GT4 gearing compared to GT3

Unmasking gear ratio myths - a dive into the transmission mystery

Gt4vsgt3

We’ve all heard many reviewers (and others) mentioning long gearing in Caymans/Boxters. They didn’t change it for many years so the 987.2, 981 and 982 share the same ratios. However, the 992 GT3 has pretty similar ratios and altough it has more power the differences are suprisingly subtle.

Occasionally, I take both cars out for a drive, thoroughly comparing them on identical roads and the same day. I must say, the disparity is rather subtle. Both cars deliver an excellent driving experience. Notably, the flexibility measurements (80-120 km/h) are quite intriguing: 5.9 seconds for the GT3 compared to 6.0 seconds for the GT4. Let’s spill the beans here. The GT3 is the superior ride; I’m just nitpicking about this ongoing gear ratio saga everyone’s buzzing about.

Here is a comparative table that integrates technical data sourced from Porsche’s press materials, supplemented with fundamental mathematical functions.

 

GT3 manual GT4 manual
gear g. ratio km/h @9000 rpm km/h @8000 rpm g. ratio
1 3,75 82,53 80,22 3,31
2 2,38 130,03 136,18 1,95
3 1,72 179,93 188,33 1,41
4 1,34 230,95 234,99 1,13
5 1,08 286,55 279,52 0,95
6 0,88 351,68 327,83 0,81
FDR 3,96 3,89
GT3 PDK GT4 PDK
gear g. ratio km/h @9000 rpm km/h @8000 rpm g. ratio
1 3,75 78,00 72,98 3,91
2 2,38 122,89 124,61 2,29
3 1,72 170,05 172,94 1,65
4 1,34 218,27 219,50 1,30
5 1,11 263,50 264,21 1,08
6 0,96 304,67 324,26 0,88
7 0,84 348,20 460,24 0,71
FDR 4,19 3,62