One of the sweetest tech features Porsche introduced on the 991 911 GT3 (and Turbo, for that matter) is the active rear steering. However, the steering angle is extremely limited, so you won’t quite be able to tell the system is doing its thing just by looking at the car as it passes. Well, the video above brings us a perfect demonstration of that.
The footage shows us a 2014 being “driven” while sitting on an elevator. As you can see the rear wheels are more than happy do complete their new tasks. Porsche explains that, on the GT3, the rear wheels rotate by up to 1.5 degrees.
When the speed stays below 50 km/h (mph), the rear wheels move in the opposite direction of the front ones. The effect is that the car handles as if its wheelbase had been shortened, making the sports car easier to maneuver. Once you go past 80 km/h (mph), the rear wheels turn in the same direction of the front ones, making the car more stable.
The main ingredient here is a ZF-sourced actuator, which you can see at work in the clip below.
Nonetheless, it is interesting that while Porsche only mentions 1.5 degrees of turn for the GT3, it offers a different explanation for the 911 Turbo and 911 Turbo S. The German say that here the rear wheels turn by up to 1.5 degrees in the same direction as the front ones, but the value for the opposite turning maneuvers is 2.8 degrees. Our recent 911 Turbo S test drive serves as a good elaboration on the matter.
In his quest to bring you the most impressive automotive creations, Andrei relies on learning as a superpower. There's quite a bit of room in the garage that is this aficionado's heart, so factory-condition classics and widebody contraptions with turbos poking through the hood can peacefully coexist. Full profile
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