Porsche has carved out a reputation as one of the most infamous and trusted brands within GT racing for over 50 years, a legacy it was keen to keep rolling with the latest evolution of its 911-based racing machine, the 992 GT3 R – a vehicle designed to be easier to drive than any of the brands GT3 cars that came before, the latest evolution recently added to iRacing to replace its 991-based predecessor.
Introduction to the Porsche 992 GT3 R
Making its debut for the 2023 motorsport season at the glittering Daytona 24-Hour endurance event, the 992 GT3 R aims to build on the significant success of Porsche’s previous GT3-specification racers that has resulted in wins at Daytona, the Nurburgring 24 Hours, the Bathurst 12 Hour and countless championships globally.
As to be expected with a car built to GT3 regulations, the 992 GT3 R features a rear-wheel drive layout, though, unlike its rivals, utilises a 4.2 litre flat six powertrain – enlarged from the four-litre unit found in the older car. The engine is also located in the rear of the car – a configuration designed to give it superior traction and slow-speed manoeuvrability compared to other GT3 contenders.
The Porsche is eligible for all kinds of racing series throughout the iRacing service, ranging from short 20-minute sprint races all the way up to multi-class endurance events alongside prototypes such as the BMW M Hybrid V8 – which you can learn more about in our guide here.
The Basic Car Setup
The first thing you’ll notice when piloting the Porsche 992 GT3 R is the inherent understeer caused by the rear-engine layout of the vehicle. It’s a characteristic particularly noticeable in medium and high-speed bends, and while less prevalent in slower corners, it can catch you out should you jump on the throttle too early.
You can tune several aspects of the car to try and improve this:
- Changing anti-roll bar blades within the setup menu with a lower number representing a softer setting while a higher number gives a stiffer setting.
- You’ll generally want to keep the front springs of the vehicle stiffer and the rear softer in order to give the front more of a stable platform while the rear moves around more to create natural rotation that will help you to carry greater corner speed and brake later.
The best way to get the 992 GT3 R singing from the first time you start the engine is of course to use one of Coach Dave Academy’s professionally-crafted setups.
Our Delta app also provides an easy-to-use program for installing setups in iRacing with auto-install now available as part of its latest major update.
Aerodynamics and Bodywork
The 992 GT3 R features fully adjustable aerodynamic surfaces; at the front, changes can be made to the splitter, and at the back of the car, the large rear wing. These are two devices that are crucial to achieving the correct aero balance in order to provide a fast and stable platform across any track you’re tackling.
Small tweaks are the key when playing around with the aero values as even the smallest change in this area can shift the vehicle’s balance significantly on track. Importantly, when making changes in iRacing’s setup menu, a higher aero percentage number translates to greater load on the rear, essentially creating more rotation while a lower number represents less rotation in the 992 GT3 R.
If you still need help conquering the driving style required to get the most out of the Porsche 992 GT3 R, make sure to check out one of Coach Dave Academy’s weekly Lap Guides, such as this one with Yuri Kasdorp at Spa-Francorchamps.
Steering and Cornering
Smooth driving inputs are the name of the game as a direct result of the rear-engine layout of the 992 GT3 R, the vehicle not taking kindly to harsh adjustments at any point of the corner and rewarding keeping the car as straight as possible – particularly while braking and turning-in.
This means getting braking and turn-in correct are crucial to achieving a fast laptime as if you get it wrong you’ll either be greeted with understeer or – more likely through faster turns – a snap of oversteer that’ll quickly have you looking at your competition in a way you wouldn’t have envisaged just moments earlier.
This behaviour is also prevalent in slower corners where the heavy rear end takes weight away from the front of the car with the inherent understeer rearing its head if the car isn’t fully settled and rotated enough prior to getting back on the power at the exit of a corner.
Understanding the balance shift of the 992 GT3 R throughout a stint as the fuel burns off and the tyres degrade is also important to keep in mind, particularly in high-speed corners as the heavier rear end can act like a pendulum and cause rear slides as the rear tyres lose grip – especially if you haven’t looked after them through a stint.
Power Delivery and Braking
The Porsche 992 GT3 R features electronically adjustable traction control and ABS, modifications that can be crucial depending on the state of the track you are driving on.
The naturally-aspirated 4.2-litre flat-six engine found in the 992 GT3 R features more power and torque than its predecessor, though due to the conjunction between the TC and the rear-engine layout that pushes the rear tyres firmly into the ground – as well as the smooth power curve of the engine – traction is the vehicle’s greatest strength.
- As a rule of thumb, the grippier the track, the lower the TC setting you can run while the less grippy the surface the higher the setting you’ll likely want in order to achieve optimal results while braking and accelerating.
- The Porsche represents the old adage of driving quickly around a race track – slow in and fast out of corners. The best of any race car, the 992 GT3 R is developed specifically to work best when driven with this philosophy in mind.
Final Thoughts
The Porsche 992 GT3 R certainly stands out amongst the crop of GT3 machinery that currently features in iRacing due to its unusual rear-engine layout, one that also gives it a unique feel that can take time and practice to master in order to get the most from it.
Its monstrous traction and impressive slow-speed agility make it nearly-unbeatable at slower and tighter circuits when driven correctly, and our driver coaches are available should you want to mould your driving style to get the most from the 992 GT3 R.
The distinctive engine note created by the 4.2 litre flat-six alongside the unique characteristics afforded to the car by its rear-engine configuration make it one of the trickiest, but also most rewarding GT3 cars to master in iRacing – and with an expert-derived setup from Coach Dave Academy it is waiting for you to tame.
