This is it, the first GT variant of the 992 Porsche 911, the 911 GT3 and it’s more closely related to Porsche’s race cars than any past GT3. As you can already guess, it packs just about everything a Porsche-fanatic could want: a screaming naturally aspirated flat-six, an available manual transmission, and a chassis tuned for track performance.

Let’s dive right into the back, it gets a 4.0-liter flat-six engine that’s nearly the same as what was used in the 911 Speedster, but with different pistons. Porsche says it’s nearly the same as what’s used in the GT3 Cup car and makes 502 horsepower and 346 pound-feet (470 Nm) of torque which are down just 8 horsepower and 1 pound-foot (1.35 Nm) to the Cup car. Other engine highlights include the individual throttle bodies for each cylinder, a dry-sump oil system, and a 9,000-rpm redline.

As standard, the engine is coupled to a seven-speed PDK dual-clutch automatic transmission that features unique tuning and an actual shift lever that can be used for manually selecting gears. Regular 911s have lost this in favor of a small toggle paddle. But you can also equip the GT3 with an old-school six-speed manual transmission. The PDK is the fast one, though, with a 0 to 60 mph (100 kph) time of 3.2 seconds. The top speed for the GT3 is 197 mph (317 kph).

In the handling department, the GT3 adopts a double-wishbone front suspension that is based on the system used in the 911 RSR race car. The rear suspension is a multi-link setup that doesn’t come from the race car, but it also doesn’t share a single piece with the regular 911 Carrera models. For stopping, the front brakes have increased by an inch to 16 inches in diameter. Carbon-ceramic brakes are an option, featuring 16.1-inch front rotors and 15.4-inch rear rotors.

All of these components work together to make the new GT3 quite a bit faster on track than the old one. The best illustration of that is in the new car’s Nürburgring lap time of 6:59.927. It’s roughly 17 seconds than its predecessor, and a sub-7-minute time for any car is mighty impressive.

Visually, there aren’t too many surprises. It is distinctive with its no-nonsense front grille, air vents in the leading edge of the hood, and the race car-inspired wing supports. The interior gets a couple of additions, too, such as a simplified instrument display mode for track duty, and an available Chrono Package that adds stopwatches with lap functionality.

The 911 GT3 will go on sale this fall. Pricing hasn’t been announced. We expect it will hover around the $150,000 mark based on the old car’s price.