Hurts So Good
By Chris Walton, Chief Road Test Editor
Date posted: 07-20-2008


For three days straight, we tried to beat the daylights out of the 2008 Porsche 911 GT2. In the end, this Guards Red missile shrugged off the experience and beat the tar out of us instead. All we had to show for our efforts were a bruised right palm, a $1,300 receipt for replacement rear tires and a permanent smile.

While selflessly obliging the lens-carrying members of our staff who asked if it'd be possible to get the 530-horsepower, rear-wheel-drive GT2 to do something interesting for the camera, we kicked this car's butt until we literally grew tired of the effort. And yet the 2008 Porsche 911 GT effectively replied, "Is that all you've got? Give me some more tires and I'm good to go."

And go it does.

How Fast?
Real fast. Utilizing Porsche's first launch assist for a manual transmission, the 2008 Porsche 911 GT2 rips a 3.9-second time to 60 mph (3.6 with a 1-foot rollout like on a drag strip) on the way to the quarter-mile in 11.7 seconds at 121 mph. Launch protocol requires you to first leave on the traction control as you engage 1st gear, then floor the throttle and watch as the tachometer needle hangs at about 5,000 rpm. You wait for the boost gauge to register about 13 psi and then release the clutch pedal quickly.

After a remarkably smooth launch, the time to shift into 2nd gear arrives so quickly that the analog tachometer is too slow to react. Das ist animal! Luckily, the shift light in the instrument cluster knows this game and gives you the proper warning.

Rather than regulating clutch slip, the ECU's launch assist regulates throttle application to match an ideal launch profile stored in the car's electronics. This way, wheelspin is optimized. (The GT2 will even lightly engage a rear brake to ensure both rear wheels rotate in unison.) Ultimately, however, the launch system proved inconsistent for us, and the GT2 bogged down off the line four out of the five times we went through the launch protocol. Once we shut off the system, our test driver's organic-based software produced nearly identical acceleration runs with far more consistency.

Compared to the 2007 Porsche 911 Turbo with an automatic transmission, the 2008 Porsche 911 GT2 is 0.2 second slower to 60 mph. It's 0.1 second behind at the 1,320-foot mark, yet nearly 3 mph faster. We chock up the differences to a launch advantage from the all-wheel-drive 911 Turbo, while the GT2 exploits its higher horsepower (530 hp versus the Turbo's 480 hp) and lighter weight (3,175 pounds versus the Turbo's 3,596 pounds) to catch and ultimately pass the Turbo at the finish line.

Here are a few comparisons to save you the trouble:

2008 Porsche 911 GT2
0-60 = 3.9 seconds
0-60 (with 1-foot rollout) = 3.6 seconds
Quarter-mile = 11.7 at 121.3 mph

2007 Porsche 911 Turbo
0-60 = 3.6 seconds
0-60 (with 1-foot rollout) = 3.4 seconds
Quarter-mile = 11.6 at 118.5 mph

2007 Porsche 911 GT3
0-60 = 4.2 seconds
0-60 (with 1-foot rollout) = 3.9 seconds
Quarter-mile = 12.2 at 116.1 mph

2007 Porsche 911 GT3 RS
0-60 = 4.3 seconds
0-60 (with 1-foot rollout) = 4.0 seconds
Quarter-mile = 12.2 at 115.6 mph

Little Big Man
The GT2's twin-turbo 3.6-liter horizontally opposed six-cylinder engine delivers 530 hp at 6,500 rpm, a remarkable 147 hp/liter. The 7.0-liter V8 of the Corvette Z06 would have to crank out more than 1,030 horses instead of its trifling 505 hp to achieve comparable efficiency. Equally impressive is the GT2's neck-straining 505 pound-feet of torque available at just 2,200 rpm.

The GT2's prodigious output and efficiency are due in large part to turbos that are even larger than those in the 911 Turbo. They provide 20 psi of maximum boost at wide-open throttle compared to the 911 Turbo's 14.5 psi.

Power delivery is where the GT2 differs mostly from the Porsche 911 GT3. While the GT2 is not what we'd call slow below 3,000 rpm, there's a definite thrill to the car's explosive acceleration above that. It's the kind of car that would be dangerous in the wrong hands.

The GT3's naturally aspirated 415-hp engine with its 12.0:1 compression ratio and 8,400-rpm redline give it crisp throttle control and really, really long legs in every gear. But the GT2 answers that by saying, "You don't need long legs if you can simply leap from corner to corner." The GT2's turbocharged engine has its sweet spot between 3,000 and 6,750 rpm, which makes it more of a point-and-shoot, breathe-when-you-stop experience.

As a result, the GT2 requires shifting gears more frequently over the same stretch of road than the GT3. And, and, frankly, this gets old. The heavy clutch effort and short-throw shift lever seem thrilling the first day, are simply accepted as the cost of doing business on the second day, and then you've got a throbbing left thigh and a bruised right palm at the end of the third day.

Heat and Hang on
The GT2's standard carbon-ceramic disc brakes (optional on the GT3) bring this car to a halt from 60 mph in just 96 feet. That's a new record for us, and 7 feet shorter than the 911 Turbo, 5 feet fewer than a GT3 RS and 2 feet shorter than the 2009 Nissan GT-R.

It is pressure on the brake pedal — not the travel of the pedal — that varies the effectiveness of the brakes, a strategy that comes from priorities set at the racetrack. Once you've driven a sports car with brakes like this, you'll never want it any other way, although your right thigh will have a different opinion.

The GT2's gummy, barely street-legal Michelin Pilot Sport Cup tires only get stickier with abuse. Without so much as a squealing tire, the GT2 circled the skid pad at 0.99g and threaded the slalom cones at 71.6 mph.

We've recorded slightly better numbers from a GT3 and GT3 RS tested at a different facility with better pavement, but we'd bet the GT2 could produce the same 1.02g and 75-mph performances as its GT3 rivals given the same conditions. Still, the GT2's steering is so informative it can tell you what day of the week the pavement was poured.

Did Somebody Drop a Throttle?
Like the 996-generation 911 GT2 that preceded it (2001-'05), the new 997-generation Porsche 911 GT2 rewards a learned driver and punishes a novice. But where the 996 GT2 was a case study in lift-throttle oversteer, the new GT2 is far more forgiving of driver and environmental indiscretions.

To start with, the limited-slip differential begins to engage later than before, and this means crisper turn-in. And to snub down any unpleasantness from a big lift of the throttle at the wrong moment, the GT2 adapts a system nicked from the Carrera GT. In conjunction with the stability and traction control systems, Engine Drag Control limits engine braking by actually applying the throttle slightly if it determines that the slowing rear wheels are making the back end of the car step out of line.

Finally, the GT2 features a sophisticated multilevel stability control system with one setting tailored specifically to track use. There's also the ability to shut off traction control while maintaining a safety net with the stability controls. A brave driver can elect to turn off all the electronic nannies, but thankfully, ABS is always at the ready.

All this electronic supervision comes in handy when you rip a less-than-perfect downshift as you dive into a corner. The problem is that these electronics also make the throttle loath to obey quick inputs. It also means it's even harder for the driver to kick out the GT2's tail into a slide, but where there's a will, there's a way.

Racy Bits
While the 2008 Porsche 911 GT2 actually isn't intended to participate in races, it has track-ready adjustability.

You can alter the ride height with the spring perches, while the front antiroll bar has four settings and the rear bar has three. Alignment and camber settings can be changed as well.

And as with the GT3, a two-position button determines which PASM (Porsche Active Suspension Management) setting you prefer for the dampers. Your choice is firm or firmer, since the calibration is like that of the harsh-riding GT3 RS.

Also like the GT3 RS, you can even change the gear ratios within its six-speed manual transmission.

Connecting the Apexes
If you think of the GT2 as a track-prepped GT3 RS with a nuclear reactor in its rear end instead of a race-proven, homologated 3.6-liter engine, you'd be pretty close. Like a racing car, the harder you drive it, the better it gets.

Whether we were connecting cones on the slalom, corners on Cerro Noreste, or drifting around the Streets of Willow, the new GT2 never broke a sweat — unlike its driver. To even get close to the car's limits requires steely concentration and quick reflexes.

In a GT2, things happen at fast-forward speed, and that's not always comfortable. What once felt like a manageable high-speed sweeper becomes a much shorter, quick corner with genuine entry, apex and exit points. Straights are compressed into short bursts of breathtaking speed.

In the end, the $192,560 2008 Porsche 911 GT2 is far more civilized and forgiving than the diabolical previous-generation GT2. Yet it's also a far racier tool than the $127,060 2008 Porsche 911 Turbo. It also inspires as much confidence at speed as the track-bred GT3 or GT3 RS, even though it compresses time and space at a previously unheard of rate.

But is the 2008 Porsche 911 GT2 worth an $84,000 premium over the $108,360 911 GT3? That depends on where you find your thrills: annihilating straights in the GT2 or finessing corners in the GT3.

If we were spending somebody else's money, we'd forfeit the rush of acceleration found in the GT2 and choose the GT3 instead for its ability to deliver a race-proven engine and unmatched responsiveness in a package that's better suited to real-world driving. The 2008 Porsche 911 GT2 is simply too much of a track-bred exotic car for us.

Besides, you could buy a family-friendly Porsche Cayenne GTS with the money you'd save.

After the facelifted Carrera and Carrera 4 debuts, Porsche is following up with the 911 Targa facelift. Available in the same variants and 997 facelift upgrades, the 911 Targa 4 and Targa 4S feature more powerful direct injection engines, PTM Porsche Traction Management replacing all-wheel drive and Porsche's new 7-speed Doppelkupplungsgetriebe or double-clutch gearbox.

The visual highlight of the 911 Targa, as before, is the 1.54-square-metre glass roof made up of two segments, the elegant sliding roof at the front and the tailgate. When opened completely, the roof slides within seven seconds beneath the tailgate, offering an open space above the passenger compartment of 0.45 square metres. The sliding roof comes as standard with a new sunblind offering even greater privacy than before and, when closed, covering the entire area of the sliding roof and opening and closing electrically independently of the roof itself. The glass roof and the tailgate come in special anti-sunglare glass, protecting the occupants even in bright sunshine from UV radiation and excessive heat.

Compared to the 0-100 km/h time of 4.7 sec and 4.5 time of the facelifted Carrera and Carrera S, respectively, with PDK trans, the heavier 911 Targa 4 accelerates to 100 km/h in 5.0 seconds while the Targa 4S does it in 4.7 seconds.

Top speed is also a little slower of 289 km/h (179 mph) for the base Carrera while the Targa S is 284 km/h (176 mph). Carrerra S top speed is 302 km/h (187 mph) and the Targa 4S notches slight below at 297 km/h (184 mph).

Expect market launch and pricing information to be released after its October public debut in Paris.

Following the recent 997 Carerra, Carrera4 and Targa facelift releases, Porsche is gradually preparing the upper range models. Seen in these latest spy shots of four 911 GT3s taken in Spain, we can see two current GT3 models in yellow and black (far right) plus one silver GT3 RS. The remaining black GT3 is the facelifted model as distinguished by its new facelift tail lights with black tape and smoothly cladded rear bumper fascia hidding the design lines. Also, in comparisons to the current GT3s the GT3 facelift's centrally mounted exhaust pipes look to be larger in diameter with a beveled edge. However, the most noticeable difference is the rear wing, which seems to be a blend of the standard GT3 wing and the GT3 RS wing.

Porsche has announced a new 19-inch wheel featuring the design pattern derived from the victorious Le Mans series RS Spyder prototype race car.

Exclusively for the 911 Turbo, this wheel set features a special central locking system which allows the wheels to be firmly mounted directly to the wheel bearing instead of the multiple lug nuts commonly used in motorsports.

Included with the forged aluminum lightweight wheel set are special wheel bearings made up of a cartridge fitted in the wheel hub with spring-mounted security bolts.

The new wheel set will be available as a 911 Turbo option starting in January 2009. Base price for Euro countries is EUR 2,950. The retail price in Germany including 19 per cent VAT is EUR 3,510.50.

Time flies when you are driving a Porsche 911. So fast it flies that you forget there is a next-generation one coming up right around the corner. The next 911, dubbed 998, has been spied prancing around in heavy test mule camo. This car is due out in the year 2011, which is really right around the corner, if you drive a 911.

Spied vehicle is probably not a Turbo since those side air-intake vents are fake, and so is the big rear spoiler. What will not be fake however are those flat-six boxer engines we associate with Porsche so well, turbo power of course, names like GT3 and GT2, as well as PDK. PDK is the new 7-speed double-clutch gearbox employed by Porsche in its new cars.

Porsche is clearly not sitting on its laurels; they are getting on with the business of making cars.

Following the release of the facelifted Porsche 911 Carrera and Carrera 4 models late last year, as well as a new Targa, come the first details and images for the updated 911 GT3. Porsche has continued its tradition of only implementing minimal changes to the styling of its race-bred GT3, opting to focus on changes taking place under the revised sheet metal instead.

For the 2010 model year, the GT3 has been given more power, better handling, and a slightly higher base price. While U.S. pricing info is yet to be revealed, the facelifted GT3 will sell in Europe for €116,947 following its debut at March’s Geneva Motor Show.

Power has been boosted by 20hp (15kW) over the outgoing model, with the car’s naturally-aspirated flat-six engine now pumping out 435hp (325kW). Changes to the powertrain include a larger 4.0L of displacement, as opposed to the former’s 3.8L, as well as an updated VarioCam system with adjustable exhaust valves. The end result is a 0-100km/h sprint time of 4.1 seconds and a top speed of 312km/h.

To improve handling, engineers have modified the PSM stability management system to allow more flexibility, and there is a new graduated setting for both the stability and traction control systems. Changes to the car’s aerodynamics have also been implemented, with a new spoiler design improving downforce over the rear axle.

Other changes include enlarged carbon-ceramic brake discs, and a new adjustable front spoiler that can be raised by up to 30mm at the push of a button. Visually, the new 2010 GT3 can be differentiated from its predecessor thanks to the addition of bi-xenon headlights, new LED tail-lamps, and revised air intakes in the front bumper.

The rumor mill is at it again, speculating that Porsche will release a new GT2 RS. PistonHeads is reporting the German automaker may be building a lighter GT2 with a 580 horsepower engine.

Built specifically for the track, the Porsche GT2 RS would appease critics who claim the current GT2 is better on the road than on a circuit. Helping to lighten the load is an acrylic glass rear window made by Perspex. Additional mods would include center-locking wheels, possibly similar to the 19" RS Spyder forged aluminum model available for the 911 Turbo.

These modifications result in an incredible 14% weight reduction, or 200kg.

The current Porsche GT2 was introduced at the Frankfurt Motor Show in 2007 as a 530 bhp (390 kW) unit. Thanks to a horizontally-opposed six-cylinder 3.6-liter twin turbo engine, it goes 0-60mph in 3.6 seconds, on its way to a 204mph top speed. All this comes at a cost: $191,000 USD.

Although the 911 GT3 RS costs $20,000 more than the GT3, it seems likely a GT2 RS would be significantly more expensive than a GT2. After all, a Porsche GT2 costs $60,000 more than a 911 Turbo, and also features a 50 hp increase and 145kg weight decrease.

Is it possible that the Porsche 911 GT2 RS will cost upwards of $250,000? Only time will tell.