From the March/April 2026 issue of Car and Driver.
Lap Time: 2:44.1
Class: LL4 | Base: $261,307 | As Tested: $274,857
Power and Weight: 502 hp • 3218 lb • 6.4 lb/hp
Tires: Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2R
F: 255/35ZR-20 (97Y) N1
R: 315/30ZR-21 (105Y) N1
Thirty-two. That’s how many times the manual six-speed 911 GT3 needs shifting on a Grand Course lap. Sure, some of the downshifts are value-shopper two-for-ones, but the 16 upshifts are the major reason why an automatic GT3 turned a faster lap. Each manual upshift interrupts the GT3’s acceleration for about a quarter-second, which more than accounts for the 3.5-second delta to the automatic, but Porsche’s subtle changes to the 992.2 GT3—gearing that’s a bit shorter overall, revised dampers, a new tire spec—contribute to the GT3’s lap time. We haven’t been in a manual car this quick since the 2016 Dodge Viper ACR. There’s a new fastest manual at VIR, and it’s this GT3.
Keeping the revs up on the GT3’s flat-six is critical, not just for power delivery but also for the limited-slip differential’s ability to maximize the traction where it’s needed. If the revs are too low, there isn’t enough lockup, and the back end gets a bit loose, particularly in the 80- to 90-mph sweepers of the Infield. On almost every lap, we started instinctually upshifting to fourth before the cresting left (Turn 18b on a VIR track map), but the GT3 worked better here screaming near redline than not—ear plugs help, trust us. Only a tenth of a second is lost to the ZR1 in the four-corner sequence, a tie with the automatic GT3.
Grip in Turn 1 decreased: 1.11 g’s to the auto’s 1.22. Exit speeds were 6.1 mph slower. Upshifts and downshifts mean you’re taking your hand off the steering wheel. This is something you never contend with when driving an automatic, but it’s all part of the fun.
The perfect heel-toe downshift brings a sense of involvement and accomplishment that cars this quick rarely offer, though for our fast lap we relied on Porsche’s excellent rev-matching software. Ripping up the Climbing Esses just as you’re carefully steering to prevent going into the grass, you realize you’re going to have to take a hand off the wheel to shift. It’s not the fast way, but it is the challenging way. The GT3 manual takes the congeniality award: not the winner, but the car every one wants to spend time with.
Back to Lightning Lap 2026
K.C. Colwell, the executive editor at Car and Driver, is a seasoned professional with a deep-rooted passion for new cars and technology. His journey into the world of automotive journalism began at an early age when his grandmother gifted him a subscription to Car and Driver for his 10th birthday. This gift sparked a lifelong love for the industry, and he read every issue between then and his first day of employment. He started his Car and Driver career as a technical assistant in the fall of 2004. In 2007, he was promoted to assistant technical editor. In addition to testing, evaluating, and writing about cars, technology, and tires, K.C. also set the production-car lap record at Virginia International Raceway for C/D‘s annual Lightning Lap track test and was just the sixth person to drive the Hendrick Motorsport Garage 56 Camaro. In 2017, he took over as testing director until 2022, when was promoted to executive editor and has led the brand to be one of the top automotive magazines in the country. When he’s not thinking about cars, he likes playing hockey in the winter and golf in the summer and doing his best to pass his good car sense and love of ’90s German sedans to his daughter. He might be the only Car and Driver editor to own a Bobcat: the skidsteer, not the feline. Though, if you have a bobcat guy, reach out. K.C. resides in Chelsea, Michigan, with his family.