Hate Rear Wings? Porsche Now Has a 911 GT3 Just For You - the 911 GT3 Touring Package

Plymouth Superbird. Lamborghini Countach. BMW 3.0 CSL. A80 Toyota Supra. Ford Escort Cosworth. Acura Integra Type R. Subaru Impreza WRX STI.

Some cars are indellibly linked with the rear wing that sat atop their trunklids. In some cases, the spoilers weren’t mandatory, but in your mind’s eye, you always envision the WRX STI and Countach with large aerodynamic addenda.

Certainly not every edition of the Porsche 911 is fitted with a rear wing. But from ducktails to speed-sensitive units to gigantic struts supporting flat planes, the Porsche 911’s shape has been connected to additional rear bodywork for decades. The faster the 911, the more likely you were to find an extra piece affixed to the “911” above its engine.

But times, they are a-changin’. And in an attempt to mute the 2018 Porsche 911 GT3 for a mature, purist clientele, a new Touring Package deletes the GT3’s fixed rear wing and forces the fitment of a six-speed manual transmission.

Touring Package cost?

After all, this is Porsche, where the 911 GT3’s front axle lift system costs $2,590; where encasing the dashtop, steering column, sun visors, and transmission tunnel in leather adds $2,680; where the dynamic light system that’s standard on a $37,150 Volkswagen Tiguan adds $780. Adding 27 horsepower to the Porsche 911 Turbo S costs $67,000. Optional wheels on the 911 Turbo S Exclusive Series cost $14,980.

So the 2018 Porsche 911 GT3’s Touring Package? It’s as free as books at the library.

In place of the usual 911 GT3 fixed rear wing, Porsche installs an automatically extending rear spoiler called a Gurney Flap. Badging on the rear lid says GT3 Touring. Rather than Alcantara, the steering wheel, shift lever, doorhandle, and armrests are leather-clad. Stitching switches from grey to black. The manual transmission and 4.0-liter boxer six-cylinder are linked to Porsche Torque Vectoring.

The 2018 Porsche 911 GT3 Touring, Porsche says, won’t be available until November 2017 “at the earliest.” Pricing, including destination, starts at $144,650. The 4.0-liter engine produces 500 horsepower and 339 lb-ft of torque, revving to 8,250 sonorous rpm. Although Porsche says the PDK-equipped GT3 accelerates from nought to 60 four-tenths of a second quicker than the manual car, the seven-speed PDK would add 37 pounds to the GT3. If, that is, it was available with the Touring Package, which it’s not.

U.S. sales of the entire Porsche 911 range are down 9 percent this year, on track for a six-year low. But 911 sales in August 2017, an inordinately car-centric month for Porsche, did rise to a 16-month high.

[Images: Porsche]

Timothy Cain is a contributing analyst at The Truth About Cars and Autofocus.ca and the founder and former editor of GoodCarBadCar.net. Follow on Twitter @timcaincars and Instagram.