Porsche 911 GT3 with Touring Package dials it back

PORSCHE Cars Australia (PCA) has used the unveiling of its bespoke 911 GT3 70 Years Porsche Australia Edition to start detailing its new Touring Package for the regular GT3.

Due to arrive Down Under later this year, the ‘GT3 with Touring Package’ will flaunt a $369,700 plus on-road costs sticker price when it enters local showrooms.

The new variant is exactly the same price as the standard GT3 despite sharing all the same key mechanical details and featuring even more standard equipment  

Compared to the track-honed persona of the standard car, the Touring Package follows in the footsteps of the original 1973 Carrera RS Touring (as well as 2017’s 991-series GT3 with Touring Package) by focusing more on interior comfort and visual understatement.

Externally, the GT3 with Touring Package deletes the new GT3’s distinctive ‘swan neck’ fixed rear wing in favour of an automatically extending rear spoiler, as per regular 911s, with a discreet ‘GT3 Touring’ badge, however it retains a fairly aggressive rear bumper design with lower diffuser and twin central exhaust outlets with silver detailing.

At the front, everything is painted body colour – differentiating it from the GT3’s matte-black air intakes – and the side-window strips ditch the matte-black treatment in favour of high-gloss anodised aluminium.

If silver embellishment doesn’t tickle your fancy, there is an optional Touring Package exterior in Black, which turns all the silver elements satin-gloss black, and complements this with dark-tinted front light modules.

Inside the cabin meanwhile, the Touring Package retains the standard GT3’s black colour palette but instead of swathes of Alcantara, it flaunts black leather steering wheel, gearknob, centre console, door armrests and door handles.

Black leather has also been used for the seat upholstery with the buckets themselves featuring cloth inserts on the backrests and cushions.

The sill plates and the rest of the interior trim details are all brushed black aluminium. 

Despite its more understated appearance, the GT3 with Touring package remains just as hardcore as a regular GT3; the highly strung naturally aspirated 4.0-litre flat-six is unchanged, meaning it still produces 375kW of power at 8400rpm and 470Nm of torque at 6100rpm – the redline is a screaming 9000rpm. 

Also like the standard car, it is available with the choice of a six-speed manual or seven-speed ‘PDK’ dual-clutch automatic transmission.

The PDK is faster from zero to 100km/h – 3.4 seconds versus the manual’s 3.9 – but Porsche says the manual has the higher top speed of 320km/h (318km/h for the PDK).

Like the weight-optimised GT3, the Touring Package features a lightweight bonnet made of carbon-fibre-reinforced plastic (CFRP), lightweight window glass, forged alloy wheels and a lightweight sports-exhaust system.

Under the skin is the same formidable double-wishbone front and multi-link rear suspension set-ups, adjustable Porsche Active Suspension Management system, rear-wheel steering and variable ratio electromechanical power steering.

Standard equipment highlights on the Australian-spec GT3 with Touring Package includes LED headlights with Porsche Dynamic Lighting System (PDLS), auto-dimming mirrors including rain sensor, digital radio, metallic paint, front-axle lifting system, rear park assist with rear-view camera and a tyre-sealing compound with electric air compressor.

“Porsche also offers almost all the optional equipment for the 911 GT3 in combination

with the Touring Package,” the brand said in a statement.

“This includes exterior and wheel colours, all seat variants, the Chrono package and the audio systems.”

Porsche is ruling the $200,000-plus sportscar roost so far this year ending May with the 911 boasting a dominant 36.4 per cent segment share (167 sales) – more than double its nearest competitor.

2021 Porsche GT3 with Touring Package pricing*

*Excludes on-road costs