Porsche 911 GT2: Twin Turbo Titan

Motoring Channel Staff - 17/July/2007

Stuttgart, Germany — Vortex-generating rear wing, sweat-absorbing suede steering wheel, ultra-wide rear wheels? It can only be the Porsche GT2, arguably the German sports car maker's most powerful 911 coupe ever created.

After an embarrassing leak from it's North American subsidiary, Porsche has now 'officially' announced the 997-Type GT2 model. It will have it's public debut at the 2007 Frankfurt Motor Show in a few months time, "launching the most powerful 911 so far homologated for road use".

Able to scorch from zero to 100km/h in just 3.7 seconds, the new 911 GT2 is one of the most powerful Porsche's ever built. It's ridiculously fast, and unnervingly powerful and far quicker than both the Ferrari F430 and Lamborghini Gallardo, which it compete with in terms of price.

Italy versus Germany? Most people would pick the Italian's for their exotic style, but the stronger Porsche is a real power monger.

Powered by a twin turbo 3.6-litre 6-cylinder boxer engine, the GT2 is one of the most sought-after Porsches on the planet, developing almost 400kW of power from it's highly engineered twin turbo motor.

The new GT2 model is based on the 997-Type Porsche, which has been years in the making. It also comes hot on the heels of news that the 997-Type 911 model has already sold 100,000 units, making it the fastest selling 911 in the German automaker's history.

The GT2 is the epitome of everything that Porsche strives for. It's a road car whose genesis occurred on the race track. Every aspect is angled towards performance. It is built to perform and will rival cars from Lamborghini, Ferrari, and other exotic marques.

It's lightweight, super powerful, and it also eschews the 911 Turbo's all-wheel drive setup for a rear wheel drive system, to deliver the ultimate 'steer with the throttle' driving experience.

Delivering 390kW (530hp) @ 6500rpm, the 997-type GT2 accelerates from zero to 100km/h in 3.7 seconds (zero to 60mph in 3.6 seconds) thanks to its twin turbo 6-cylinder engine. The engine develops an ungodly amount of power, but is also very fuel efficient, thanks in part to its relatively small (for a supercar) 3.6-litre engine, which is boostedby two exhaust gas turbochargers that take advantage of variable turbine geometry (VTG) for lag-free power delivery.

Furthermore, the new GT2 powers from zero to 160km/h (100mph) in a jaw-dropping 7.4 seconds, and can accelerate to a top speed of 328km/h (204mph). This puts the GT2 in very rare company, as only the most exotic of performance cars can accelerate so quickly and to such high speeds.

While almost 400kW is a huge amount of power for a car that is far from overweight (1440 kg/3175 lb), the torque figures are even more incredible, and are what give the car it's intensity. 

The Porsche 911 GT2 develops a hair-raising 680Nm of torque between 2200 and 4500rpm, which is transferred from the engine to the rear axle via a 6-speed manual gearbox. Porsche explains that the increase in engine power over the standard twin turbo 6-cylinder engine is due to larger compressor wheels for the turbochargers and a flow-optimised turbine housing (this raises turbocharger pressure to an even higher level). 

In addition to the upgraded turbo systems, the GT2's power is further improved thanks to an expansion-type intake manifold, which Porsche claims is a 'genuine' revolution on turbocharged power units.

According to Porsche, the expansion intake manifold uses the principle of oscillating air in the intake manifold during the cooler expansion phase. This would keep the temperature of the fuel/air mixture lower than in the 911 Turbo and therefore result in an increase in all-round efficiency, with fuel consumption down by up to 15 per cent under full load despite the increase in engine output.

As such, Fuel efficiency for the insanely rapid GT2 is staggeringly good, with an average fuel consumption of just 12.5 litres/100km (equal to 22.6 mpg). Porsche believes these levels of fuel economy where "quite impossible" in this performance class just a few years ago.

In terms of design, the GT2 retains the classic '911' shape but features a few distinct styling cues that mark it out as the world's most powerful 911. Larger air intakes at the front are the first clue, followed by the ultra-wide tyres fitted to 19-inch alloy rims.The rear wing is "characteristic of this special model" according to Porsche, and GT2 badging is also present. 

The tyres sizes are 235/35 ZR19 at the front and super-wide 325/30 ZR19 at the rear, which are bolstered by the standard fitment of the electronically controlled Porsche Active Suspension Management (PASM). Race-track ready, the GT2 comes standard with a lot of features that are costly extras on most sports car.

Other features new to the 911 GT2 titanium tailpipes and rear silencers which reduce weight and add coolness, as do the standard-fitment carbon fibre/ceramic brakes. Called the Porsche ceramic carbon brakes (PCCB) featuring brake discs made of a composite carbon fibre/ceramic compound. The German marque says these will ensure maximum stopping power maintained with an extremely high level of consistency, and like the titanium end pipes the expensive brakes are also some 20kg (44 lb) lighter than equivalent grey cast-iron discs.

Porsche has confirmed the new 911 GT2 will be at dealerships in Germany by November 2007 priced at €189,496, which translates to about A$300,000.

Bear in mind that, in Australia, the naturally aspirated Porsche 911 GT3 RS is priced at $299,900, and the Porsche 911 Turbo is priced at $327,000, which would suggest the stunningly powerful GT2 will fetch significantly more than both these models when it reaches our shores.

Porsche 911 GT2 (997 Series) Specifications:

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