PORSCHE 911 GT3 (996) 1999-2001 Photos, engines & full specs

To comply with the FIA regulations regarding the homologation of an FIA GT3 car, Porsche had to build a street version. And that is how the Porsche 996 GT3 appeared in the late '90s.

The 996 generation of the 911 was known as the first water-cooled Porsche. The new regulations regarding emissions and pollution forced them to drop their air-cooled engines. The interesting fact about the Porsche 911-996 was that the GT3 engine was not related to the other 911s from its time. It was closely tied with the Dakar and LeMans winner, the legendary Porsche 959.

The car's design was similar to the other 996 models, but not with the Turbo version. It didn't feature flared arches or big side intakes. It was a form that followed function at its best for the race version. It still had the 996 headlights, which were hated by all the Porsche fans. In the back, there was a slight difference between the 996.1 and the 996.2 versions. The latter featured a small duck-tail on the engine lid. It was considered to be useful in slower corners, but useless for tracks like LeMans, Sebring, but useful on the Laguna Seca.

The interior featured two bucket-seats, a dashboard, and a gearstick. Behind the seats, there was a roll-cage instead of the rear seats. Sound deadening was non-existent and no other comfort features were installed on the stock version. But Porsche offered a CD-Radio and climate control for no extra cost on the options list.

The engine was a water-cooled flat-six with a 3.6-liter displacement. It was mated to a six-speed manual gearbox carried over from the racing department and not from the standard 996 range. The suspension was stiffer for better high-speed cornering. The brakes were fitted with six-pot calipers in the front and four-pot in the rear.