Porsche has revealed its new 911 GT3 has become the fastest production car with a manual transmission to complete a lap on the famous Nürburgring Nordschleife in Germany.

Porsche brand ambassador Jörg Bergmeister beat the previous record by more than 9.5 seconds – a record held by a competitor with a significantly more powerful engine – notching a lap timed at 6:56.294 minutes.

The new 911 GT3 with manual transmission is around 3.6 seconds faster than predecessor model with Porsche Doppelkupplungsgetriebe (PDK, or double-clutch transmission in English).

Bergmeister set the new mark on a sunny =afternoon with an ambient temperature of 12 degrees and a track temperature of 27 degrees, taking on the 20.832-kilometre track in the 375 kW (510 PS) 911 GT3 with Weissach package. As with the official lap of the previous model, the car was fitted with road-legal Michelin Pilot Sport Cup2 R tyres (255/35 R20 at the front and 315/30 R21 at the rear).

“The new 911 GT3 inspires even more confidence at the limit than the previous model. I was faster in almost every corner,” said Bergmeister afterwards.

“We learned a lot from the 911 GT3 RS, especially with the chassis. The car is much more stable on bumps and over the curbs. And thanks to the eight-per-cent-shorter gear ratio, there is noticeably more drive from the rear axle when accelerating with the same engine power.

“Even if it would have been a few seconds faster with the seven-speed PDK – with the six-speed manual gearbox I definitely had more to do on the fast lap – and it was therefore even more fun.”

“More and more 911 GT3 customers are opting for the six-speed manual transmission,” said Andreas Preuninger, Director GT Model Line. “And more and more often we are asked by these customers how fast a 911 GT3 with manual transmission would be on the Nordschleife.

“We have now answered this question and – although we know that the variant with PDK is significantly faster – we drove our official lap time with a manual six-speed gearbox. Even without the automated, super-fast and precise gearshifts of the PDK, and with a conventional instead of electronically controlled limited-slip differential, the new 911 GT3 shaved around 3.6 seconds off the time of its predecessor with PDK.”

Australian deliveries of the new 911 GT3 and 911 GT3 with Touring Package are expected from the 2nd half of 2025.