The Naturally-Aspirated Porsche 911 GT3 Is About To Die
The Porsche 911 GT3 stands out because of its naturally aspirated 502-horsepower 4.0-liter flat-six engine, at least in its current form.
After all, it’s one of the last engines in Porsche’s lineup to eschew forced induction, not to mention that many of the GT3’s competitors have increasingly adopted forced induction or outright electrification. That’s coming to an end.
2025 Porsche 911 GT3: All The Details
“It could live forever without the laws coming,” Porsche GT boss Andreas Preuninger told Autocar, referring to new Euro 7 standards, effective from 2026. “I don’t think we can handle Euro 7 without electrification or without turbos. [As it stands] we can sell this car for another two years, but it depends on the markets.”
Because it "depends on the markets" there could still be an argument for an N/A GT3 outside Europe, but even this feels far-fetched. Simply put, Porsche would have to spend a pretty big chunk of change to hang on to a pair of powertrains for its niche, low-volume sports car.
There’s a possibility the company will use the new hybrid system from the 911 GTS and upcoming Turbo Hybrid, but Preuninger sounds like he’d rather try just about anything else.
“For the GTS, this is a great [set-up]. In straight-line performance, it’s as fast as a GT3 and maybe even quicker off the line. But I couldn’t care less: for a GT3, a straight is the connection between two curves. The system itself is the right approach to put electrification in a sports car, but there’s a reason we don’t use that on a GT3. We would have had to use the PDK II – the gearbox we have in the standard Carrera, which is more than 20kg heavier than our ‘Sport’ PDK.”
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Chase is an automotive journalist with years of experience in the industry. He writes for outlets like Edmunds and AutoGuide, among many others. When not writing, Chase is in front of the camera over at The Overrun, his YouTube channel run alongside his friend and co-host Jobe Teehan. If he's not writing reviews of the latest in cars or producing industry coverage, Chase is at home in the driver's seat of his own (usually German) sports cars.
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