Why is Porsche calling the 911 GT3 RS the closest street-legal car to a race car?

Premiered at the 2015 Geneva International Motor Show, the 911 GT3 RS breaks down the barrier between street-legal sports cars and race cars. The 911 GT3 RS is packed with all sorts of motorsport technology to give you superior performance yet designed to make it possible as an everyday driver’s car making it the closest with its Cup and RSR cousins.

The engine is a four-litre six-cylinder engine that produces a total power output of 500bhp and 460Nm of torque that works together with a specially developed PDK transmission to power the car from zero to 100kph in just 3.3 seconds and a top speed of 200kph in 10.9 seconds! That is the largest displacement and most power generated for any naturally aspirated engine with direct fuel injection in the 911 family!

As for fuel consumption, being a naturally aspirated engine meant that the car would not be able to meet the same level of “low” as the turbo-charged 911s, but the 911 GT3 RS still has a combined NEDC fuel consumption at 12.7l/100km. Now too bad for a car that is capable of producing 500 horses!

To make the car feel even more like its Cup cousins, Porsche has added functions such as declutching by “paddle neutral” – which is comparable to pressing the clutch in a conventional manual gearbox; and a Pit Speed button that limits the car’s speed upon pit lane entrance. These functions gives drivers more freedom in terms of driving dynamics while also providing them with more assistance when driving on the racetrack.

Another special feature of the 911 GT3 RS is the intelligent lightweight design. For the first time ever, Porsche has gifted the 911 with a roof made of magnesium while the engine and luggage compartment lids are made of carbon fibre. Combined with other lightweight components made of alternative materials, the RS model is around 10kg lighter than the 911 GT3 siblings.

Aerodynamic efficiency has been largely improved as well. The lightweight magnesium roof lowers the sports car’s centre of gravity to give it excellent lateral dynamics. While the body may have been donated by the 911 Turbo, the RS-specific comes with extra aerodynamic add-on parts like the front spoiler lip that extends nearly to the road and the large rear wing reinforce its dominant look.

The chassis of the 911 GT3 RS has been tuned to give maximum driving dynamics and precision as well. To increase agility and dynamics, Porsche has added rear-axle steering and Porsche Torque Vectoring Plus with fully variable rear axle differential lock. The wider front and rear track widths enables even better roll stability while the wide tyres makes the car more agile turn-in characteristics and higher cornering speeds.

Alcantara covers most of the interior elements, similar to that of the current 911 GT3 except for the full bucket seats, which are designed based on the carbon bucket seats of the 918 Spyder. For safety purposes, the 911 GT3 RS comes with the Club Sport Package with a bolted on roll cage behind the front seats as standard. Six-point safety harness seatbelts straps the driver in. A preparation for battery master switch and fire extinguisher with mounting bracket also comes with the car.

Optional accessories includes the Sport Chrono Package which features the Porsche Trace Precision app for the smartphone and the Track Precision app used to have lap times automatically measured via GPS and to log data on a smartphone. The apps manage driving parameters and allow the driver to share and compare it with others.

The Porsche 911 GT3 RS is yours for RM1,750,000 sans road tax, insurance and registration fees. Owners will get a four-year factory warranty when they purchase their very own 911 GT3 RS. So get those cheque books out and get your name on one of these street-legal “race-cars” now!

Jerrica Leong