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The 2023 Porsche 911 GT3 RS Is a Track Superstar

The GT3 RS as it's meant to be driven

2023 Porsche 911 GT3 RS
  • High-revving, naturally aspirated 4.0-liter flat-six is a race engine for the road.
  • GT3 RS adds huge gains in downforce rather than greater power in the pursuit of faster lap times.
  • Greater chassis and drive mode configurations give more options for track driving.

Perhaps the most hotly anticipated new Porsche 911 derivative of all of them, the GT3 RS is the Porsche GT department's most extreme take on a racer for the road. It's unapologetically hardcore in its intent — that being a car that you can drive to a racetrack and set blistering lap times before driving it home. Naturally, there are some compromises to be made for that ability. Firstly, it's not a car for shy, retiring types (how could it be with all those overt aerodynamic addenda?). All those intakes, vents, vanes, splitters, diffusers and wings are there for a purpose — to exploit the air traveling over, through and around the car to create downforce to achieve ever faster lap times.

The GT3 RS is similarly uncompromising in its interior specification, with deep bucket sport seats, no front trunk, and the sort of suspension specification that assumes its life will be spent more on smooth racetrack surfaces rather than roads of varying condition. Porsche's enhancements here are all about aerodynamic and chassis revisions rather than simply cranking out more horsepower to achieve greater speed. Such is its track focus that our early drive was exclusively on the Silverstone racetrack in England, where the GT3 RS proved to be mightily quick and entertaining.

A high-revving, naturally aspirated wonder

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2023 Porsche 911 GT3 RS

The GT3 RS's 4.0-liter flat-six engine is based on that of its GT3 relation; though similarly track-oriented, the "standard" car is not quite so hardcore. Unlike any other 911 in Porsche's lineup, the GT department's flat-six does without any turbochargers, so it's not the most powerful engine in the range — the 911 Turbo and 911 Turbo S take that accolade. Instead, the GT3 RS's engine is all about the experience and response. The 4.0-liter is a high-revving, virtually race-spec engine, which produces its maximum 518 horsepower up at a heady 8,500 rpm, before reaching a 9,000 rpm redline. Porsche says it'll reach 60 mph in 3.0 seconds and top out at 184 mph top speed. That maximum speed is some 13 mph down compared to the standard GT3 due to the RS's more aggressive aerodynamics.

The engine differs from the standard GT3 engine by adopting new camshafts and an individual throttle valve intake system, but the GT department engineers admit that with this naturally aspirated engine it's no longer about chasing greater power. The focus is instead on continually developing the motor to allow it to create the power it does offer while passing ever stricter global emissions, fuel economy and even sound regulations. It's fitted to a seven-speed PDK twin-clutch paddle-shifted automatic transmission, with all its power transmitted to the rear wheels only.

Sublime from behind the wheel

2023 Porsche 911 GT3 RS

The GT3 RS is Porsche's most driver-focused car, and as such it's pretty much the car to beat in the class. All its predecessors have, rightfully, become icons of their respective eras, and Porsche always pulls out all the stops with its new car to ensure that remains the status quo. The 992 series represents the sixth generation of GT3 RS and it delivers a hugely engaging, visceral driving experience.

With ever greater power outputs no longer possible, there's been a far greater emphasis on the GT3 RS's outright track performance, and in particular in relation to its aerodynamics. This is the first 911 GT3 RS to feature active aerodynamics, with the huge rear wing working in combination with active elements fore of the front wheels to maintain aerodynamic balance. The net effect of that is that at 177 mph the 911 GT3 is able to generate as much as 1,895 pounds of downforce. To put that into perspective, this figure is higher than McLaren quoted for its similarly track-focused Senna hypercar. Indeed, that level of downforce is similar to what Porsche's race cars manage, to the extent that in some corners the GT3 RS, on road tires, can actually sustain a higher g loading than a slick-tire-shod racer.

All that might suggest that the GT3 RS will need the sort of driver who's got a cabinet bursting full of race-winning trophies, but it simply isn't. Porsche's clever trick has been to create a car that can lap at eye-widening speeds but can also be enjoyed by mere mortals.

Key to that is how it all feels. The steering is beautifully quick and accurate, and its weighting superbly judged, while the engine's responsiveness — allied to the immediacy of the paddle-shifted transmission — makes it a joy to wring out to its lofty redline. Do so and it sounds fantastic even when, as we did, you're listening to the sound of the flat-six behind you through a racing helmet. Grip levels are huge and traction is similarly impressive, with the brakes seemingly unending in their ability to haul the GT3 RS down from the high speeds it so easily achieves. Maintaining those speeds is part of the real fun, as the aerodynamic downforce, in combination with the wide track and excellent Michelin Cup 2 tires, allows the GT3 RS to corner at speeds, underlining where all Porsche's efforts in creating this new car have been concentrated. 

Not just a track brute

2023 Porsche 911 GT3 RS

With its uncompromising track intent, you'd expect the 911 GT3 RS to be somewhat uncomfortable, and, by conventional measure, you'd be right. The suspension, even with the potential to switch between various modes, is set up for lap times, so even with it dialed back to its most compliant it'll still feel firm and unyielding on the road. That's unlikely to come as any surprise to a typical GT3 RS buyer, though, so it's unfair to complain about it. Since it's stripped of a lot of weighty sound-deadening material, there will be a lot of tire noise on the road too. That engine's very vocal, but it's the right kind of sounds coming from out back, so, again, it's all in keeping with the GT3 RS's intent.

The more extreme nature of the car does mean that you do without back seats, or indeed a front trunk (Porsche needed room for an extra radiator and the active aero elements). But, similarly, these are concessions most owners will be only too happy to make. Should you find the deep, figure-hugging fixed sport seats a bit snug, or tricky to get in and out of — we love the connectedness they bring, even if you will need practice to get in and out of them gracefully — Porsche will swap them out for a set of less extreme Adaptive Sport Seats Plus that bring 18-way electrical adjustment.

No seats, no problem

The GT3 RS might be the most overtly track-focused 911 in the range, but that doesn't mean it's austere inside. The cabin is all familiar 911, with a handful of racy details, including a steering wheel with four knobs that allow you to adjust various drive settings. The materials are all of a quality and feel you'd expect in such a high-dollar purchase. There are no rear seats, though the days of properly spec-deleted GT3 RSs are gone, so all come with equipment like air conditioning and a stereo, because, in reality, with the predecessor cars, people always checked those boxes on the options list.

It's lightweight, then, but the savings have been made where you can't really see them. They include extensive carbon-fiber bodywork, aluminum suspension elements, lighter wheels and a single radiator out front — as opposed to three on lesser 911s. Even so, the GT3 RS is actually a touch heavier than its GT3 relation, with a curb weight of 3,268 pounds compared to the GT3's 3,164 pounds, due to the wider Turbo-derived body, larger wheels and tires, and the active aero elements. 

Using tech to advance performance

2023 Porsche 911 GT3 RS

The primary difference between the RS and standard GT3 is the former's exclusive chassis and aero technology, with the four dials on the steering wheel allowing you to be both driver and race engineer in one. There's a DRS (Drag Reduction System) button that flattens the rear wing on the straights for high-speed running. That dial also allows the driver to alter the compression and rebound on the dampers, the amount of traction and stability control over a breadth of stages, and even the way the electronically controlled limited-slip differential (e-diff) works.

If that all sounds a bit confusing and overkill, — and we're happy to admit it did to us — the default settings are set up to show the car in its best light in normal conditions. The adjustability does allow you to refine the car to suit your driving style or the peculiarities of the track. On a tight left-hander, I mentioned to Porsche's test driver Jörg Bergmeister that I had experienced just a touch of push on understeer, and he suggested dialing back the coast on the e-diff. The result of doing so was immediate and impressive. If you're seriously invested in your track driving, as GT3 RS customers are likely to be, these new configurable elements will allow you to enjoy and exploit the GT3 RS's ability to a greater degree than ever before.  

Going even further

In typical Porsche fashion, even the extreme GT3 RS has an extensive options list. While most add-ons are available on other 911s — including carbon-ceramic brakes — the Weissach package is GT3 RS-exclusive. This is a $33,520 option pack that adds a high-gloss carbon-fiber roof, partially painted and high-gloss carbon-fiber front trunklid, and upper portion of the moving rear wing in carbon fiber (with a PORSCHE logo on its underside) as well as interior trim elements in carbon fiber. It also includes anti-roll bars and rear coupling rods made of carbon fiber-reinforced plastic, as well as super lightweight forged magnesium wheels.

Edmunds says

A car that's unapologetically singular in its intent, the GT3 RS is a fantastically capable and hugely enjoyable driver's car. It won't be for everyone as a result, but that's the point of it. If you love to drive — and specifically on a track — it doesn't really get much better than this. As we race ever closer to a battery-powered future, the GT3 RS feels a bit like an end-of-days celebration to combustion, and one that's undeniably at the very top of its game.

2023 Porsche 911 GT3 RS