2022 Porsche 911 GT3

The price of the 2022 Porsche 911 GT3 begins at an MSRP of $161,100, excluding the $1,350 destination charge in the USA. Equipped with the Touring Package, the GT3 carries exactly the same price. This makes it cheaper than the 911 Turbo which begins at $174,300.

Thanks to the new suspension setup at the front and rear, the GT3 coupe is so much better at the daily grind. It has a much stiffer spring rate, yet the double-wishbone suspension at the front and multi-link suspension at the rear mean the car is firm without being jarring. You know you're driving a vehicle with serious dynamic potential, but it can also be used for menial tasks. We suspect these latest generation GT3s will eventually have way more miles on them than any other generation, simply because it's so easy to use. You no longer need a 911 Turbo as a backup ride.

The new front suspension isn't just for comfort. It was poached from Porsche's racing department. We didn't think Porsche could make the GT3 better, but they did. There are two main things worth mentioning. The new front suspension makes the car feel even more agile, and you can tell just how much the front end is loading up as you hoon towards a corner. Secondly, there's the steering. It's the best electric power steering system out there, and if we were the bigwigs at Porsche, we'd license this system out to every other performance car maker and make an additional few billion.

The standard brakes (six-piston in the front, four-piston at the rear) are mighty, but for the best track experience, you have to include the carbon-ceramic brakes. They can take severe punishment but will never fade. The stability management system is straightforward, considering one of its main rivals, the Mercedes-AMG GT Black Series, has nine settings for the stability control alone. You can either switch the stability control off, or you can have both traction and stability control off. Essentially, it allows you to ease into the car. You first develop a relationship before switching everything off. Building this relationship won't take long, however. The grip levels are mighty, the brakes are epic, and the car is so well balanced. If ever there was a car that proved that anything more than 500 hp is an absolute waste, this is it.

The 2022 Porsche 911 GT3 coupe is not just good; it's one of the all-time greats. The best way to describe the GT3 is by saying that it's a best-of collection spanning the entire history of the automotive industry. It has a naturally-aspirated flat-six 4.0L engine that revs to 9,000 rpm. Throttle responses are instantaneous, and it provides a sensational soundtrack with no fakery needed. The steering is utterly magnificent, and it has a low curb weight. It feels light and nimble, like a mosquito that sniffed a pound of china white. Traction is epic thanks to the rear-mounted engine, but it also manages to feel balanced. The way the front-end digs in is unlike anything else.

Whichever gearbox you go for, you'll be pleased. The manual is slower but more engaging and old-school. The PDK is blistering but far from clinical as it comes with a naughty clutch kick feature. Compared to other performance vehicles, the GT3 is low on power. But now that nearly everything is going AWD, we'll look back at the history of the internal combustion engine and agree that we hit a peak at 500 hp. Porsche knows it, while the rest of us have yet to reach that conclusion.

Are there any real criticisms? Porsche does charge a lot for some optional extras, but the base car is just fine by us. We honestly couldn't care less about green seatbelts or interior ambient lighting. But we have to point at something terrible if only to prove that Porsche didn't pay us to wax lyrical about its car. After thinking about it for a while, we do have something. Porsche likes to brag about its new center console cupholder, but it just isn't one. It's too shallow, and if you brake, it spills your beverage all over the GT3 badge. Erm, that's it, really.

A GT3 without a big rear wing doesn't compute so we'd skip the available Touring Package. To the base GT3, we'd add the full bucket seats, ceramic brakes, front-axle lift system, rear parking sensors, and metallic paint. With all these options, the GT3 will cost you $182,680 including destination.

Add a few much-needed options to the GT3, and it almost costs the same as the mighty 911 Turbo. So why would you have the 503-hp GT3 over the 640-hp Turbo S? The latter is supercar quick, sprinting to 60 mph in 2.6 seconds. The explanation is quite simple. The GT3 is a track tool, while the Turbo exists to compete with supercars. Porsche has stated numerous times that it will keep on building the Turbo as long as supercars exist. To cope with the extra power, the Turbo needs AWD, so it weighs 3,635 lbs (3,636 lbs in the case of the Turbo S) compared to the GT3's 3,126 lbs in manual guise. The Turbo also doesn't have the new front suspension, borrowed straight from a race car. We want to say the Turbo is more of a cruiser since it's available with adaptive cruise control and night vision, but that's not true. While it is more luxurious, it would be a disservice to the 911 Turbo to say it's not an accomplished handler. Around most tracks, the Turbo would likely be faster. The GT3 has the upper hand in a department that can't be quantified. It's a love letter to naturally-aspirated internal combustion engines that provides a more thrilling driving experience than the clinical 911 Turbo. Both are very good at going fast, but the GT3 just does it in a more exciting way.

Porsche and Mercedes-AMG are currently engaged in a Nürburgring production car battle. In late 2020, the GT3 set a lap time of 6:55.34. Around a month later, Merc pitched up with the new Black Series and set a time of 6:43.61. That's quite a gap, but not that much, considering the Green Hell is 20,6 kilometers (12.8 miles) long. That's a one mistake difference. Although the GT3 is all Porsche currently offers in this space, the inevitable GT2 RS will do a better job of going around the Ring. The Black is also garnished with lots of aerodynamic bits, and its 4.0-liter twin-turbocharged V8's performance specs are staggering at 720 hp and 590 lb-ft of torque. Those figures make the GT3's 502 hp and 346 lb-ft look insignificant, but have a look at those Nürburgring times again. The Black Series has roughly 218 hp/244 lb-ft more, yet it's only 12 seconds faster around the long circuit. The Merc also comes with a $325,000 base price, making the $160,000 GT3 look like the bargain of the century.