Porsche 992 GT3 Cup Car: First Impressions So Far
Latest motorsport offering from Porsche has been impressive across the board as we begin the 2022 racing season.
What a time to be alive as we officially get to the start of this year’s racing season. March usually marks the first month of racing across a variety of international championships.
Just last weekend was the first race of the Nurburgring Endurance Series (NLS) while the Porsche Carrera Cup North America kicked off just two weekends ago.
What’s the best part about this new season of racing? Undoubtedly it is the fact we have the latest offering in a long lineage of Porsche Cup Cars seeing the grid for the first time.
With the release of the 992 GT3 late last year, we have been itching to see what the car looks like when put on full-tilt at the racetrack. We are happy to say our wish was fulfilled as Porsche blessed us with the new 992 GT3 Cup.
The Nurburgring: the ultimate proving ground of endurance racing
To get a bit of a deeper look into what makes this car different than the previous generation 991 Cup Car, we looked to Nurburgring resident Misha Charoudin‘s YouTube channel.
In his latest video, he gets to catch up with pro racing driver Mortiz Kranz, who is at the ‘Ring for some pre-season testing. Let’s break down some of the major changes.
Joined in the pit garage by a lovely orange and black-liveried 992 GT3 Cup, Kranz and Charoudin discuss a couple of key differences between the new and old Cup Car.
At the time of recording, the first race of the NLS season would be the coming weekend. We are happy to report that the team that Kranz co-owns, KKrämer Racing, managed to actually win the first race of the season with him behind the wheel.
Not to mention, multi-time motorsport icons, Manthey Racing, clinched 1st place in the premier SP9 class with the 911 GT3 R. Not the worst start to the 2022 season for Porsche Motorsport one might say.
Hitting the Ground Running for 2022
This jovial sentiment would be echoed by Kranz, as already during pre-season testing he seemed very happy overall about the increased performance of the new 992, calling it “a big step forward.”
One of the largest changes is the overall grip levels found both aerodynamically and mechanically. A new swan-neck rear wing along with a new front fascia and canards have added performance on the aero side.
Now featuring 305mm (previously 275mm) front section tires along with the redesigned double-wishbone front end, this 992 race trim offers the most grip ever seen in a Cup Car full stop.
Kranz stated that their top speed increased by 10 KPH from 230 to 240 into the vicious braking zone of the iconic high-speed Nordschleife corner Schwedenkruez.
Lighter, Better, Faster.
The additional 50 horsepower is also to thank, increasing from 510 HP compared to the 991’s 460 HP. However, due to this begin a Nordschliefe-specific car, it has some other modifications not found outside the ‘Ring.
This includes a different front-end package along with different springs, assumedly to cope with the unforgiving road surface and variability that comes with the Green Hell.
Another change in the same vein is fully adjustable traction control and ABS, which is essentially a necessity to keep up the insane weather and grip conditions of the Nordschleife.
Setting a new standard of pace and looking damn good doing it
Even with a bit of traffic on track, Kranz was able to swing a stunning, 8:04.22 lap time, which is almost a second faster than the best qualifying time of 8:05.065 seen in the GT3 Cup class during the first event.
For comparison’s sake, the fastest full-fledged 911 GT3 R put down a time of 7:52.457, about 12 seconds faster. However, watch the full onboard lap at the end of the video to see in motion how fast this 992 Cup can really go.
What do you guys think about the new 992 Cup? All things aside from just a purely aesthetic perspective, we are simply enamored by the look of the new Cup Car.
If you feel the same, we suggest you also check out this amazing montage of some on-track shots by Hartnett Media on YouTube. It’s safe to say couldn’t different from the stills from a screenshot in Gran Turimso.
Photos: Porsche, YouTube
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