The Porsche 911 GT3 Touring Literally Made Me Cry

The Porsche 911 GT3 Touring is the GT3 without the giant fixed rear wing: the same high-revving 4.0L flat-six, with a subtler look and a six-speed manual if you want one. I drove a 2022 GT3 Touring with three pedals, and it made me cry in the AutoTrader parking lot. In Canada, today’s 2027 version starts at $245,300 before destination, luxury tax and fees, according to Porsche Canada’s configurator (accessed Oct. 6, 2026).

Key Takeaways

• The GT3 Touring deletes the GT3’s fixed rear wing for an automatically extending rear spoiler and a gurney flap; the engine is the same.
• The car in this story is a 2022 (992.1) GT3 Touring with the six-speed manual, priced from $180,300 before fees and taxes at launch.
• The current 2027 911 GT3 with Touring Package (992.2) makes 502 hp and 331 lb-ft and hits 100 km/h in 3.9 seconds with the manual, or 3.4 seconds with PDK, says Porsche Canada.
• Porsche Canada’s estimated total for a base 2027 Touring is $277,624 (accessed Oct. 6, 2026), including a $3,200 destination charge and an estimated $25,239 luxury tax.
• NRCan rates the 2025 GT3 Touring manual at 15.2 L/100 km combined on premium fuel.

Use-Case Overview: What the GT3 Touring Is, and What It Means to Me

When I was a kid, I hung posters of Porsche 911s over my bedpost and in my locker, where most girls my age would have magazine clippings of the Backstreet Boys or a young Leonardo DiCaprio.

My parents drove me home from the hospital as a newborn in a 911. They always tell me stories about how their manual 911 was a nightmare to drive, with a finicky, tall clutch that gave them many left-leg cramps. They love telling me, and I love listening.

The Porsche 911 is an automotive icon. For me, it represents so much more.

The Touring Is a Street-Legal Race Car That Doesn’t Shout

The 911 GT3 Touring is a street-legal race car. The Touring package removes the enormous rear wing so it looks slightly more subtle, but the performance remains the same. I made my case for the newer car in 4 reasons the Porsche 911 GT3 is perfect for me, in my dreams.

Key Requirements: Why It Had to Be a Manual 911 GT3

I’ve been dreaming about driving a manual 911 GT3 for as long as I can remember. It had to be a manual, too, but why? I’m exhausted from people being surprised that a “person who looks like me” can drive stick.

Years in the Making

When I first started in my career, it was incredible how many men looked me up and down and asked, “Do you even know how to drive stick?” Allow me to make this clear: you don’t need to know how to drive stick to call yourself a car enthusiast. You just need to love cars. That’s literally it. (For the record, I’ve even driven stick in heels.)

I remember a particularly cutting moment as a teen. I was talking about my dream of driving a 911 one day, and someone said in a fake Chinese accent that we don’t know how to drive, so it would be a waste.

I buried that comment deep, pressurized by other racist and sexist aggressions over the years. To my surprise, it helped steer me to where I am today: a Chinese woman at the top of her game, comfortable in her own skin, sitting in a brand-new, manual Porsche 911 GT3. Proving people wrong is a helluva drug.

Here’s every new vehicle in Canada with a manual transmission for 2026.

Best Options or Setup: Choosing Your Porsche GT3 Touring Spec

The six-speed manual is still standard on the 2027 Porsche GT3 Touring, and the seven-speed PDK dual-clutch is a $0 option in Porsche Canada’s configurator. A manual is slower to shift and takes more effort; where milliseconds matter, the automatic simply makes more sense. Canadians pick the stick anyway. Porsche Canada told AutoTrader that 68.7 per cent of Canadian buyers of the GT3 generation before my 2022 car shifted for themselves.

What the 992.2 Update Changed

The 992.2 update arrived for 2025 (see AutoTrader’s report on the 2025 GT3’s 25th-anniversary update). Key options on a 2027 Touring, priced on Oct. 6, 2026:

• Rear seats: a no-cost option, offered on a GT3 for the first time with this update
• Lightweight Sport Bucket Seats (foldable): $7,820
• Front Axle Lift System: $4,180
• Porsche Ceramic Composite Brake: $11,160

Compare the GT3 Touring With Its Rivals

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Capability and Practicality: Driving the 911 GT3 Touring for the First Time

I’ve driven hundreds of cars, from a humble Mitsubishi Mirage to a McLaren 720S. Nothing hit me as hard as this Porsche 911 GT3 Touring.

A Dream Come True

As I get into this gleaming blue, deceptively subtle GT3 Touring, its carbon fibre bucket seats hugging my small frame, I realize I’m a bit afraid. Maybe you’re not supposed to meet your heroes. What if I crash it? Maybe I don’t deserve this.

But I’m done questioning. I’m not an imposter.

I depress the clutch and the brake, and turn the ignition to the left of the steering wheel. The flat-six roars to life behind me. I have shivers; my toes are tingling. I floor the throttle, shift into second, then third, then hit the highway, downshifting for no reason other than fun. The automatic rev-matching downshifts make me feel like Lewis Hamilton.

I pull into the AutoTrader parking lot and burst into tears. I was trying to make a TikTok and was flooded with feelings. The video is basically 30 seconds of me hysterically laugh-crying.

The Numbers, Generation by Generation

My car was a 2022, and specs changed with the 992.2. Dan Ilika’s 2022 Porsche 911 GT3 review has the full test of the 2022 GT3 my car is based on.

Spec	2022 GT3 Touring (992.1, my car)	2027 GT3 with Touring Package (992.2)
Engine	4.0L naturally aspirated flat-six, 9,000-rpm redline	4.0L naturally aspirated flat-six, 9,000 rpm
Output	502 hp / 346 lb-ft	502 hp / 331 lb-ft
Seats	Two	Two; rear seats optional at no cost
Base price	$180,300 (AutoTrader review, July 2021)	$245,300 (Porsche Canada, Oct. 6, 2026)
NRCan combined, manual	15.2 L/100 km	15.2 L/100 km (2025 rating)

The 2027 car has 135 L of front luggage space, 100 mm of ground clearance and a 1,469-kg curb weight with the manual, per Porsche Canada’s 911 GT3 with Touring Package page.

Costs and Ownership: What a GT3 Touring Costs in Canada

On Oct. 6, 2026, Porsche Canada’s configurator priced a base 2027 GT3 Touring at $245,300. The estimated total of $277,624 adds a $3,200 destination charge, an estimated $25,239 luxury tax, up to $2,750 in dealer fees, a $1,000 Green Levy and smaller levies. Sales tax, licence and insurance are extra.

In NRCan’s fuel consumption ratings, the 2025 GT3 Touring manual is rated 17.3 L/100 km city, 12.7 highway and 15.2 combined on premium. The PDK version is 15.0 combined.

Find a GT3 Touring on AutoTrader.ca

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Canadian Seasonal Considerations: A Summer Car in a Winter Country

The GT3 Touring is a rear-wheel drive car with 100 mm of ground clearance. Porsche even lists its top speed “with summer tires.” Most Canadian owners will store it for the snow months, then follow these tips for pulling a summer car out of storage.

Driving it in Quebec over winter? The SAAQ’s winter driving rules make winter tires mandatory from Dec. 1 to March 15 inclusive; only studded tires or tires with the winter pictogram qualify.

A GT3 Touring earns its keep from spring to fall; plan its winter before you buy it.

Tips: What I’d Tell Anyone Chasing Their Own 911

1. Drive one first. Porsche Experience Centre Toronto, in Ajax, Ont., ran 90-minute programs for $850 to $1,700 when AutoTrader visited Canada’s first Porsche Experience Centre in 2025.
2. Learn stick before you spec the manual. The third pedal is the point.
3. Book a track day. Read how to prepare for track days first.
4. Spec the front axle lift if your driveway is steep.

Final Thoughts

As I’m driving, I feel like my parents would be proud of me. It takes a lot for a Chinese parent to say it (I’ve heard it once, and I took a screengrab so I have proof). The Porsche 911 GT3 is powerful, but I didn’t know how empowering it could be.

The power of achieving your dreams is a religious experience.

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