Porsche 991.2 GT3 revives manual gearbox

TO drive a manual 911 is one of the defining points in a carhead’s life.

Imagine the most precise, perfectly weighted and utterly engaging mechanical action you’ve ever encountered, double it, and that’s a 911 manual shifter.

And then Porsche all but ditched it from the 911 range. It’s a travesty only made bearable by the laugh-out-loud effectiveness and efficiency of the PDK double-clutch set up.

But wait! A reprieve! The manual is back! Sort of! After a limited-run appearance in possibly the greatest regular Porsche yet made, the 911 R, reports are filtering in that Porsche will not only offer a six-speed H-pattern manual for the forthcoming 991.2 911 GT3, but that car will also mark a return to another tradition; that of having a motorsport-derived engine under the back deck.

The motor in question is the 4.0-litre naturally aspirated flat-six that’s also going to be used in the new Carrera Cup version of the GT3, and which debuted in the wild RSR of last year. No word on exact power for the road car, but the Cup car – which debuted at the Paris motor show earlier this year – makes 357kW.

Porsche strayed from the formula for the last generation 997 GT3, fitting a modified version of the 3.8-litre street spec flat six and enduring a horror run of not one, but two engine-change recalls that affected the entire production run, in order to sort issues with piston connecting rod screws and valve trains.