Is the new Porsche 911 GT3 RS the most extreme road car in history? – British GQ

The Porsche 911 Carrera RS turned 50 this year, two nouns and one abbreviation (it means Renn Sport, or racing sport) that signify everything to the faithful in the world of high performance cars. This is a bloodline that draws on an unparalleled amount of motorsport technique, that sharpens, lightens and enhances in the pursuit of (mostly) track-focused hedonism. Millions of racing miles later, its fair to say that what these dudes dont know about going fast is categorically not worth knowing.

Now wrap your eyes around the new 911 GT3 RS. This is not only the most extreme Porsche 911 ever produced, a veritable super freak, its arguably the most extreme road car in history. Yep, its road legal, and wears regular number plates, a status former Formula One driver and Porsche endurance racing champion Mark Webber describes as a miracle when GQ catches up with him at Silverstone. You could go to the supermarket or commute in it.

But what an heroic waste of time that would be, given the lengths Porsche has gone to to make this thing work on a track. The GT3 RS is very, very far from a slouch 0-62mph in 3.2 seconds, 184mph top speed but if youre looking at those numbers, or perhaps wondering why the 518bhp RS only has a measly 15bhp more than the regular GT3, youre barking up the wrong tree. Porsche could easily have squeezed more power out of it, but the focus here is on aerodynamics and chassis, more difficult and scientific lines of enquiry, but also, as well see, even more thrilling.

This is pure race car stuff, derived from GT competition but also F1. The GT3 RS generates 860kg of downforce at 177mph and 406kg at 124mph, double the numbers its predecessor managed. There are active flaps at the front and that enormous swan neck rear wing includes DRS a drag reduction system, as on F1 racers so that the level of downforce can be trimmed back to 306kg at 177mph in a split second. In other words, theres huge grip when you need it, or the facility to cut aerodynamic drag when you dont.

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Is the new Porsche 911 GT3 RS the most extreme road car in history? - British GQ