The lack of boost at low revs actually makes the GT2 RS surprisingly docile to pedal around town-save for the firm yet progressive clutch-but standing starts can be tricky. The mechanical clatter of the engine overlaid with fast-moving, tormented air sounds much angrier than the naturally aspirated wail of a GT3. The tipping point for maximum thrust is about 4000 rpm, and there’s a slight delay in responsiveness at lower rpm as the turbos violently inhale the atmosphere through the intakes. Power doesn’t so much as build with engine speed as it explodes. A roll-bar where the rear seats used to be adds several pounds back in, as do airbag-equipped seats and actual glass for the rear windows, the latter two included on U.S. Deleting the infotainment system and air conditioning-as on our example-is a no-cost option and further reduces mass, but we recommend keeping them if you plan on commuting to the track. Some of the more notable lightening bits include a single-mass flywheel, a carbon-fiber hood and front fenders (the latter a $6840 option), various aluminum suspension bits, lighter springs, single-lug wheels, an optional lithium-ion battery ($1700), less sound-deadening material, carbon-fiber racing seats, and polycarbonate rear and rear-side windows. Weight was pulled from throughout the car, with total savings of about 70 pounds compared to the GT3 RS and 400 or so relative to the Turbo S. Compared to Porsche’s other leading turbocharged rocket, the 530-hp, all-wheel-drive 911 Turbo S-which is fitted with a seven-speed PDK dual-clutch automatic-the GT2 RS’s six-speed manual gearbox and rear-drive layout invite a significantly higher level of driver involvement. The result is 620 hp at 6500 rpm and 516 lb-ft of torque at 2250. The engine is a port-injected, 3.6-liter flat-six from the Le Mans–winning GT1 race car of the late ’90s, with a pair of variable-geometry turbochargers huffing a maximum of 23.2 psi of boost into the combustion chambers. The recipe was simple: put the company’s most powerful street-legal powerplant ever in the back of a GT3 RS chassis and remove even more weight. That doesn’t mean you’ll see a GT2 RS on a Porsche Cup starting grid, but it illustrates the level of focus the car received. Unlike the previous 996-era GT2, this 997 variant was deemed intense enough to skip straight to the “RS” designation reserved for Porsche’s homologated street-legal racers. Overpowered almost to a fault and with enough grip to peel lane markings off the pavement, it is the most serious roadgoing Porsche ever. Porsche’s 911 GT2 RS is a brute, a lightweight, twin-turbocharged, 620-hp bout of madness that stemmed from Stuttgart’s quest to see how high up the sports-car ladder the 911 could punch. Meanwhile, enjoy the videos below, which show in-car views of both cars’ fastest laps, Johannes van Overbeek’s thoughts on them, and how traffic becomes a non-issue in the GT2 RS. For our official lap times and comparison tests pick up the August 2011 issue of Excellence, #193. We came away with some lap times that objectively demonstrate what an owner gets after he or she pays $110,000 for Porsche to strap a turbocharger and an extra 170 horsepower to the back of a GT3 RS. We spent a week driving them on some of the state’s best roads and in its best park (Laguna Seca is technically a county park…).Īt Laguna Seca, American Le Mans Series driver Johannes van Overbeek helped us to test both cars’ on-track abilities. recently spent a week with Excellence, arriving at our Bay Area offices with a little over 50 miles on the odometer and a 997-2 GT3 RS. The first 2011 GT2 RS press car to make it into the U.S. ALMS driver Johannes van Overbeek compares GT2 RS and GT3 RSĮxcellence :: Of Note : ALMS driver Johannes van Overbeek compares GT2 RS and GT3 RS
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