Following on from the Porsche 911 GT3, which has enough performance to get anyone in trouble, Porsche has now announced the ultimate derivative, the Porsche 911 GT3 RS.
Much has been made of the fact that the original RS Carrera of 1973 was the forerunner of special models, all derived from the road-going 911. For my money the 73 RS Carrera was the ultimate Porsche, naturally aspirated, stripped lightweight and capable of 240 kph off the showroom floor.
However, we cannot live in the past, and the new 911 GT3 RS is just around the corner, this one being related to the Type 997 911 GT3 RS launched in 2010, being called ‘Rennsport’ models being some of the best examples of race cars built for the road, or even vice versa.
1973 Porsche RS Carrera.
According to Andreas Preuninger, the head of Porsche’s GT production car department, said work was already well underway on a new 911 GT3 RS and that we could expect to see the new car early next year. “The RS is always three-quarters of a year behind the GT3, so we’ve already begun,” he said.
Once again hearkening back to the halcyon days of 911’s that took full concentration from the driver, or else it would bite you when you least expected it, you were presented with clutch, brake and accelerator pedals and the rest was up to you. However, these days technology has come up with what Porsche call their PDK dual-clutch transmission. Superfast – the new 2014 Porsche 911 GT3 shifts gears in about 100 milliseconds, but that’s not fast enough and the unit in the 911 GT3 RS will be tuned for even faster shifts. On top of this, the electronic steering may also be tweaked so that it matches the brilliance of previous models, with regular hydraulic steering.
Preuninger explained that the slightly tamer nature of the 2014 Porsche 911 GT3 meant that its RS variant will be made even more extreme to help its performance. Expect a stripped lightweight, more aggressive aerodynamics and increased output from its engine. A figure of around 500 horsepower is likely.
