The End of the Old World
The wider wing, the aggressive diffuser, and the fat twin-exit exhaust signal that this car means business
JUST AS THE IMPALA instinctively knows exactly what to do when it spots a hungry lion on the prowl, traffic ahead seeks collective shelter in a move-over swarm reflex as soon as the silhouette of the winged 911 rises in the mirror. When we let our GT3 off the hook for the first time on the A33 that links Bielefeld and Brilon, where it meanders through horse-breeders’ paradise, not once is there a need to even wait, let alone flash the quad-beam LED headlights.
Adding to the unreality is the speed with which you find yourself approaching your prey. The 510-hp 2021 model GT3 feels astonishingly quick, so it is a surprise to realise that its top speed is a scant 17 km/h higher than the very first GT3’s, the 1999 996-gen machine (360 hp).
While the base 992-gen 911 looks a little frumpy from behind (especially as a convertible) and fairly generic head-on, this generation’s first GT model adds a large helping of distinctly different racy purposefulness. For a start, the lower ride height, the ground-hugging chin spoiler, the bolder bumper graphics, and the two horizontal ventilation slats completely change what other drivers see in their rear-view mirrors; there is
