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S H E E T M E TA L
AIRBORNE WEAPON THE NEW 911 GT3 RS HARNESSES THE AIR TO CREATE THE ULTIMATE TRACKBRED PORSCHE.
AFTER A HALF CENTURY of 911 RS models, Porsche could be suffocated by success, having bumped the ceiling of what a gasoline-powered sports car could do. The 2023 911 GT3 RS, though, is a naturally aspirated glutton for (and a spectacular example of) fresh air. The GT3 RS generates 518 hp and 342 lb-ft of torque from its 4.0-liter six. That power is best unleashed on a circuit such as England’s Silverstone, a Formula 1 amphitheater that highlights this superstar’s 9000-rpm vocal range and gripping performance. The RS brims with carbon fiber, in most body panels as well as in its skyscraping rear wing, Race-Tex-clad bucket seats, and, with the Weissach package, anti-roll bars. A Ring-ready suspension is a racer’s dream: Springs are firmer than a standard GT3’s (50 percent more so up front, 60 percent in back), and four intuitive steeringwheel knobs allow adjustment of front and rear rebound and compression. Porsche Torque Vectoring offers a similar plus-minus range of settings for the electronic differential, for either coasting and braking or lockup on corner exits. Air is the GT3 RS’s stock-in-trade, the cooling breeze, vivifying oxygen, and crushing downforce that link it directly to the GT3 R racer that glowers in the Silverstone paddock. Andreas Preuninger, head of Porsche GT vehicles, explains the obvious, saying, “From the first look at the GT3 RS, you know: It’s all about aerodynamics.”
