Photo: SB-Medien
2017 will go down in Porsche history as an extremely fruitfull year for Neunelfer specials. Now that the 991.2 911 GT3 is among us and the new 911 GT2 is almost ready to complete its development cycle, the time has come to zoom in on the 991.2 GT3 RS.
A prototype of the facelifted Rennsport Neunelfer was recently spied in the proximity of the Nurburgring. We'll start with the nose of the track-savvy coupe, which, as expected, is directly borrowed from the 2018 GT3. Nevertheless, the hood of the test car remains camouflaged for now.
Moving to the rear of the GT3 RS tester, we find that, just like the new GT3, the prototype has borrowed the massive underbody diffuser that made its debut on the 911 R.
The spied vehicle's posterior still packs the element of the current model, but the 991.2 headlights will certainly arrive on the production model, while the engine cover could also be redesigned.
The new GT3 RS is expected to deliver around 425 hp, with rumors dating back to April last year seeing the new boxer mill having its displacement increased to 4.2 liters.
As for the gearbox, many clutch aficionados rubbed their hands in excitement at the thought of the stick shift returning to the GT3 RS after seeing the 2018 GT3 borrowing the 911 R's six-speed manual. Alas, Andreas Preuninger, the man who helms Porsche's GT arm, recently told Road & Track that the new GT3 RS would be PDK-only.
While we expected that from the upcoming GT2, the news came as a bomb. Preuninger talks about a separation between manual enthusiasts who enjoys their GT3s on the streets and lap time junkies whose track efforts would be affected by the third pedal.
We have to admit that, with lap times having reached staggering values these days, cars built for purists and those designed with the stopwatch in mind are starting to have different requirements.
However, since Porsche is known for its infinite list of optional extras, it would only make sense for the German automaker to offer the new GT3 RS with both transmissions.
In a bit of a conspiracy theory stretch, we've already said that Porsche removed the stick shift from the 991.1 GT3 and GT3 RS to boost the value of future and used Neunelfers, so bringing it back for the 2018 GT3 was a well-planned move just as much as it was a response to the complains about its absence.
So, as much as we'd love to see Zuffenhausen's upcoming Nurburgring tool being available with a clutch, we'll probably have to stick to what we've been told.
The 991.2 incarnation of the Porsche 911 GT3 RS could make its debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September and we should get to find out more by then.
Moving to the rear of the GT3 RS tester, we find that, just like the new GT3, the prototype has borrowed the massive underbody diffuser that made its debut on the 911 R.
The spied vehicle's posterior still packs the element of the current model, but the 991.2 headlights will certainly arrive on the production model, while the engine cover could also be redesigned.
The powertrain department seems full of surprises
For the 2018 GT3, German engineers adapted the 4.0-liter flat-six of the 911 GT3 Cup racecar, mixing the 400 hp output of the GT3 RS with the 9,000 rpm redline of the superseded 991.1 GT3.The new GT3 RS is expected to deliver around 425 hp, with rumors dating back to April last year seeing the new boxer mill having its displacement increased to 4.2 liters.
As for the gearbox, many clutch aficionados rubbed their hands in excitement at the thought of the stick shift returning to the GT3 RS after seeing the 2018 GT3 borrowing the 911 R's six-speed manual. Alas, Andreas Preuninger, the man who helms Porsche's GT arm, recently told Road & Track that the new GT3 RS would be PDK-only.
While we expected that from the upcoming GT2, the news came as a bomb. Preuninger talks about a separation between manual enthusiasts who enjoys their GT3s on the streets and lap time junkies whose track efforts would be affected by the third pedal.
We have to admit that, with lap times having reached staggering values these days, cars built for purists and those designed with the stopwatch in mind are starting to have different requirements.
However, since Porsche is known for its infinite list of optional extras, it would only make sense for the German automaker to offer the new GT3 RS with both transmissions.
In a bit of a conspiracy theory stretch, we've already said that Porsche removed the stick shift from the 991.1 GT3 and GT3 RS to boost the value of future and used Neunelfers, so bringing it back for the 2018 GT3 was a well-planned move just as much as it was a response to the complains about its absence.
So, as much as we'd love to see Zuffenhausen's upcoming Nurburgring tool being available with a clutch, we'll probably have to stick to what we've been told.
The 991.2 incarnation of the Porsche 911 GT3 RS could make its debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September and we should get to find out more by then.
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