Time to geek out on the new Porsche 911 GT3's suspension

By topgear, 19 February 2021

Brrrrrnnnnggg. The bell has gone, breaktime is over and it’s time for your next lesson: Engineering, with Mr Preuninger as guest teacher.

Today’s topic? The new double-wishbone front suspension fitted to the Porsche 911 GT3 that Andreas and his team have just introduced to the world. Time to make some sense of those artfully geeky pictures above, in other words.

“With the double wishbone, we have a way to make the car stiffer and more stable with less body movements under braking. But we could gain some residual comfort for street use. So even though it’s twice as stiff compared to the front axle on the last GT3, it’s no less useable as a road car – and still perfectly useable for a GT3 Touring.”

In short, the 992-gen GT3 has stiffer, faster-reacting damping, but with more comfort than before. An achievement we can’t wait to put to the test ourselves.

But with so much going on at the front, surely the rear axle has needed some work so it’s not left lagging? Correct, says Mr Preuninger. Gold star for you.

“We had to really rethink everything about the rear axle. It’s a completely new system that has to work in sync, front and rear. We even changed the activation curves of the rear-axle steering. It wouldn’t have worked with a carryover part from the 991 GT3, that’s for sure. It’s a whole new suspension system for the car.”

A complex set-up, then, and one we can expect to find its way into other GT-line Porsches in the future. Class dismissed.

STORY Stephen Dobie

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