Motoring

MOTORING

Porsche 911 GT3 RS: The sound of violence

Porsche 911 GT3 RS:  The sound of violence
Porsche 911 GT3 RS. Image supplied.

Afterwards, it’s the sound that you remember most: a hoarse, deep, guttural growl that rises in pitch and anger with a feral ferocity. Perfectly synced with the rev counter needle’s rapid progress around the dial, it’s the loud and proud war cry of an endangered species…

Soon, they won’t be making cars like they used to: unapologetically exciting, pulse-thumping, hard-charging machines designed to cover ground with indecent pace while demanding 110% of the driver’s wide-eyed, white-knuckled attention.

Porsche 911 GT3 RS. Image supplied.

Instead, we’re preparing ourselves for a new era of vehicles that drive themselves, that use near-silent electric motors for their stealthy progress, and that promise to reduce the motoring experience to something about as exciting as watching a battery charge.

Already, our cars are warning us of drowsiness, errant pedestrians and straying from a chosen lane. They do the braking if you don’t brake fast enough, can park better than you ever could, and reward you with tamagoshi-style icons for driving with a green conscience.

Porsche 911 GT3 RS. Image supplied.

It all sounds like a mind-numbing, anodyne motoring future to me – one in which milestone cars, real cars, like the Porsche 911 GT3 RS will almost certainly be outlawed, but fondly and not so secretly remembered by anyone fortunate enough to have experienced it.

Love it or hate it, the 911 GT3 RS is not an easy car to forget – and not just because of this particular example’s luminous emerald hue. The Porsche draws a very thin, even tenuous line between road machine and race car.

Everything about the green monster shouts track weapon. The huge rear wing is a defining feature, elevated high enough to allow a carbon fibre-framed view through the slanted rear screen, and promising equally huge lashings of grip-inducing downforce.

Porsche 911 GT3 RS. Image supplied.

The front fenders get matt black-slitted vents that expel the aerodynamic pressure created by the fast-turning alloy wheels to reduce lift and improve front-end grip. Arrow-shaped bonnet ducts feed heat-soothing air to the massive disc brakes.

It’s the kind of detail that will have motoring anoraks enraptured for hours, but more importantly, every slot, sill, splitter, spoiler, wing and duct makes a very real difference. This is a very, very focussed performance machine.

Porsche 911 GT3 RS. Image supplied.

You see the same, obsessive attention to detail when it comes to modern motoring’s enemy number one: weight. Compared to the almost dainty 911 of the 1960s and 1970s, the GT3 RS is imposingly corpulent, thanks to a broader body, wider tracks and all those trick aero add-ons.

But it’s not reflected on the scales. Thanks to plenty of carbon fibre, aluminium and exotic alloys, the standard GT3 RS weighs in at 1,430kg. Specifying the even lighter Weissach package option trims that down to a tidy 1,4 tons.

Porsche 911 GT3 RS. Image supplied.

All of this underlines the close relationship between the GT3 RS and the track-only Porsche GT3 Cup racer. After all, both cars were developed side by side at Porsche’s motorsport department.

Even so, as far as amenities go, the GT3 RS is no stripped out race car. It has all the mod cons: full-colour touchscreen, satnav, multispeaker audio, Bluetooth, climate control … even carpets, door panels and a padded dashboard.

Porsche 911 GT3 RS. Image supplied.

Purists can opt to have most of the comfort kit removed to save a few more grams, but let’s face it – unless you’re a works driver like Porsche Le Mans ace Timo Bernhard, you’ll never feel the difference.

Carbon fibre-shelled bucket seats, full racing harnesses, a roll cage (in titanium) and a fire extinguisher all have race car written all over them, though, and set the tone for the dynamic overload to follow.

Porsche 911 GT3 RS. Image supplied.

Like all 911s, the engine is flat six, planted at the rear. The GT3 RS gets the most powerful iteration of this power plant in normally aspirated form to date: a high-revving 4.0-litre mill with 383kW and 460Nm on tap.

It’s a zinger of an engine this, revving with unbridled enthusiasm all the way to the dizzying 9,000rpm red line, while delivering its urge with a linear intensity that never lets up. And then there’s the sound …

Porsche 911 GT3 RS. Image supplied.

The transition from menacing growl to banshee wail is a seamless crescendo of mechanical exuberance. It reverberates inside the Porsche’s cabin with an all-consuming intensity that’s the perfect soundtrack for the almost terrifying pace of the unravelling ribbon of road ahead.

But that’s not only the sound. It’s punctuated by percussive impacts of small stones propelled into the wheel arches by those gumball Michelin tyres. The crunch and clunk as the drivetrain elements engage, the high-pitched screech of the ceramic brakes.

Porsche 911 GT3 RS. Image supplied.

These are sounds common to most cars, but rarely heard, let alone savoured. Yet here, they form part of a delicious cacophony that ensures complete and unencumbered dialogue between pilot and Porsche.

As if that aural rapport wasn’t enough, there’s plenty of tactile communication, too. Strapped tight into that lightweight bucket, the Porsche feels viscerally, dauntingly alive.

Porsche 911 GT3 RS. Image supplied.

You can sense the race-bred suspension working under you, feel the shift and shimmy of the steering as the wheels negotiate the tarmac. Even smooth surfaces are translated with a tangible honesty that brings the driving experience into sharp, unfiltered focus.

As much as the 911 GT3 RS would call a racing circuit its natural habitat, it’s about as impressive a road machine as they come. The throttle response is razor sharp, unleashing the boxer engine’s fury at the slightest provocation.

Porsche 911 GT3 RS. Image supplied.

From there, it’s hell for leather all the way. The Porsche slingshots towards the distant horizon with brutal intent, pinning you to the seat as the 100km/h mark flashes past in just more than 3sec.

The acceleration is relentless, interrupted only by the short, sharp, staccato shifts of the seven-speed dual clutch gearbox. Paddle shifts add to the race car feel – and frankly you don’t want to fuss with a manual ‘box at these speeds.

Porsche 911 GT3 RS. Image supplied.

If there’s enough open road, 200km/h comes up in just 10.6 sec. And despite that huge wing’s 140kg of downforce, top speed is 312 km/h.

The GT3 RS might feel ballistic in straight-line terms, but it’s the way it corners that puts it an entirely different, supernatural league. The way it faithfully executes the driver’s every steering wish, almost regardless of speed, surface or camber, is quite uncanny.

But don’t for a moment imagine that willingness to toe the chosen line as a sign of meek obedience. This Porsche makes its driver earn his stripes.

Porsche 911 GT3 RS. Image supplied.

You need to keep your wits about you, using every sense at your disposal (including that elusive sixth one, if you can) to remain just that vital half-step ahead of a car that always feels faster than you.

But it also offers you the best possible tools to remain firmly in command: crisply precise and ultra-direct steering, a chassis that tells the full dynamic story, and top-drawer handling. The front-end grip beggars belief, especially in a car where much of the weight is rear-biased.

That big wing starts coming into play at around the 200km/h mark, keeping the rear firmly hunkered down, even on bumpy country roads. And the sticky, dual-compound Michelin tyres add vital grip.

Porsche 911 GT3 RS. Image supplied.

Let’s not forget those massive brakes that can haul the Porsche down to pedestrian speeds faster than you can shout “full stop”.

Ask me: when you’re flinging the green machine around a lazy sweep at an indecent speed, you don’t want to find a truck trundling along at 20km/h on the other side. Fortunately, this 911 sheds velocity as fast as it gathers it – and calmly averts near-certain disaster.

Yes, you need to drive the GT3 RS with just the right mix of confidence and circumspection. But get that right, and the car becomes a fluid and thoroughly rewarding expression of the performance car art.

Porsche 911 GT3 RS. Image supplied.

Finally, after the Overberg’s wheat field-framed roller-coaster roads, after the bump-and-grind undulations of the Akkedisberg, and after the treacherous but oh so rewarding twists and turns of Franschhoek Pass, it’s time to park and switch off.

The abrupt silence that follows is almost eerie, disturbed only by the clicks and pops of the engine’s heat escaping. But in my head, it’s that angry banshee wail that lives on. It’s a sound I won’t forget in a hurry. DM

PROS

The ultimate road machine for those who like their performance motoring demanding and rewarding.

CONS

You’ll struggle to find a new one – and existing owners aren’t willing sellers at this point.

VITAL STATS

Porsche 911 GT3 RS

Engine

Flat-six cylinder, 3,996cc

Power

383kW @ 8,250rpm

Torque

470Nm @ 6,000rpm

Power-to-weight ratio

273.57 kW/ton

Gearbox

Seven-speed PDK dual-clutch, RWD

Wheels/tyres

Alloy, 265/35 R20 (f) 325/30 R21 (r) tyres

0-100 km/h

3.2sec

Top speed

312km/h

Fuel tank capacity

64 litres

Fuel consumption (claimed)

12.8 litres/100km

Operating range (claimed)

500km

CO2 emissions

291 g/km

Retail price / as tested

R3,419,000 / R4,117,900

Gallery

Please peer review 3 community comments before your comment can be posted

X

This article is free to read.

Sign up for free or sign in to continue reading.

Unlike our competitors, we don’t force you to pay to read the news but we do need your email address to make your experience better.


Nearly there! Create a password to finish signing up with us:

Please enter your password or get a sign in link if you’ve forgotten

Open Sesame! Thanks for signing up.

We would like our readers to start paying for Daily Maverick...

…but we are not going to force you to. Over 10 million users come to us each month for the news. We have not put it behind a paywall because the truth should not be a luxury.

Instead we ask our readers who can afford to contribute, even a small amount each month, to do so.

If you appreciate it and want to see us keep going then please consider contributing whatever you can.

Support Daily Maverick→
Payment options

Become a Maverick Insider

This could have been a paywall

On another site this would have been a paywall. Maverick Insider keeps our content free for all.

Become an Insider

Every seed of hope will one day sprout.

South African citizens throughout the country are standing up for our human rights. Stay informed, connected and inspired by our weekly FREE Maverick Citizen newsletter.