Porsche 911 GT3 debuts in style

MANILA, Philippines - The business of peddling vehicles is both complicated and arduous. Vehicle manufacturers spend years and millions of dollars developing cars. You can be sure, therefore, that they won’t hold back when unveiling time comes around. As such, you can count on vehicle manufacturers to come up with the most unique product launches wherever on earth you may be. Take the recently launched Porsche 911 GT3. About half an hour after its Asia-Pacific debut at Terminal 3 of Singapore’s sprawling Changi International Airport, it was featured in a 1.7-kilometer drag race against a Boeing 747. And it worn the darn race by 0.4 seconds!

“What an exciting race and a fantastic win for the Porsche 911 GT3 Carrera Cup Car. This race is a stellar advertisement for Porsche’s world-class race cars. One of the things Porsche does best is adapting its race technology for its road cars, and the new 911 GT3 epitomizes this,” said Karsono Kwee, Executive Chairman of Porsche Centre Singapore, after the race.

The idea of presenting the new 911 GT3 in such a unique way was actually spawned last year after the Porsche Carrera Cup, a support race to the first ever Singapore Formula 1 Night Race. Porsche Carrera Cup Asia driver Yuey Tan, who drove the car during the race, half jokingly suggested it to Porsche Centre Singapore officials then. Apparently, they thought he wasn’t kidding at all. “The race was the perfect opportunity to showcase Porsche’s legendary pedigree in producing championship winning race cars in the world of motorsports,” reasoned Kwee.

The race was actually organized to support the Singapore GP season and to add buzz and excitement to both the city-state itself and its gateway, the Changi International Airport. Porsche officials naturally thought it would be a great opportunity to hit two birds with one stone and thus flew in several media outfits from all over the region to witness the historic event. (We at The Philippine STAR are exclusive Philippine coverage partners on this one.)

Although the car that beat the Boeing 747 is a Cup car (meaning it is race-tuned and not exactly street-legal), it still shares majority of its traits with the street legal version of the new 911 GT3. The new Porsche 911 GT3 is equipped with a 3.8-liter six-cylinder naturally-aspirated power unit that develops a maximum output of 435 bhp. The new 911 GT3 out-performs its predecessor with an increase of 200cc and 20 bhp. With this upgraded power and performance, the boxer engine also offers a significant increase in torque at medium engine speeds, a benefit of particular significance when the 911 GT3 is used for everyday motoring. The new 911 GT3 accelerates from a standstill to 100 km/h in a mere 4.1 seconds and reaches 160 km/h in 8.2 seconds. The top speed of the new 911 GT3 road car is 312 km/h (During the race, the 911 GT3 Cup car got all the way up to around 280 km/h).

Several improvements incorporated into the new 911 GT3 to enhance its driving dynamics and handling capabilities include: revisions made to the existing 911 GT3’s aerodynamics to increase down-forces to both the front and rear of the car; and improvements in the overall brake system under the acclaimed Porsche Active Suspension Management. These enhancements offer drivers a better grip and stability to handle the improved performance of the new 911 GT3.

The new 911 GT3 also comes with a sporting variant of the Porsche Stability Management (PSM), which provides drivers with the option to deactivate both Stability Control (SC) and Traction Control (TC), giving the driver unrestricted, individual control over the driving dynamics of the 911 GT3.

Officials over at PGA Cars, exclusive distributors of Porsche Cars in the country, say that the new 911 GT3 is available via special order. Interested parties may visit the PGA Cars showroom along EDSA, Greenhills. In the meantime, us mere mortals can continue to drool – and expect bigger and wilder launches from Porsche. Yes, we’ll be there again next time to tell you all about these awe inspiring displays of engineering genius made concrete.