Porsche 911 GT3 is the new ride of Narain Karthikeyan, India's 1st Formula One driver

The first ever Formula One driver from India, Narain Karthikeyan, has added a new Porsche 911 GT3 to his flamboyant collection of cars. The 41-year-old, who drove for Jordan in 2005 and HRT during 2010-2012 in the highest class of auto racing in the world, took delivery of his prized possession from Porsche's Mumbai dealership on Friday.

The Porsche 911 GT3 is a high-performance version of the Porsche 911 sports car primarily intended for racing. It has been priced at a whopping Rs 2.3 crore (ex-showroom) in India while Karthikeyan's car should have cost more as it has been heavily customized.

The Coimbatore-based former F1 driver has opted for the Clubsport package as well as the Sport Chrono package.

The Clubsport package adds GT3 sport bucket seats finished in Alcantara and leather, a six-point harness, roll cage and fire extinguisher. The Sport Chrono package includes the Porsche Track Precision app and lap-trigger preparation. The addition measures time precisely to a hundredth of a second and is displayed on the Sport Chrono clock and on the instrument cluster.

The Porsche 991 GT3 is powered by a new 3.8-litre direct fuel injection (DFI) flat-six engine that develops 475hp of power at 8,250rpm and is mated to either the Porsche Doppelkupplung (PDK) double-clutch gearbox or a six-speed manual gearbox.

The track-spec sports car with automatic transmission sprints from standstill to 100kmph in just 3.4 seconds and has a top speed of 318kmph. The manual transmission-equipped model needs 0.5 seconds more to attain 100kmph speed, but it boasts of a top speed of 320kmph. Karthikeyan, being a spirited driver, could have chosen the manual transmission option.

Porsche 911 GT3 comes with a standard aero package and that differentiates it from regular Porsche 911 in terms of looks. The GT3 version comes with larger wheels and smoked headlamps with unique four-point LED DRLs.

The massive wing at the rear adds a lot of character to the car and provides increased downforce, which is spot on for a track-spec car.