The 911 GT3 (997.1) is the track-biased, rear-drive 911 built by Porsche's motorsport department, arriving for 2007. Its naturally aspirated 3.6-liter "Mezger" flat-six revs to an 8,400-rpm redline and is a different engine from the Carrera's M97 — dry-sump, with race-car lineage — driving the rear wheels through a six-speed manual only. It's often called the last of the "analog" Mezger GT3s.
The point of the GT3 is that engine: the Mezger does NOT suffer the Carrera M96/M97's IMS-bearing or bore-scoring failures and is prized for durability. On the scales it comes out about 55 lb (25 kg) lighter than a Carrera S coupe despite carrying the fixed rear wing, roll structure and bigger brakes — the mass is close, but the real difference is swapping the Carrera block for the race-derived Mezger.
US NHTSA campaigns for this model. A listed campaign may not apply to a particular car, and may already have been remedied — check a specific car by VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.
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