Track test – Porsche 911 GT3 RS: this is the best 911 of all time

Professionally Porsche 911 is really an example of what not to do. The six-cylinder is in the rear, which means most of the weight sits on the rear axle. And yet the 911 became the terror of mid-range sports cars, which were designed as pure track cars. It’s a sports car that should have been obsolete a long time ago, but it’s better and more popular than ever.

The 911 GT3 RS is uncompromising

These days, no sports car manufacturer would dream of building a car based on the 911 recipe from a blank sheet of paper. But Porsche sees it as a challenge to complete its crazy concept. GT3 RS is the best tradition that the technicians can come up with.

The Porsche 911 GT3 RS has only one goal: high performance without compromise. This differs from other 911 models, which can be used as an everyday car. If you also have that picture of a 911 GT3, you should think twice. It’s not a sports car that can hold its own on the track, it’s a pure race car. A high-performance circuit car with a license plate, in which as much technology as possible from motorsport has been used.

Porsche has ensured that it has enough features that it can also be driven on public roads. And so we can legally drive on a circuit behind the wheel and the GT3 doesn’t have to be on a trailer. The question of the day is: is the potential of the rear engine unlimited or are there visible limits?

0-200 in 10.3 seconds

It is not the first time that we have completed the Nürburgring circuit with a GT3. We previously did it for the ‘regular’ GT3 (without the RS after its name) and also for the Manthey-designed GT3 MR version. The lap times were close together: 1:32.5 minutes versus 1:32.7 minutes. The new RS has 15 hp more than the GT3 (525 instead of 510 hp), which is not impressive on paper. But guess what? After our first lap with warmed-up road tires, the GT3’s time went: 1:30.8. Only then we put a special round ball.

It’s also not straight-line racing power that makes the GT3 RS so good. In comparison, the Manthey-RS, with its sprint from 0 to 200 km / h in 11.4 seconds, was not nearly as fast as the standard GT3 (10.4 seconds). The RS is only slightly faster than the GT3. It saves a tenth of a second, thanks to the reduction of the rear axle from 4.19 to 4.27. But it’s the impressive cornering speed that makes it so unique.

There is no luggage space

While the 911 Carrera always has a civilized look and even the Turbo looks quite civilized, Porsche allows itself more freedom with the GT3 models. A large active rear spoiler, made entirely of carbon fiber, is its calling card. It is so high that it almost extends over the roof. In fact, the air intake behind the front wheels is so large that new doors had to be created, which are also made of carbon fiber.

You can’t store any luggage in the front, but there is a large radiator. With the necessary cooling water pipes and wings hidden in the floor of the car, this gives additional weight and therefore less. The suspension has also received significant aerodynamic attention.

Because the wheel arches of the new 911 GT3 RS can be affected by strong airflow, the components of the double-wishbone front axle are designed with a drop-shaped profile, like those of the Porsche 918. This increases the downforce on the front axle. by going around. 40 kg at high speed. At 285 km / h a force of less than 860 kg is produced. Its predecessor had to do ‘only’ 405 kg at that speed.

The wishbones are not only aerodynamically perfected, Porsche has also improved their suspension for better feedback and better stopping power. When you fully press the brake pedal, the front of the car only sinks on its springs by six millimeters, a reduction of more than 50 percent.

At full speed, active aerodynamics open the rear spoiler, while at high braking the front and rear airbrake wings are activated. And for effect: this is the shortest stopping distance we’ve ever measured. With heated brakes, the GT3 RS stops after 27.7 meters. No super sports car can match it. What’s even more impressive is how well the braking system continues to work lap after lap.

Porsche 911 GT3 RS specs

• six-cylinder boxer engine, 525 hp, 465 Nm
• 0-100 km/h in 3,2 s, 296 km/h
• 12,5 l/100 km (1 op 8,0), 305 g CO2/km
• 4572/1900/1322 mm, 1470 kg
• price NL 362,700 euros price BE 260,649 euros

Now with track tires

Now we know the behavior of the 911 GT3 RS and the tricks of the circuit. Four new copies of the Michelin Pilot Sport Cup2 have been heated and are lying in their heating blanket under the car. The song is clear. We remove the covers, remove the jack and let’s go.

“Then comes the first time to enter: it does not think what time you have to break until.”

We leave everything in the basic setting. This applies to the four buttons on the steering wheel, which you can adjust the front and rear damping independently, and to the traction and stability control, which you can adjust to your driving style. The 911 enters the bend before the start-finish line.

Behind our backs, the maximum is asked for the six cylinder of free breathing, the needle of the rev counter rises towards 9000. The boxer engine produces 525 hp, but that feels like at least 650 hp. Then comes the first time to enter: it is unbelievable how many hours you have to break until.

The best Porsche 911 of all time

Just as we are amazed by how well the 911 GT3 RS always adjusts to the right speed around corners. Direct and precise operation gives you the feedback you’ve been waiting for. No information is lost; as if you are wiping the asphalt with your hands.

“We really want to go one step further: maybe this is the best sports car of all time”

The traction of the rear axle is impressive. At the limit you can count on better stability systems than in any other sports car. In the fast passages you see how carefully the technicians have worked on the aerodynamics. We’ve never driven a sports car as fast and almost recklessly through the Veedol chicane as this Porsche. Last time it looks like we are running on the HSL track.

One more time we push the boxer engine to the limit, towards 9000 rpm. Then we see the lap time on the scoreboard: 1:29.9 minutes. Time to create. Of 800 hp only McLaren Senna in de Mercedes-AMG GT Black Series so far have been able to spend less than a minute and a half. But those cars are more complicated; it’s not as easy to drive at high speed and doesn’t offer nearly as much confidence at dizzying track speeds.

The GT3 RS is the best 911 of all time. And we really want to go one step further: it might just be the best sports car of all time. Until another new GT3 RS arrives and Porsche will further expand the seemingly endless potential of the rear-mounted engine. When the time comes, we will immediately book another afternoon at the Nürburgring.

Conclusion

The Porsche 911 GT3 RS offers amazing agility and is not too fast, but also easy to control. Maybe the automotive engineering books need to be rewritten, because putting the engine in the back is not old, but it is actually the norm.