2026 Porsche 911 GT3 review: Track test

I ended my 2022 review of the 992-series Porsche 911 GT3 with this thought: “I can tell you, categorically, the ‘992’ 911 GT3 is the most complete naturally aspirated Porsche GT road car I’ve ever driven, and I can’t even begin to imagine a better one. But we all know the next one will indeed be better. That’s just how it is with Porsche.”

Fast-forward to Sydney Motorsport Park, for an evening track session under floodlights, and here it is: the 992.2 GT3.

On paper, the recipe hasn’t changed much – there’s still that screaming big-bore 4.0-litre flat-six that revs to 9000rpm, and still the choice between manual and PDK automatic transmissions.

But under the surface, the subtle, obsessive refinements Porsche is famous for are everywhere. RS-derived suspension geometry, shorter final-drive gearing, reprofiled aero, and a smattering of lightweight detail changes all conspire to make this car sharper yet calmer under pressure, and more rewarding at the ragged edge.

Up close, the 992.2 GT3 looks familiar yet unmistakably fresh. Porsche hasn’t messed with the GT3’s purposeful stance, but somehow it looked like it sat even lower to me as it left pit lane to enter the circuit proper, and the details tell the story.

The nose has been reprofiled with larger intakes and carbon-fibre blades that give it a harder edge while channelling more air to the radiators. The new Matrix LED headlights aren’t just brighter at night – they also free up space for extra cooling ducts where the old auxiliary lights used to sit.

Around the back, a reshaped diffuser and subtly tweaked bumper vents improve air flow, while the swan-neck rear wing now wears larger, angled endplates that sharpen stability. It’s not a radical redesign, but the 992.2’s aero tweaks aren’t about flash – they’re about function, and they give this GT3 a leaner, more focused look that matches perfectly with its sharper driving experience.

How much does the Porsche 911 cost?

The 2026 Porsche 911 GT3 is available to order now from $449,100 excluding on-road costs.

To see how the Porsche 911 lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool

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What is the Porsche 911 like on the inside?

There are barely any changes here, but gone is the old analogue instrument dials, for better or worse. In its place, there’s a fully digital cluster that’s clear and configurable, and perfect for night running when you need shift lights and gear info front and centre.

The rotary ignition switch, which you still have to turn, remains in a nod to tradition. The optional Club Sport pack adds a cage, harness, and extinguisher at no extra cost in Australia – making this essentially track day-ready from the showroom.

The optional carbon-fibre bucket seats hold you firm, even as you carve through Turn 1 at speeds that test your nerve. In fact, after countless laps, I can’t recall ever needing to brace my legs to maintain the perfect driving position. Not once.

Better yet, these carbon buckets also come with an integrated thorax airbag, electric height adjustment and manual forward/aft adjustment to suit all drives shapes and sizes.

For track days, specifically, part of the head restraint padding can be removed, which offers a significant ergonomic benefit for drivers wearing a helmet. I’d go so far as to say it’s another game-changing feature of the new GT3 – for taller drivers in particular.

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What’s under the bonnet?

At its core, the GT3’s rear-mounted engine remains the same 4.0-litre naturally aspirated flat-six, producing 375kW of power. Torque dips slightly to 450Nm (from the 470Nm of its predecessor thanks to the stricter emissions gear – two particulate filters and four cats – but out on track you’re none the wiser.

To see how the Porsche 911 lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool

How does the Porsche 911 drive?

The shorter final-drive gearing (by eight per cent) transforms how the engine feels.

Out of Turn 9, the slowest corner on the track, the PDK snaps into second and then third in quick succession, keeping the motor boiling in its sweet spot. By the time I hit the back straight, it’s wailing at 9000rpm, echoing off the pit wall, and I’m reminded again that Porsche has kept the naturally aspirated flame burning when almost everyone else has surrendered to turbos or hybrids.

Does it feel dulled compared to the 992? Not at all. In fact, with the shorter gearing, not only does the 992.2 feel hungrier, keener, and more alive, it actually sounds louder, at least from outside the car. Perhaps it’s louder in the cockpit, too, but I can’t be sure, not having the previous iteration there alongside to judge. Instead, we also had the new GT3 with Touring Package to sample in both PDK and manual guise.

I know the seven-speed PDK offers race car-like shift speeds and with even more precision, but the manual is romantic and the new shorter-throw lever in the 992.2 is a nod to the purists. But out here, chasing lap times in the not-so-cool evening air, the PDK is not only the smarter choice, it’s arguably the most dramatic, as you rifle through the gear ratios with an accompanying race car-like ‘crack’. It’s simply intoxicating and makes you feel like a pro.

Through the Turn 2 hairpin, downshifts snap with whip-crack precision, thanks to perfectly matched throttle blips. Out of Turn 5, the upshifts sound like a Le Mans racer on the chase, the car never leaving the powerband. It’s ruthlessly efficient, and it lets you focus on what matters – braking points, steering inputs, and chasing that perfect lap.

On track, at night, with reference points limited to floodlit boards and painted curbs, PDK feels like the right tool.

Nevertheless, for the last 12 months I’ve been shouting about the drama and purity of a manual transmission in a Porsche 911 GT3 Touring to anyone that’ll listen, and for the most part that still holds true – especially if it’s a Porsche 911 GT3-tuned manual, complete with perfectly timed auto-blipping on the downshift – since there’s simply no better mechanical instrument in the game.

And, while the manual shifter clearly demands more of the driver, thanks to that third pedal and the more precise timing required, the latest GT3 makes it just so easy, and yet at the same time still so utterly engaging. It also rewards the driver with one of the most intensely exhilarating shift actions in the business. In fact, it delivers the same level of engagement I felt in the current 911 Speedster, and that’s a big call.

The throws are short and the gearing precise, which allows for very quick shifts as manual transmissions go. But on track, I feel it doesn’t allow the driver to get the most of everything the new GT3 offers.

But on the road, I might have an entirely different opinion, particularly if it was a GT3 with Touring package.

But here’s the thing. When you’re on track, trying to string a few fast laps together, using all of the incremental changes on the new GT3 to do just that, you’ll want the PDK.

Here’s where the real step change happens. Porsche lifted the anti-dive suspension geometry straight from the GT3 RS. The front lower trailing arm ball joint is mounted lower, cutting nose-dive under braking from around 12mm in the old car to just 6mm. It’s a game-changer on track.

Into Turn 1 – downhill, blind, at around 240km/h before you brake – that makes all the difference. The 992.2 stays flat, composed, unflustered and decidedly more confident. You brake later, carry more speed, and trust the front-end to bite. And it does exactly that. But I’ll admit it helps when you’re following former Bathurst 1000 champ and Porsche chief driving instructor, Luke Youlden.

At Turn 2, the heaviest braking zone on the track, it’s the same story. The GT3 feels nailed down, refusing to pitch forward, letting you concentrate on rotation and throttle application. From behind the wheel, it feels like the car practically auto-rotates, so it’s massively confidence inspiring though corners that have always proved challenging. It might be a subtle change on paper, but on track at SMP it feels profound.

I’d like to think I put it all together this time, driving smoother/quicker laps than ever before, and while I’ll fervently hold onto that belief, the latest GT3 almost feels like a different car through Turns 2 and 11, more like the previous 991-series GT3 RS.

It’s uncanny how well balanced this car feels under big loads.

That’s not all. The grip levels seem noticeably higher through each and every corner, but especially through Turns 1, 3, 4, 5 and 6. It’s the speed and sheer commitment the GT3 is able to deliver. It’s astonishing, really.

The facelifted nose is subtle and you might have to look twice to pick up the differences, but there’s a fair bit going on there.

Larger intakes channel air more effectively, carbon blades sharpen the flow, and the new Matrix LED headlights free up room for ducting. Underneath, the diffuser has been reshaped, and at the back the wing’s endplates are angled for cleaner aero balance.

Through the high-speed turns, where aero balance is tested, the car feels calmer than the 992. Less twitchy and more planted, giving you more confidence to carry speed into the apex.

These aren’t headline-grabbing RS levels of downforce, but the marginal gains add up big time.

A key USP of any Porsche-badged vehicle, but particularly the 911 GT3, has always been iron-clad stopping power on the road, and especially on track – lap after lap with little cooling off between driver changes.

The braking specs of the 992.2 GT3 are more impressive than ever. Try six-piston aluminium monobloc fixed calipers in red with front composite discs measuring 408mm, and four-piston fixed calipers on composite discs measuring 380mm at the rear. That’s just the standard stoppers and, trust me, they deliver huge stopping power lap after lap.

Nevertheless, for buyers who want to take it up a level, there’s the optional Porsche Ceramic Composite Brake (PCCB) package. This includes internally vented and cross-drilled ceramic brake discs measuring 410mm at the front and 390mm at the rear, with calipers painted in yellow.

SMP is brutal on brakes. Turn 1, Turn 2, and Turn 12 all demand huge stops from high speed. In the 992.2 GT3, the pedal feel is rock-solid and the biting force is fierce, and with the anti-dive suspension geometry helping, the car stays flat as you stomp on the middle pedal.

Trail-braking into Turn 12, the car rotates neatly, setting you up for the perfect exit onto the main straight. It’s Porsche braking at its finest – no fade, no drama, just ultimate trust.

I don’t know how the standard system delivers such bulletproof stopping performance so consistently without any fade whatsoever. Remarkable.

New lighter aluminium alloys trim 1.5kg of unsprung mass. The optional magnesium wheels in the Weissach Pack take it further by saving a whopping 9kg. A new lithium-ion battery saves another 4kg.

The lightest GT3 spec hovers around 1420kg, not far off the outgoing car, but those tiny savings change the feel on a holistic level.

At Turns 4 and 5, where you change direction quickly, the car feels like it pivots on its nose. The steering – still electromechanical with a variable ratio and speed-sensitive power assistance – is alive with feedback and feels even more direct, but it’s never nervous and feels more linear and natural compared to the previous version.

Porsche has clearly done some fine-tuning here as the car also feels more agile, with a willingness to change direction more acutely but with no nasty side-effects.

On track, corner by corner:

• Turn 1: Grip, braking stability, poise and turn-in confidence is night-and-day versus the 992.1. The anti-dive setup means you commit harder, using more kerb as the car hunkers down and effectively euthanises aggressive ripple strips like never before.
• Turn 2: Massive stop, clean rotation, explosive exit thanks to shorter gearing and again more confidence-inspiring grip even when flat, especially through Turn 3.
• Turn 4/5 complex: The lighter wheels and suspension tweaks make the car dance, carving through with the kind of agility the 992.1 couldn’t quite match.
• Turn 9: No torque dip here and shorter gearing makes it explode onto the back straight, screaming at 9000rpm as the floodlights blur past.
• Turn 12: A perfect showcase of balance. Trail-brake in, rotate, and launch onto the straight with total composure.

To see how the Porsche 911 lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool

What do you get?

2026 Porsche 911 GT3 equipment highlights:

• Dual-zone climate control
• 12.6-inch configurable fully-digital instrument cluster
• 10.9-inch infotainment touchscreen
• Park Assist rear with reversing camera
• DAB+ digital radio
• Front-axle lift system
• Tyre fit/repair kit (Tyre fit set)
• Electric height-adjustment+ seats, with manual longitudinal adjustment on seats
• Leather/Race-Tex upholstery
• Anti-glare RaceTex covering upper dashboard with some packages
• Club Sport package (bolted steel roll cage in rear, six-point harness for driver, fire extinguisher) – No cost option but requires lightweight bucket seats
• Optional rear-seat system (with ISOFIX) in GT3 Touring version for the first time

To see how the Porsche 911 lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool

Options

The equipment packages available for the 911 GT3 and GT3 Touring are outlined below.

Weissach Package ($47,350) equipment highlights:

• The anti-roll bar, coupling rods and shear panel on the rear axle are made of carbon-fibre, as are the roof, side plates of the rear wing, exterior mirror top shell, mirror triangle and the air blades in the front area
• Additional leather and Race-Tex upholstery
• For the first time, the upper side of the dashboard is covered in anti-glare Race-Tex
• Carbon-fibre door handles and storage nets on the door cards
• Carbon-fibre roll cage and magnesium lightweight forged wheels are optional

Touring Package equipment highlights:

• The fixed rear wing (as found on the standard GT3) is removed. Instead, a retractable/extendable rear spoiler is used (with a Gurney flap) to maintain aerodynamic functionality while preserving the classic 911 silhouette
• Underbody aerodynamic fins and diffusers are adapted to balance airflow given the different rear aero setup
• Inside, there’s a higher emphasis on leather and premium materials, rather than a track-focused look and feel
• For the first time in a GT3, rear seats are an option, but only in the Touring version

Lightweight Package ($71,520, only available with Touring Package) adds:

• The roof is painted in the exterior colour, and the stabiliser, coupling rods and shear panel on the rear axle are carbon-fibre
• Lightweight magnesium wheels and the lightweight door panels are also part of the package
• Along with the standard six-speed GT sports gearbox, the shortened gear lever from the 911 S/T is added
• In front of the gear lever, a plaque is attached with the inscription ‘Leichtbau’ which indicates the lightweight package

To see how the Porsche 911 lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool

Is the Porsche 911 safe?

The Porsche 911 has never been crash tested by any of the independent auto safety watchdogs. The brand has put it through heaps of internal crash testing, of course, but there’s no Euro NCAP or ANCAP rating here.

Standard safety features for the Porsche 911 GT3 include:

• Front, side and head airbags
• Extra side impact protection built into the doors (for driver and passenger)
• Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB) with pedestrian protection
• Driver drowsiness detection system
• Adaptive headlights (swivelling, detection-sensitive lighting)
• Adaptive cruise control
• Tyre-pressure monitoring system
• Rear parking sensors with reversing camera

To see how the Porsche 911 lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool

How much does the Porsche 911 cost to run?

Porsche offers a three-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty as standard, with up to 12 additional years available at a extra cost.

To see how the Porsche 911 lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool

CarExpert’s Take on the Porsche 911 GT3

The 992.2 GT3 doesn’t make headlines with more power. It doesn’t need to.

What it delivers is more important: refinement where it counts. The RS-derived suspension gives it newfound stability under braking. The shorter gearing makes it feel punchier out of every corner. The aero tweaks bring more composure at high speed. And the weight-savings sharpen agility.

At Sydney Motorsport Park under lights, it feels like a car transformed. It’s not just faster, it feels more confidence-inspiring, more rewarding, more alive.

This isn’t about raw numbers – it’s about trust. At almost 200km/h into a blind apex under lights, trust is everything. And here, the latest GT3 feels unmatched.

And it proves, once again, the truth of what I said back in 2022: Porsche always finds a way to make the next one better. That’s just how it is with Porsche.

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