2014 Porsche 911 GT3 Engine Replacement Confirmed

Every one of Porsche’s already-built 2014 911 GT3 sports cars will undergo an engine replacement.

Porsche spokesman Nick Twork confirmed today that the company intends to replace the engines in each of the 785 cars affected by a recall issued last month. The German brand asked owners last month to stop driving their cars immediately after two in Europe caught fire after the engines were damaged. Twork confirmed that the connecting rod fasteners are to blame.

“We are in the process of validating the revised part,” he said in a telephone interview. “We will be replacing the engines in each of the 911 GT3s that have been built thus far.”

SEE ALSO: Porsche halts sale of 911 GT3 over fire concerns

He could not provide an exact timeline, but said the company is trying to be transparent about the flaw and that the final decision for the fix was made “very recently.” Users on enthusiast forum Rennlist report having received notification form their dealers earlier today.

The repair will require roughly a day once Porsche dealers begin receiving the revised engines. “It will take us a little while to build the engines. I don’t know specific timeframe but we’ll do it as quickly as we possible can,” Twork said.

Customers that buy the GT3 are typically especially enthusiastic about the brand. The hardcore 911 is a stripped-down model that puts cabin comfort in a distant second place to performance and that’s the characteristic its buyers expect.

Porsche surprised many of its fans when it unveiled the car with a dual-clutch transmission rather than the manual transmission its previous generations stuck to. The PDK transmission used is specific to the GT3 application and can de-couple from the engine if the driver pulls on both paddles simultaneously, a feature exclusive to the GT3.

The model’s significance is further underscored by how willing the brand is to deal with the issue head-on. “We’re going to be speaking with each of the customers individually,” Twork said when asked if the company means to compensate affected owners beyond replacing the engines, saying Porsche’s “first priority is to minimize the inconvenience to our customers.”

The 911 GT3 carries a starting MSRP of just over $131,000.