Porsche 911 GT3 RS 2018 Review

Sadly, the latest Porsche 911 GT3 RS is a little too slow today for the actual Silverstone GP circuit.

As we a catch glimpse of its retina-searing Porsche Racing Yellow paint, the German car-maker's ear-splitting 911 RSR racers have taken to the track.

Instead, our first track test of the 991.2 GT3 RS will be limited to Porsche's Experience Centre, a stone's throw away from the GP circuit's Hanger Straight.

Consisting of around 5km of track, with two handling circuits specially designed for the car-maker's customers to exploit their car's performance, the Experience Centre also offers a low-friction surface and a kick plate to provoke oversteer. There's even a place to go off-road.

It's the latter we're hoping to avoid and, to ensure we don't create a Porsche 911 GT3 RS-shaped hole in the scenery, a mandatory 'Porsche Driving Consultant' is required in the passenger seat.

In a stroke of luck and not media-managed planning (we're told) today the poor soul tasked with the job of trying to prevent a half million-dollar shunt is none other than Richard 'Dickie' Attwood.

Even before we've climbed into the RS, time spent with Attwood is well worth the price of admission (around $500-$1700 depending on the car you drive).

Attwood is most famous for his F1 past, including racing for BRM, Lotus and Cooper in the 1960s, but he also raced Ford GT40s and won Le Mans outright in a Porsche 917 in 1970.

Today he's more at home behind the wheel of classic 911 race cars — when he's not coaching at Silverstone, that is.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, considering his connection with the German marque, he's a big fan of the Porsche 911 GT3 RS. But unlike modern race drivers, he doesn't do what he calls 'bullshit'.

He hates modern F1 for example, doesn't like race cars with big downforce and despises SUVs. But when he loves something, (Moto GP, oversteer, racing himself) he doesn't hold back.

Better still, he's bursting with both hair-curling and entertaining anecdotes of racing and gloriously grumpy. And despite nudging his eighth decade, Attwood is both fast (still), utterly fearless and great company. You'd like him.

Which is reassuring, because from behind the wheel, at first, the Porsche 911 GT3 RS is every bit as intimidating as its motorsport-suited aero suggests.

Despite looking similar to the first 991-based 911 GT3 RS, the latest incarnation is best viewed as a normally aspirated version of the 911 GT2 RS.

Instead of a twin-turbo donk, there's a development of the old car's 4.0-litre flat-six that now pushes out 383kW/470Nm – an additional 15kW and 10Nm, thanks to a revised intake, new exhaust and the inevitable ECU tweak.

Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of the updated big-bore boxer six is that it generates its peak power at 8250rpm and revs to a stratospheric 9000rpm.

It's also comfortably the loudest production car we've driven in a long time.

Unlike the regular GT3, there's no six-speed manual option and, according to Attwood, I'm a fool to wish there was, because the revised seven-speed dual-clutch PDK 'box is, in his words, the "best in the business".

Sharing a front axle with the GT2 RS, the cheaper RS sibling comes with the same rose-jointed suspension, with all rubber bushings binned to improve steering feel and chassis response.

Spring rates are double that of the old car, which wasn't known for its ride comfort, but off-setting the stiffer coils, engineers have reduced anti-roll bar stiffness and recalibrated the adaptive dampers.

Look closer at the revised aero package — again, pinched from the GT2 RS — and you'll spot the NACA bonnet vents that channel cool air directly to the front brakes.

Overall, Porsche claims the GT3 RS generates 480kg of downforce at its top speed – around the same as a 911 Cup car, but with far less drag.

Despite some marginal weight saving that includes thinner carpets and less sound-deadening, the Porsche 911 GT3 RS tips the scales at the same 1430kg as the old car.

That's around 40kg lighter than the GT2, enabling Michelin to go back to the drawing board and develop bespoke tyres for the 20-inch (265/35) front wheels and the larger 21-inch (325/30) rear wheels, in search of a softer compound for even more traction and grip.

Along with the marginal power and torque gains, Porsche claims the GT3 RS will hit 100km/h in 3.2 seconds (0.2sec quicker than the old car) and top out at 312km/h (6km/h slower than the GT3 on account of the bigger aero).

Like the GT2, Porsche will also offer a performance-enhancing Weissach pack ($34,390) that adds a carbon-fibre roof and anti-roll bars, and carves around 18kg off the kerb weight.

If you opt for the Clubsport pack, Porsche will also happily swap your steel roll cage for a lighter titanium one that shaves off another 12kg.

Later on, ultra-lightweight forged magnesium alloy wheels will also be available, but only after the order bank for the GT2 has been satisfied.

Our test car does without all the above but comes with the enormous ceramic brake option that combines six-and four-piston callipers with 410mm discs up front and 390mm rear rotors.

Claimed to weigh just half what the steel stoppers do, the ceramic brakes are said to offer virtually fade-free retardation however hard you work them on track.

Joining the small short straight at the Experience Centre, brake feel is remarkable and the ability of the ceramic discs to slow the RS unquestioned.

What is questionable on this track is my gear choice, Attwood exclaims. "Interesting thing about Jim Clark was he was always in a gear higher than you when he was beating you," the Le Mans winner tells me.

A better bet is to simply leave the PDK in 'auto', Attwood says. ‘Sacrilege', I think, but of course his decades of motorsport and thousands of laps on this very circuit are right.

The dual-clutch is as intuitive as it is quick and, despite its distinct lack of turbochargers, the GT3 RS never feels like it lacks torque.

Neither does it feel short-changed at the top-end. In fact, who needs turbos? The urge from 5000 to 9000rpm seems faintly ludicrous.

Steering feel and accuracy, meanwhile, is as good as anything I've driven, while the rear-steer system operation is barely imperceptible (take note, Renault Sport!), only adding an extra valuable layer of precision to help you nail that apex.

Most of the time, the Porsche 911 GT3 RS fools you into thinking it could even be, dare we say it, mid-engined — such is its sweet sensitivity to throttle inputs.

Pushing a little harder, we brake too late and turn-in. It’s here that you become acutely aware of its engine's geographical location in the 911's chassis.

But it isn't the disaster it once was. Do that in an old 996 or 997 GT3 and you would have your work cut out managing both the initial understeer then snap transition into big oversteer.

Luckily, the latest RS's tenacious lateral grip on the front axle means there's less of both and it's easier than ever before to use the weight of that rear engine as a pendulum.

Also, instead of a snap, the tail arcs wide far more progressively than ever before. Picking up the throttle early, it's easy to indulge in a whiff of sustained oversteer – but perhaps not today with Dickie, who's keener for me to improve apex speed than drift angle.

Understandable with the lack of run-off.

Even on the smooth circuit, the suspension seems happiest in its 'normal' damper setting. Any more and the RS feels skittish and nervous.

But nervous isn't really part of the GT3 RS's vocabulary. Despite its connection with motorsport, the feedback the chassis provides is pure road car and it gives you the confidence to push.

We're even willing to wager that on this small track and the majority of Australian circuits, you can use far more of the RS's performance than the monstrous GT2 RS's — at least in this mere mortal's hands.

After two hard 40-minute sessions, the tyres are coping well with the abuse, refusing to show any signs of giving up their tenacious purchase of the black-top.

Same goes for those big brakes; despite some extra noise the pedal remains firm, although most experienced track-day fiends will be better to forgo the costly $21,590 ceramic option and stick with the steel brakes that will be far cheaper to replace and more than enough for most outings.

It's marginal whether or not it's possible to justify the Weissach pack that costs a hefty $41,990 with the titanium roll cage in place. We'd be happy to avoid the two-tone carbon-fibre paint look for the (fractionally) subtler all-paint look.

We still long for a manual gearbox, despite Attwood's insistence it would ruin the GT3 RS's nature, because of its final extra level of involvement.

But, as it is — even alongside rivals from Lamborghini, McLaren, Mercedes-AMG and Ferrari — as a fast, tough, durable track-day tool, the Porsche 911 GT3 RS is hard to beat at $416,500 plus on-road costs.

The only frustration is securing a build slot before they all sell out.

Ever the racer Attwood, meanwhile, says he'd give the Porsche 911 GT3 RS a miss, preferring the "faster still" all-wheel drive 911 Turbo S.

Then again, the Le Mans winner does have access to Porsche’s priceless historic race car collection on weekends.

How much does a 2018 Porsche 911 GT3 RS cost?
Price: $416,100 (plus on-road costs)
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six petrol
Output: 383kW/470Nm
Transmission: Seven-speed dual-clutch automatic
Fuel: 12.8L/100km (NEDC Combined)
CO2: 291g/km (NEDC Combined)
Safety rating: Not tested