‘‘If you want a sports car that can comfortably serve as a daily driver, you buy a Porsche 911.’ Literally every motoring journalist ever.
It’s one of the great motoring proverbs, but not all Porsche 911s are created the same. For a car with a bit more bark, a bit more bite, and a more track-focused setup than a regular Carrera, a 911 GT3 will tick the boxes.
Yet there is a middle-ground between the plain-Jane Carrera and the bewinged, shouty GT3 – the Porsche 911 GT3 Touring. It retains the track-special mechanical changes, removes the overtly sporty rear wing, and adds classy chrome window trims. When launched, it reintroduced a manual gearbox to the GT3 range.
It’s the dream daily driver for Noriaki Kumamoto, built by custom car shop Moontech.
Based out of Gunma, Japan, Moontech has put out some wicked builds over the years – from AC Schnitzer-kitted BMWs to ADRO-widebody Toyotas, slammed Subarus, and even a couple of SEMA builds. You might be surprised that Nori-san’s GT3 Touring is far more subtle than a lot of Moontech cars, but he sought to enhance the high-performance all-rounder, rather than change it from the ground up.
The first thing you’ll notice is the wheels, Mabilis R-90s, filling the wheel arches with a 20-inch front, 21-inch rear staggered fitment. These custom-spec forged wheels are wrapped in Toyo Proxes Sport 2 tyres (255/35R20 front, 315/30R21 rear), again, reflecting the GT3 Touring’s road-focused status.
It may be a pricey super-sports car, but Porsche hasn’t quite gone for a no-expense-spared approach to the exterior details. Look at the Moontech Touring, however, and you’ll notice a lack of grey plastic. The lower lips, diffuser, mirror caps, front bumper insert, and even the roof skin have been replaced with Concourse dry carbon fibre equivalents.
In fact, if you peer through the glossy, woven front mask, you’ll notice the Porsche’s most substantial upgrade: a three-piece CSF Race High-Performance Radiator kit. It’s a plug-and-play system designed to increase heat dissipation without resorting to the GT3 RS’s frunk-replacing system. Hikaru-san’s car may not be destined for the race track, but given Japan’s punishing summer heat, it’s the perfect recipe for year-round peace of mind.
At the back, meanwhile, you’ll find a pair of black anodised exhaust tips poking out of the centre, as the Moontech Touring now howls through a Milltek exhaust system.
The interior is a mirror image of the exterior, with subtle enhancements adding to a very complete package, rather than drastic changes across the board. A classic Porsche enthusiast’s choice, Moontech reupholstered the door cards and OEM carbon fibre bucket seat inserts in houndstooth fabric. Even the rollcage has been custom-trimmed in Alcantara with yellow stitching, to match the Sport Chrono clock face and seatbelts.
There’s always an argument to be had over what constitutes a build, what car you use as a base, and what the final result ‘should’ look like. Given Nori-san’s other outrageous builds, the decision to play into the GT3 Touring’s strengths with some small, tasteful personalisation is a smart one. As a result, it’s a beautiful car.
