The Manthey Performance Kit Is an Expensive Way to Make Your Porsche 911 GT3 Faster

The Nürburgring-based and now Porsche-owned Manthey Racing has long been one of the best Porsche specialists in the world. It's a racing team, and more recently, it's branched out into offering upgrades for Porsche GT road cars. These upgrades are laser-targeted for track rats, but until now, not available in the U.S. Today, Porsche announced that a Manthey Performance Kit is now available for the current 992-generation 911 GT3.

This is the same kit that helped shave 4.19 seconds off the standard 911 GT3's Nürburgring Nordschleife time. It consists of a new fully adjustable coilover suspension system, underbody aerodynamic tweaks, a larger splitter, diveplanes, an extended rear diffuser, and a larger rear wing with a Gurney flap. Spring rates are up by 10 percent in the rear and 7 percent in the back, and stainless-steel brake lines are included to help with pedal feel.

The price for all this? $57,300 when installed by a Manthey-certified Porsche dealer, and that doesn't include $15,500 for the lightweight forged wheels with super-cool aero covers, which, obviously, you need. They save 16 pounds, after all. It's a ton of money—when you add it to the $185,850 base price of a GT3, it just about matches the $244,650 MSRP of the new GT3 RS. And that's before the wheels.

In a recent video review of the Manthey-tweaked GT3, Chris Harris concedes that this is a very niche product, but one that has an appeal over a GT3 RS. If you can't get an RS, this gets your GT3 a lot closer to its performance, while maintaining the somewhat more subtle looks. You can also have all this stuff on a manual-transmission car, evoking the spirit of earlier 911 GT3 RS models like the epic 997. Plus, it's unique. You probably won't see another one at your local cars and coffee, and you can't say that about a regular GT3 or a GT3 RS.

For prospective customers and those just generally curious, Porsche offers a $1675, 90-minute program at either its Atlanta or Los Angeles Experience Center that includes seat time in the standard GT3 and the Manthey version.

This kit obviously isn't for everyone, but for a handful of Porsche enthusiasts here in the States, it's big news. Manthey is a legend in the Porsche world, and finally, we can experience its handiwork here. For about the price of a brand-new Cayman.

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