Ahh yes, the GT2. Harder, faster and lighter than the Turbo. Correct?
On every count. Expected to bow in at the Frankfurt motorshow in September, GT2 will sit at the top of the Porsche podium. With a 1485kg kerb weight and a mighty 525bhp power output, the twin-turbo monster will be the first production 911 to top the 200mph mark. It’ll be easy to spot too – that huge rear wing (adjustable for track or road driving) is complemented by a bank of gill-like cooling ducts around the rear bumper, while the nose gets a much larger central air intake and cleaner front bumper sans foglamps. It arrives here in early 2008 wearing an anticipated £120,000 pricetag.
Talk me through the changes from Turbo to GT2
The GT2 reverts to rear-wheel-drive, which means Porsche’s electronic stability and traction control has been extensively recalibrated and put on red alert. Its 3.6-litre boxer engine undergoes a raft of minor mechanical tweaks – an uprated oil cooler, stronger conrods and a stiffer crank, among others, and the GT2 also borrows the track-biased suspension from the GT3 as well as the ceramic composite brakes from the Turbo. And finally the cabin is stripped out. The GT2 will be built along the same production line as the Turbo at Zuffenshausen.
Where has all the weight been saved?
Ditching the Turbo’s all-wheel-drive system and reverting to a straight rear drive layout has shaved off a full 25kg, while the standard-fit carbon ceramic brakes saves 20kg over the steel disc setup. Porsche then ditched the aircon – yet another 20kg weight saving – as well as every bit of sound-deadening material on board. The result is a kerb weight of around 1485kg. That’s a full 100kg less than the Turbo, giving the GT2 a power to weight ratio of 354bhp per tonne – juat falling short of 362bhp per tonne figure posted by the Ferarri 599.
It’s brisk then.
The GT2 should hit 60mph in around 4.5seconds – that’s a little slower than the all-paw Turbo (3.9seconds) because of its rear-drive layout. But the GT2’s in-gear acceleration will leave even the unfeasibly quick Turbo for dead. By winding up the boost on the variable turbine geometry turbochargers and recalibrating the engine’s black box, the blown six is expected to deliver at least 530lb ft from a low 2000rpm. Driving through a shorter set of gear ratios, the GT2 will deliver the kind of acceleration only Eurofighter pilots are familiar with. And make it a fiercesome track weapon. A no-cost option for GT2 buyers will be a full-on Club Sport Pack. Tick the box and you get one-piece bucket seats, an integrated roll cage and plumbed in fire extinguisher.