 911's rear wheels.
In place of the swift-shifting PDK dual-clutch automatic is a six-speed manual gearbox, plus a mechanical limited-slip differential at the back instead of an electronically controlled one as you'd find in the PDK.
This sacrifices some of the GT3's off-the-line acceleration, as 0-100km/h drops back half-a-second to 3.9 seconds for the manual car, while its otherwise meaningless top speed increases ever so slightly to 312km/h.
It doesn't really matter about stats, though, because the 911 GT3 Touring is utterly sublime to drive. Absolutely, and completely, sublime. It's fitted here with the stonking 'Leichtbau' package, the lightweight bundle that makes the wheels forged magnesium (saving 9.1kg from the kerb weight) and which renders several key components - including the roof painted in body colour - in carbon-fibre-reinforced plastic. The overall effect is a car which is as close to perfect to drive as you could wish for.
The steering is full of feedback and detail, with an immediacy to it and level of feel unmatched in the modern automotive era. The brakes are mammoth stoppers that have masses of pedal feel and enormous bite that is unrelenting.
The suspension set-up is redolent of top-quality, thoroughly sophisticated springs and dampers, so that while the GT3 Touring is firm, it never comes across as unsettled. It just breathes with even the worst, most lumpen of tarmac, planting as much of its contact patches of rubber onto the surface of the road for the maximum time it can.
And then there's the star attraction, the manual gearbox. It's a short-throw lever lifted from the limited-edition S/T variant of the 992.1 family, and it's one of the best manual transmissions in the world.
Light of touch but positive in its action, slotting it across the gate and hearing that flat-six yowl in response behind you is one of the all-time great automotive experiences. And one that, surely, cannot continue as is for too much longer; getting the 4.0-litre to meet tailpipe-emission rules this time was hard enough without resorting to either turbocharging or hybridisation. In two- or three-years' time? Even for Porsche's engineer-magicians, it's surely going to be impossible.
Nevertheless, link it all together and the 911 GT3 Touring is mesmerising. Naturally, even working it reasonably hard through second, third and fourth on public roads you're not going to be getting near to testing its stellar abilities to the very limit, but crucially the Leichtbau makes driving at road speeds feel special and edifying in a manner no other performance vehicle we can think of can match.
The GT3 might well be on borrowed time in this normally aspirated format, but we should enjoy - and rightly revere - its singular abilities to the full now, while we still can.
Interior, Practicality, Tech & Comfort of the Porsche 911 GT3 Touring manual
• Switchgear layout unique to GT3
• Rear seats can be optioned in Touring
• Usual 992.2 interior quality
The GT3's cabin is broadly similar to that found in any other model of the 911 family, although it has various stitching, seat and finishing options that can make it feel a level above its stablemates.
There are various specific things that are undeniably different in the GT3, though, such as it still has the turn-to-fire ignition switch to the right of the steering wheel (rather than the round button in other 992.2s), the five shortcut buttons on the centre stack control different functions of the car (such as driver assist systems, plus turning off the ESC and traction control), and of course there's a 10,000rpm rev counter in the 12.6-inch digital instrument cluster that you won't find in any other 911 save for the even-more-hardcore RS.
Our test car had the optional (and free) rear seats, which means the front seats are carbon-backed buckets as part of the Leichtbau bundle, but they're folding items to allow access to the second row of seating. If you have fitted the 'Lightweight Package', to give it the translated name, then there's a small 'Leichtbau' plaque situated at the bottom of the GT3 Touring's stumpy gear lever as a final flourish.
Irish Pricing & Rivals of the Porsche 911 GT3 Touring manual
• Mighty expensive to start with
• Option prices are breathtaking
• Lack of availability is the main issue
It would be easy to get hung up on the starting price of the Porsche 911 GT3 Touring manual, which is a colossal €301,909. Or, indeed, goggle agape at various options, not least that Lightweight Package which confers the 'Leichtbau' status on the Touring - it's a vast €48,920 on its own.
There are also five-figure paint options, various customisation choices and the usual Porsche selection of sundry cost-extras that could easily push a GT3's price from the already spectacular plateau of €300,000 to €400,000 and more.
That's not the problem, though. Because, unless you've already got a 992.2 GT3 in your dehumidified garage, or unless you've got an impending allocated build slot for one, you are highly unlikely to be getting hold of this 911 as a new car.
And once they hit the second-hard market, the value of GT3s goes up, not down in the usual depreciating manner. Which means that if you did/could afford €301,909 in the first place, you're never going to lose that money on the GT3 in the years to come.
Verdict - Should You Buy the Porsche 911 GT3 Touring manual?
It would take a huge amount of cash in the first place, and we've already touched upon the availability issues with this amazing car, but the answer to this theoretical question is a resounding, 100 per cent 'yes'.
Because there's a very good argument to be made that the 992.2 Porsche 911 GT3 Touring, equipped as it is with the Leichtbau kit and a six-speed manual gearbox, will deliver the greatest all-round road-driving experience possible. It's a truly phenomenal car.
FAQs About the Porsche 911 GT3 Touring manual
Does the 911 GT3 Touring not need a wing like the other version?
It does, as a certain amount of downforce on the rear of the car is required at the high speeds the GT3 can move at. Therefore, while it might look like it doesn't have a rear spoiler when it is parked up or moving slowly, the GT3 Touring has a deployable rear wing that folds out automatically as speeds rise.
Is this going to be the last Porsche 911 GT3 Touring manual?
We're speculating, but we think so. Both the gearbox type itself and the normally aspirated engine, which is such a big part of the wider GT3 experience, are endangered species. All EVs and most hybrids are automatics, while the difficulties in engineering the Porsche's 4.0-litre engine for emissions regs this time around mean that, for any future GT3s, there will almost certainly have to be recourse to either hybrid power or turbocharging.
So the chances of there being another manual GT3 in the future to surpass this one are very slim.
Want to know more about the Porsche 911 GT3 Touring manual?
Is there anything else you'd like to know about the Porsche 911 GT3 Touring Leichtbau manual? Or anything you feel we haven't covered here? Then just head over to our Ask Us Anything section and, well, ask us anything.
