Porsche 911 GT3 owners had every right to be angry after the 911 R debuted at the 2016 Geneva auto show. Not only did the R get an extra 25 ponies via the GT3 RS's 4.0-liter, 500-horsepower flat-6, it had what numerous GT3 owners wanted in the first place—a 6-speed manual transmission.
A year later, at the 2017 Geneva auto show, and the tables have turned, because—as was expected—the updated 2018 Porsche 911 GT3 has just about everything that made the 911 R great. Except the stripes. You can keep those, R owners.
Obviously, we'll start with the big news—the return of a six-speed stick to the GT3 range.
While Porsche still lists the excellent 7-speed dual-clutch transmission as standard, the 6-speed manual gets a callout, promising a lighter curb weight, at 3,116 pounds for the three-pedal GT3 versus 3,153 lb for the PDK. The flip side—and the reason you should still select the two-pedal model—is because the 7-speed model is over half a second quicker to 60, at 3.2 to the manual's 3.8. The new PDK-equipped GT3 is also just a tenth off the GT3 RS's 0-60 mph time, too.
2018 Porsche 911 GT3
No matter which route you go, though, you're going to get a faster GT3, thanks to the new 4.0-liter, 500-hp flat-6. Up 25 horsepower from the old 3.8-liter flat-6, the 2018 model improves on the previous GT3's 195-mile-per-hour top speed by 3 mph in the manual-trans model and 2 mph in the automatic.
But other changes for 2018? Well, there aren't many—this is a 911, after all. Visual tweaks are modest even for Porsche's notoriously glacial evolutionary pace, which seems fitting on a facelift that feels more like a mea culpa for the non-manual GT3 than a necessary refresh. The only real noteworthy change in the cabin is the available “GT Sport” steering wheel which the GT3 adopts from the 918 Spyder.
Prices for the 2018 911 GT3 start at $144,650, including a mandatory $1,050 destination charge, with cars arriving in showrooms this fall.
For more from the Geneva auto show, head to our dedicated hub.
