The 2025 Porsche 911 GT3 on Circuit Ricardo Tormo, in Spain.Matt Bubbers/The Globe and Mail
Most people have probably never heard of Andreas Preuninger, but he is something like a cult leader.
“They call me The Pope of GT Cars, which is funny,” Preuninger said.
The group Preuninger directs at Porsche, the GT division, produced around 5,000 cars last year, although he readily admits they could have sold many more. There are more devoted customers than cars.
“This GT3 thing, it turned to be almost something religion-like in the last 10 years,” he said. “It is its own brand now.”
At the GT division, Preuninger has overseen the creation of 27 sports cars for Porsche. Each one remains distinct in his memory, he said. His first was the 2003 911 GT3. His latest, the 2025 Porsche 911 GT3 – known as the 992.2-generation to the zealots – is what Preuninger is here in Valencia to launch to the world’s press.
There are hundreds, if not thousands, of videos of Preuninger in car magazines and on YouTube giving what amounts to the same interview. He preaches the value of lightweight construction, manual gearboxes, lively steering feel, high-revving engines free from turbochargers and/or heavy hybrid systems and driver-engagement above all. His cars are equal parts fun and challenging to drive (or loud and tiresome to the uninitiated).
All of the GT3 models, starting with the first one in 1999, lined up at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo.Matt Bubbers/The Globe and Mail
So popular are Preuninger’s GT products that it’s an open-secret that some franchised Porsche dealers will tell customers they need to purchase other Porsche vehicles – perhaps a Taycan or a Panamera – before even being given the chance to put down a deposit on a GT car. Since there is a finite number of GT cars made each year, some dealers might forcibly upsell customers from a GT3 to a more-expensive GT3 RS, for example, lest the customer’s GT car allotment get cancelled entirely.
Preuninger, tall and lithe with grey hair and an unusually strong sense of humour for a German auto executive, is approaching his 60th birthday. He’s not sure how much longer he will be able to continue delivering the cars his followers crave because emissions regulations are closing in.
“Without turbocharging or without electrification, this could be the last one,” he said of the new 992.2-generation GT3.
“But it depends what the European lawmakers decide in four weeks, when the EU7 regulation for the new emission standards from ‘28 or ‘27 onwards will be communicated … We don’t know what’s coming,” he said. Already he’s thinking about whether or not turbocharged engines could give him and his followers what they crave.
To merely get the newly revised GT3 to pass emissions tests with the same four-litre engine – making the same 502 horsepower as before, but slightly less torque at 331 lb-ft – his team had to add two more heavy catalytic converters to the exhaust and make costly tweaks to the engine’s air intake and cooling systems.
“It was unavoidable for us to add two extra catalysts. Frankly speaking, we are not so happy with this necessity, but as I said before, it’s unavoidable,” said Preuninger’s colleague Jorg Junger, the manager of Porsche’s GT model line.
On the roads west of Valencia, on the eastern end of Spain, the reasons why tighter emissions controls matter are visible everywhere. The coastal city was recently hit by devastating and deadly flooding, which was, according to experts, made worse by the climate emergency. Wrecked cars sit next to the highway surrounded by dirt and rubble. Tree branches and garbage are still caught up in wire fences, long after the water has receded.
It’s true that 5,000 high-strung sports cars from Porsche’s GT division won’t make much of an impact either way, but every bit counts.
Theh GT3 is now available with optional rear seats. They aren't large enough for an adult, but could fit a child or a set of golf clubs.Matt Bubbers/The Globe and Mail
Besides, the added emission controls on the 992.2 GT3 don’t detract from the car’s ability to entertain.
On the Circuit Ricardo Tormo, the newest GT3 is putty in a driver’s hands. Its steering feels less twitchy on turn-in than the previous model. That helps the whole car feel slightly more balanced and easygoing when diving into corners. The rear-drive car will do understeer or oversteer, but unlike a BMW M3 or the previous BMW M2 or even the latest Aston Martin Vantage, the GT3 doesn’t default to drifting around every corner. This is a more precise tool. When it slips into oversteer, it does so gently, at least on these Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires. Few cars, if any, are so intuitive to steer using the throttle.
I can’t compare the 992.1-generation GT3 to this updated .2 model on the track because I’ve only ever driven the older car on the road, but on the road is where the new car’s major updates are most useful.
Shorter gearing makes the 2025 GT3 feel quicker in real-world driving. All you sacrifice is ultimate top-speed, which is utterly wasted in Canada anyway. The shorter gearing pairs well with the six-speed manual gearbox, which, yes, is still an option alongside the dual-clutch automatic; third gear is now more tractable and usable on twisting mountain roads.
The best change to the 2025 model, however, is the suspension. It’s softer. Hallelujah. The fact streets – in the U.K., parts of Germany and in Canada too – are in rough shape made Preuninger and his team rethink the suspension design. “Mostly the streets are not so good, so the car has to be compliant with road conditions that are suboptimal,” he said.
The team did that by increasing the effective spring travel at the front and rear wheels, and by reprograming the car’s dampers. “The big deal is the new damper electronics and a new damper generation, compared to the 992.1″ he added.
The green GT3 Touring with a stick shift and the new $41,090 Lightweight Package is an eye-watering $321,000 before taxes, fees and delivery charge.Matt Bubbers/The Globe and Mail
In Spain, the car’s ride certainly felt more cushy even at low speeds, with more bounce following big bumps. Your head gets thrown around less, making every drive more relaxing (if, that is, you can ignore the cacophony of engine noise that sounds as if it’s coming from directly behind the driver’s seat.) Whether the new suspension is enough to take the edge off downtown Toronto’s awful roads and make the GT3 a usable everyday sports car remains to be seen, but at least Preuninger is aware of the issue.
GT3 customers are increasingly using these cars on a daily basis too, he said. It’s part of the reason why the car is now available with optional rear seats. I don’t fit back there, but your toddler’s seat or a set of golf-clubs would.
Whether the new GT3 is softer or louder or more usable is all a moot point. Preuninger’s devout followers have surely snapped up every available allocation, which explains Porsche’s greedy pricing.
The 2025 Porsche 911 GT3 starts at $245,300 in Canada, with or without the wing-deleting Touring package. Back in 2022, the previous GT3 was $180,300. They are, broadly speaking, the same car. The $65,000 price hike from three years ago is outrageous. The green GT3 Touring with a stick shift and the new $41,090 Lightweight Package – which adds a handful of extra carbon-fibre parts and foldable bucket seats – I drove in Spain was an eye-watering $321,000 before taxes, fees and delivery charge. Why? Because thus far there are more devoted GT division customers than cars.
“I mean, everything gets more expensive: energy, parts,” said Preuninger. “It is more expensive, that’s for sure,” he continues, “but try to buy a Rolex Daytona. It’s 17 per cent more than last year, and it’s basically the same thing.”
Make no mistake, this is an expensive religion to be a part of.
The writer was a guest of the automaker. Content was not subject to approval.
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