Porsche 911 GT3 Review (2019)
The steering wheel is round and bereft of buttons, wonderfully, although I might live without the 拢168 red strip at noon o鈥檆lock. Maybe. The seats in this example are full buckets, at 拢3324. I might have those. GT3s hold their value so well that you should just spec it how you like it. Further back still, the rear suspension is mildly tweaked again: it鈥檚 鈥渧ery RS-ish鈥? Preuninger has said. At the very back is a new rear bumper, made from the same weight-saving material as the front one, while the rear spoiler is the same as before but mounted 20mm further back and 10mm higher. Combined with some new underbody aerodynamic tweaks, it improves downforce by 20 percent while not affecting drag at all. And under all this is, of course, the engine. It鈥檚 a 4.0-litre rather than a 3.8, and it now makes 493bhp (a round 500hp), but don鈥檛 think it鈥檚 just the 4.0 GT3 RS or 911 R engine bolted into a GT3. If anything, it鈥檚 all but identical to the latest 911 Cup car鈥檚 engine.
There is a different crankshaft, with bigger seals, it鈥檚 stiffer and it has oil channelling through it. There are new pistons, with different liners and an ever more slippery coating on them. And, reputedly most significant, there are no longer hydraulic valve adjusters inside a new head design, which reduces the oil pressure you need to lubricate them. Apparently, new materials used mean that the valves won鈥檛 go out of adjustment even if you run one on a dyno, as Porsche has, for 200,000 miles, so they say. The upshot of all of that is that this engine spins more freely, to a rev limit of 9000rpm, higher even than the GT3 RS and R could. Which sounds rather promising. Still, beyond a 10kg difference between the two - the manual car is lighter - the other difference is that the PDK requires a hydraulic pump, which also drives an electronically controlled limited-slip differential. The manual gearbox does without the pump and therefore gets a conventional mechanical limited-slip differential.
If you've ever asked yourself "Should I buy an early (square dash) or a late (oval dash) 944?" then this article may be the deal breaker. Having put my 944 in for a service my mechanic discovered a leak that appeared to be coming from the fuel tank. No big deal I thought, I'll buy a second hand one from a breakers or ebay. Buy a new steel fuel tank from Porsche for near 拢1500.00! I went for option 'C'. For the record and from research on forums it seems the steel fuel tanks are susceptible to cracking due to the vacuum that causes the fuel tank to contract and expand. They are also susceptible to corrosion, externally and internally. You want to start by emptying the fuel tank as much as possible before you start. I did this by driving the car until the fuel light came on solidly on the dash.
The next thing to do is disconnect the battery, as fuel and sparks don't mix. Now undo the fuel cap to release any vacuum or pressure in the fuel tank. Next slide under the rear of the vehicle and locate the main hose between the lowest point of the fuel tank and the fuel pump. If you have a fuel clamp or a pair of clamp-able pliers then clamp the hose nearest the fuel pump and proceed to undo the jubilee clip that fastens the hose the fuel tank. Below is a photo of the fuel pump with the main hose removed. With the jubilee clip loosened get your empty container positioned below the tank to catch the remaining fuel. Wriggle the hose off the fuel tank and catch all the excess fuel until completely drained. You can now undo the much smaller hose that is also connected to the lowest part of the fuel tank. Jack up the rear of the car as high as possible and set it on axle stands.
Now remove the rear section of the exhaust by undoing the 3 connecting bolts on the exhaust tube in the centre of the car and then unhook the rear box from its rubber hangers (shown below). Next remove the four bolts that secure the exhaust heat shield (shown below) to the underside of the car. Now it's time to get inside the car. Start by completely removing the carpet from the boot area. Undo the surrounding screws, not forgetting the two small nuts at the base of the cover. Then as shown in the photo above position a screwdriver in behind the cover either side and pull towards you. The cover may resist at first because of the black goo it is secured with, but it will come away eventually to expose the filler hoses (shown below). Undo the jubilee clips on all the hoses and pull off, with the exception of the largest hose which you can slide upwards to reveal the corner inlet of the fuel tank. Now lift the large silver heat shield square located on the floor of the boot to expose the plastic cover for the fuel sender.