Porsche 911 RSR Gets New Exhaust for Le Mans, Aurally Dominates Corvette C7.R

So, how can you measure the effect of such an exhaust, when all you have is a piece of footage, such as the one below? Well, for one thing, the title of the loudest car in the battle previously belonged to the Corvette C7.R, but the V8 hero seems to have lost the decibel fight.

The clip below allows us to notice the Zuffenhausen racecar one-upping the 'Vette, so we know who's getting the "most vocal" title for the 2017 race. For one thing, comparing the flat-six bearer to the considerably quicker turbo-four prototype racers on the track is nearly impossible, with the Porscha making the latter sound like they run on electric power alone.

For 2017, Porsche has made sure we'll pay just as much attention to the 911 RSR as we do to the LMP1 Class 919 Hybrid fighter. And that's because, after decades of rear-engined trophy-collecting shenanigans, the GTE racecar has left its mid-engined configuration behind.

As we discussed last fall, when the circuit machine landed, the engineers have switched the position of the boxer mill and the gearbox, so we're now looking at a mid-engined machine.

And the new configuration seems to have become a crowd pleaser - as Porsche Motorsport boss Dr. Frank-Steffen Walliser has explained, the company has been overwhelmed with requests for 911 RSR customer cars. We'll remind you that the Neunelfer races in both the WEC (World Endurance Championship) and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar offensive. We're still waiting for Porsche to take a decision on the matter.

So you'd better prepare your smartphones, Le Mans is coming!