2017 Porsche 911 GT3 review, full details

Porsche has the art of exciting 911 devotees down to a science, and the buildup to the reveal of the 2016 Porsche 911 GT3 RS was no different. For most neunelf followers, the twitching began with the simple knowledge that the car was on its way, the eagerness growing to sweaty-palmed anticipation with every unsubstantiated rumor or spy shot.

While Porsche’s engineers toiled to take the rear-engine principle to new levels of insanity, sufferers played into the drama, their uncertainty cultivating impure thoughts like, “Wouldn’t it make more sense to fit the engine in the middle—you know, like in the Cayman?” And “Turbocharging is pretty much a given, right?” And “Zuffenhausen? I thought the city shut down all those unlicensed rave clubs.” We’re here to report that all the worry was for naught.

Continuing on the path of its predecessors, the newest 911 GT3 RS arrives packing 500 horsepower and 338 lb-ft of torque courtesy of a naturally aspirated 4.0-liter flat-six hanging off the back end, where God and Ferdinand Porsche intended. Sharp-eyed aficionados will be quick to point out that those numbers are nearly spot on with those of the 2012 GT3 RS 4.0, matching it in displacement and horsepower while losing a single pound-foot somewhere along the way. This, we can live with. More disconcerting, however, is that a seven-speed PDK is the only available transmission in the 2016 car, at least at launch. (As we have reported, however, a manual is being seriously considered for later.) On the upside, a paddle-neutral feature and a button for limiting pit-lane speed are standard, and the RS also gets a shorter rear axle ratio than the standard 911 GT3, which should provide for hastier takeoffs.

Porsche, whose estimates are generally on the conservative side, pegs the 911 GT3 RS’s zero-to-60-mph time at 3.1 seconds and its zero-to-124-mph run at 10.9; the sprint through the quarter-mile is said to consume 11.2 seconds, and Vmax is achieved when the speedometer reads 193 mph. When we strapped our test gear to the current-generation, 475-hp 911 GT3, we hit 60 in 3.0 and matched the RS’s quoted quarter-mile run. You can see why we’re betting Porsche came in soft on the initial performance numbers.

The 2016 GT3 RS’s 7-minute, 20-second lap time on the Nürburgring Nordschleife, the gold standard of performance hairsplitting, handily betters the regular GT3’s time by five seconds. Useful equipment in that endeavor includes the car’s bespoke Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires—the widest fit to any 911, Porsche says—on center-lock wheels. A fully adjustable suspension allows owners to tweak the camber, caster, and anti-roll bar settings, and the RS also features rear-wheel steering, an infinitely variable locking limited-slip differential (PTV Plus), and Porsche Active Suspension Management.

The body is shared with the 911 Turbo, which, combined with the new wheels and tires, gives the car wider front and rear tracks than the regular GT3. Despite the familial resemblance, the GT3 RS manages to look even meaner, sporting louvered vents atop the front fenders, a positively massive rear wing, and brake rotors larger than LeBron James’s size-15 kicks.

As you’d expect from such a track-focused beast, exotic and advanced materials are part of the mix, including carbon-fiber panels for the engine cover and the frunk. A magnesium roof with a double-bubble recess helps make room for helmeted heads, the bodies attached to which are seated in the red and black faux-suede-trimmed bucket seats. The steering wheel gets the faux-suede treatment, too, a single yellow accent marking the twelve-o’clock position. Lightweight fabric-loop door pulls stand in for conventional pieces. All in, Porsche says the GT3 RS weighs 22 pounds less than the GT3.

As is its wont, Porsche took time to assemble a healthy list of options, including a lightweight lithium-ion battery, front-axle lift system, carbon-ceramic brakes, and the Sport Chrono Package. The last item includes the Porsche Track Precision app, which allows you to use GPS to measure and record performance numbers that are then synced with your smartphone to compare against your fellow enthusiasts. The privileges of foregoing air conditioning and/or an audio system are, thankfully, no-charge options. As is usual practice for hard-core Porsches, the Clubsport Package—which brings a roll cage, wiring for a kill switch, an interior-mounted fire extinguisher, and a six-point harness—will not be available in the U.S. It is, naturally, standard in Europe.

Those who want to scratch their RS itch in the most satisfying way possible are advised to start clipping coupons—and soon. Pricing for the 2016 GT3 RS starts at $176,895, and dealers will begin taking orders right now for July deliveries.