Porsche 911 GT3 RS 4.0 Review by Teamspeed.com

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06-29-2011, 02:24 PM

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Porsche 911 GT3 RS 4.0 Review by Teamspeed.com

Porsche 911 GT3 RS 4.0 Review
The 997 "Swan Song" is much more then just a pretty face with new stripes
By Dan Trent - Teamspeed Contributing Editor

What is it?
The extreme GT3 RS made, well, more extreme
Why should I care?
It’s the ultimate purist’s Porsche
How fast and how much?
3,996cc 6-cyl, 500ps (493bhp) @8,250rpm, 0-62mph 3.9sec, vmax 193mph, MSRP $185,000

There has been disquiet in some corners about why Porsche felt it necessary to rain on the parade of GT3 and RS owners by bringing out a boosted, limited run 4.0 as a final swansong for the 997 911.

But the steady march of incremental improvements on an established design is at the heart of the 911 story and always has been. And those guys in the GT department in particular are never given to resting on their laurels. Presented with the opportunity to make the GT3 RS just that tiny bit better they jumped at it.

Given the awesome abilities of the ‘regular’ 3.8 RS they certainly set themselves some target. Devastating on circuit and, unusually for an RS Porsche, pliant and exploitable on the road too for all its track refugee looks the RS is one of the most rounded extreme 911s ever made.

The 4.0 edges a little closer to the track but doesn’t completely abandon the 3.8’s surprising road manners. And while detail improvements appear throughout the car it’s the engine where most of the effort has been lavished.

With the bore stretched to its very limit there was no option but to increase the stroke by using the crankshaft from the 4.0-litre GT3 R race car. “Technical transfer is not a marketing claim,” says Porsche GT cars boss Andreas Preuninger. Keeping that high-revving character despite the longer stroke was, as Preuninger admits, a challenge and required a shorter, wider intake manifold, revised cams and a new low pressure exhaust system.

GT2 RS style rose-jointed suspension with shorter, lighter main springs and smaller ‘helper’ springs are fitted and additional carbon panels – painted because it’s lighter than using clear lacquer – help reduce weight. But increased downforce offsets the gain in power and means only a fractional on-paper performance gain.

The irrelevance of this is immediate as soon as you drive it. Like any highly tuned naturally aspirated 911 tickover is a lumpy, uninspiring clatter but from the first tickle of throttle the 4.0’s increased mid-range muscle is obvious. This isn’t the kind of thing you’d spot from a casual glance of the spec-sheet and you’d need an engineer’s eye to appreciate the torque curves but who needs graphs when you’ve got a track to play on.

The standard 3.8 could hardly be described as lazy but the extra 50hp is most telling lower in the rev range and, typically, means you can short shift and use a higher gear through the corner and be a ratio up by the time you hit the straight. Which you’ll do very, very quickly indeed, the 4.0 combining the response of a turbocharged 911 with the howling top-end of any true GT Porsche.

It’s a fabulous combination matched with handling that simply hones the 3.8 RS’s edge another degree. The beauty of this car is that it matches huge grip and composure with a massive amount of feedback that’s as raw as it is thrilling. At first this feels intimidating but as you learn to trust the information and lean harder and harder on it. And whether you choose to drive smoothly and neatly or racer aggressive the 4.0 is right there with you, encouraging you to push, push, push.

“Roots in racing, not posing” boasted a recent Porsche promo vid , a philosophy brought thrillingly to life by the GT3 RS 4.0 and a handy reminder of the 911’s core values. So long 997, it’s been a blast.

YouTube - ‪Racing. Not posing.‬&rlm;