The Porsche 911 GTS Is a GT3 for the Real World
The Porsche 911 GT3 is the greatest car on sale today. If you read Road & Track often, you know this. It took a decisive win at our annual Performance Car of the Year test, blowing away all of the competition and leaving every editor clamoring for more seat time. But it’s not perfect.
In the quest to make the GT3 better than ever, engineers had to sacrifice some of the car’s day-to-day-livability. That means a harsh ride, a loud cabin, and a peaky engine that needs to be revved out to extract the most performance. Those things deliver an unmatched visceral experience, but they also make the GT3 tough to drive every day. The most hardcore among us will brush off these compromises, happy to have our teeth rattled to bits and ears blown out after hours of highway driving. But for everyone else, there’s the 911 Carrera 4 GTS.
It only took one corner to realize it. All of the same feelings from our test at PCOTY immediately came rushing back. The steering. The endless road-holding ability. The mindblowing pace. They were all here, just like I remembered. The C4 GTS feels just as quick, if not quicker, on the road versus the GT3, all while being a more useful car.
Before I go further, let me take a step back to explain what the Carrera 4 GTS is. Not quite a GT3, but not quite a Carrera 4S, either. Put simply, it’s the most capable version of the “normal” 911. It’s the quickest, most powerful, and—with a starting MSRP of $144,000—the most expensive Carrera you can get before stepping up to a Turbo or a GT3. Snugged behind the rear axle is a strung-out version of the 3.0-liter twin-turbo flat-six found in the Carrera S, tuned to 473 hp and 420 lb-ft torque thanks to an increase in boost pressure. Behind the Turbo-sourced center-lock wheels you’ll find the Turbo’s braking system and a 10-millimeter suspension drop. All of the exterior trim, including window surrounds, grille inserts, exhaust tips, and badges have been blacked out. Inside there’s reduced sound-deadening, aggressively bolstered seats, and a smattering of Race-Tex, Porsche’s environmentally friendly version of Alcantara. Think of it as a halfway point between your run-of-the-mill Carrera S and the supercar-like Turbo and GT3 trims.
To confirm my theory about whether the GTS could possibly live up to the GT3’s impossibly high standards, I knew there was only one set of roads to take it: The very same loop R&T used for its PCOTY test in September. Nestled deep into upstate New York’s rolling hills and stunning tree-lined vistas, the 200-mile mix of tight, bumpy asphalt and smooth, wide-open tarmac was the perfect testing ground for our multi-car comparison test. And what better way to weigh the differences between the two 911s than by experiencing them on the same roads?
The two-hour drive up to the Catskills from New York City meant ample time to soak in the 992’s excellent cabin space. In true 911 fashion, visibility is excellent, as is the view out the windshield. Leg and shoulder space is plentiful, and it’s easy to find a seating position that suits most body types. Aside from the center-mounted tach, the gauge cluster is totally digital and simple to read. Our tester has a red-accented tach with “GTS” lettering to remind anyone behind the wheel that this is no ordinary 911. The center stack is similarly well-adorned, with plenty of tactile buttons and minimal touch-capacitive switches. Thankfully, there are dedicated buttons for the climate control, exhaust flaps, nose-lift, and damper firmness. That means you won’t have to fumble through the infotainment screen to adjust the car’s critical functions. Most importantly, there are still two seats in the rear for children or emergencies.
The GTS comes standard with Porsche’s “Sport Seat Plus,” a fancy name for the brand’s almost-bucket seats. They’re plenty supportive but there isn’t much adjustability. Drivers on the larger side would be better suited with the optional 14- or 18-way power seats, both of which have memory functions (the base seats in our tester do not). The steering wheel, while perfectly sized and placed, blocks the outermost edges of the gauge cluster, meaning you have to move your head to see information like time, outside temperature, and fuel remaining. It’s a small thing, but it’s annoying.
No such annoyances exist in the driving experience. The GTS has to make due with the standard 911’s MacPherson front suspension setup, a step down from the GT3’s trick double-wishbones, but the more primitive geometry does almost nothing to dull the front end’s seemingly limitless grip. On the road this car makes you feel unstoppable, its ultra-fast steering allowing drivers of all skill levels to mince through miles of back road at mind-bending pace. The steering is so quick, it actually takes a bit of getting used to. Because of the variable-ratio rack, it takes very little angle to actually get the car turned. If you’re used to older racks that need big inputs to get the front wheels to do anything, you’re in for a shock, especially once you find out how precise and full of feel the rack can be. Mix in the optional rear-axle steering on our tester, and it’s easy to reach your own limits well before the car starts to approach its own.
Then there’s the all-wheel-drive system. Porsche has a display in one of the digital gauge cluster pods that shows just how much torque is going to each axle at any given time. It’s a fun novelty that reveals an interesting fact: Most of the time, over 90 percent of the engine’s power goes to the rear wheels. Torque is only fed up front when the ECU thinks you’ll need it which, as it turns out, is usually only when you stomp your foot to the floor and leave it there. During most other situations, there’s almost no twist leaving the rear. That explains the satisfying front end, then.
If somehow you get too out of sorts, brakes measuring 16 inches up front and 14.9 inches in the rear will have no trouble bringing the 3536-pound 911 to a stop. Pedal feel is faultless, and like most other Porsche braking systems, we suspect they’d hold up well to occasional track work. Those who plan to track their GTS often can option bigger carbon-ceramics, also lifted from the 911 Turbo, for $8970. If you’re truly serious about track work, there’s a $8690 lightweighting package that saves 55 pounds thanks to a rear seat delete, full bucket seats, lighter glass, less sound deadening, and a lightweight battery. The package also adds underbody paneling and a different rear spoiler angle for better aero.
Though a manual is always preferred in a 911, it’s impossible to fault the latest iteration of Porsche’s PDK dual-clutch automatic. Now serving up eight forward gears for the 992—up from seven in the previous-generation car—it’s tough to believe just how quickly it can switch cogs and respond to paddle-pulls. Even more impressive is its uncanny ability to be in the correct gear depending on the car’s situation. Pop it into Sport Plus mode and keep it in full auto, and the transmission will rocket between gears as you slam on the brakes, accelerate, and turn, always making sure you’re in the meat of the powerband. As far as automatics go, this is as good as it gets, hands down.
The 3.0-liter ‘six is equally effective. While it can’t come close to matching the GT3’s life-affirming 9000-rpm power plant, this turbo motor is still brimming with character, ready to snarl and bark through the rev range, all while delivering consistent power to redline. Torque doesn’t die off as you get towards the end of each gear, either, so it’s worth revving out and hearing the exhaust note at 7500 rpm. Short-shifting—something you’d never dream of in the GT3—is doable too, since peak torque comes in at just 2300 revolutions. Through tighter sections of road you can leave the transmission in third gear and allow the torque to carry you out of corners. Just floor the pedal and let the wave of boost sweep you away. Make sure to listen for the blow-off valve—with the windows down, you can just barely make it out.
Though there wasn’t a closed course available to size up the GTS’s track prowess, we suspect it would be nearly as quick as a new GT3. The all-wheel-drive grip and low-end torque are enough to make up for the higher curb weight, less sophisticated suspension, and more pedestrian Pirelli P Zero rubber. Put the cars head to head on the same tires, and the GTS might even be quicker. It’s remarkably easy to get comfortable in this car quickly and go very, very fast.
Would I personally take a Carrera 4 GTS over a GT3? No. But I’m a young person with no children and not much of a commute. I’m also obsessed enough with engine noise and manual transmissions that I’d put up with the GT3’s downsides. Even if I did have kids and an hour-long drive to work every day, I’d still take the GT3. There’s a snappy immediacy in the drivetrain that the GTS just can’t replicate. And once you experience it, there’s no going back.
But it’s easy to see why the GTS is such a fan-favorite among the 911-faithful. It has GT3 speed without many of the GT3’s compromises. The ride is a bit stiff, but you can still comfortably drive it every day without putting yourself through a mild torture session, all while having the ability to transport four people in a pinch. It has AWD, so you can drive it in the winter. And because the engine isn’t a motorsport-derived high-RPM fiend, it’s not horrifically inefficient. Best of all, you can get one without sitting on a years-long waiting list and paying a six-figure markup. Since its inception in the 997 era, the GTS has been the sweet spot of the 911 range. And it remains so for the 992.
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