New Porsche 911 GT3 to Get At Least 500 HP

By Chris Chase

Jan 18, 2017

Summary

New Porsche motor to go big

As Porsche gears up for the reveal of its latest 911 GT3 in March, at the Geneva Motor Show, speculation has begun as to what engine will be bolted into its rump.

British car mag Autocar is on that bandwagon, citing a "well-informed" source "close to the factory" who says the new everyday racer will use a 4.0L flat-six boasting at least as much juice as that in the last-gen GT3 and current GT3 RS.

If that's the case, that means at least 500 hp (that's what the GT3 RS makes) and 338 lb-ft of torque. But Autocar reports Porsche's main goal in developing a new GT3 engine is to make it more durable. A 4.0L is a big motor for a modern Porsche sports car: the company recently joined the efficiency club by installing smaller-displacement turbo engines in its 911 Carrera and 718 Boxster and Cayman models.

Along with that tougher and potentially more potent engine will be a choice of manual or PDK automatic transmissions, and an evolution of the "user-friendly" chassis that underpinned the previous-gen GT3.

Autocar's source said to expect a new GT2 RS by the end of this year, and that it would be followed by a Cayman GT4 RS that promises a big performance bump from its own 4.0L engine.

Meet the Author

As a child, Chris spent most of his time playing with toy cars in his parents’ basement or making car sounds while riding his bicycle. Now he's an award-winning Algonquin College Journalism grad who has been playing with real cars that make their own noises since the early 2000s.