PORSCHE UNVEILS BEASTS ON A TRACK
New customer race cars — 911 GT3 Cup, 911 GT3 R and the 911 RSR — are winners
EUROSPEEDWAY LAUSITZ, KLETTWITZ,
It’s one thing to post GERMANY the fastest lap in a race. It’s an entirely different thing to be fast for the entire race distance and arrive at the finish line before anyone else, especially when that race lasts 24 hours.
The folks at Porsche Motorsport are masters at going fast during long-distance races, and this expertise covers all facets of racing, from building championship-winning race cars, to recruiting young drivers.
We were offered an exclusive firsthand view of Porsche’s racewinning formula, and that view was from the driver’s seats of three of the company’s latest customer race cars: the 911 GT3 Cup, the 911 GT3 R and the 911 RSR.
911 RSR (US$980,000)
The new 911 RSR debuted at the 24 Hours of Daytona last January, and beneath its 911 bodywork is an entirely new chassis. Unlike the GT3 Cup and GT3 R, which feature McPherson strut front and multi-link rear suspension systems, the RSR has double wishbone axles front and rear, with an integrated rear axle subframe.
In a rare case where the transfer of technology has gone from street to track, the RSR features a radar-assisted collision warning system, alerting the driver when faster cars (such as LMP prototypes) are approaching during a race.
Although it’s also powered by a 4.0-litre naturally aspirated flat six, it’s an entirely new, lighter engine that produces 510 horsepower. One reason Porsche forfeited the turbocharger is that LM- GTE rules stipulate that turbocharged and non-turbo engines must have identical torque characteristics, so dropping the turbo saves as much as 40 kilograms. Turbocharged engines also run hotter, so more weight is saved by using a smaller cooling system.
The biggest change, however, is that the engine has been moved ahead of the rear axle. An exterior cue to this change is the much larger rear diffuser, a modification facilitated by the new engine position. A firewall located just aft of the driver’s seat hints at the car’s redesigned hindquarters. The relocated engine redistributes weight favourably, but more importantly it reduces tire wear so that the RSR can race for two stints before needing fresh rubber.
911 GT3 CUP (US$220,000)
With more than 3,000 units delivered since its introduction in 1998, the Porsche GT3 Cup is the most widely sold GT race car in the world. For the 2017 racing season it gets an updated appearance to better match the recently refreshed 991.2 Carrera, as well as a new 4.0-L, 485-hp naturally aspirated flat six, which is up 15 hp from the 3.8-L engine in the previous Cup car.
The new car competes exclusively this year in the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup, the Carrera Cup Germany and the GT3 Cup Challenge in the U.S.
This is the machine that young drivers who participate in Porsche’s Junior Drivers program must master before moving up the ranks. And there’s no doubt that these young drivers will have received a thorough education behind the wheel, because the GT3 Cup has no ABS, no traction control, and it lacks the corner-gripping high downforce of the GT3 R and 911 RSR. At 1,200 kg it’s the lightest of Porsche’s GT race cars.
911 GT3 R (US$500,000)
Based on the 911 GT3 RS street car, the 911 GT3 R was redesigned for 2016, with a 100-millimetre-longer wheelbase that improved weight bias and made handling more predictable. It has already been victorious this season in 24-hour races at Daytona, Paul Ricard in France and Dubai.
It’s powered by a 4.0-L, naturally aspirated flat six tuned to produce 500 hp, which is almost identical in spec to the streetlegal GT3 RS engine. This car is easily identifiable by the sizable louvres above the front wheels that reduce lift at speed and, of course, the massive rear wing. It weighs in at 1,220 kg.
My driving stints begin in the GT3 R. The GT3 R barks to life with the push of the start button, its chassis reverberating with an angry roar. It’s the only car equipped with traction control and ABS, which are adjustable and set for a wide margin of safety.
Like its two other track-oriented siblings, it has a clutch pedal, which is used only to launch the car; shifting thereafter is done via steering wheel-mounted paddles. The downforce it generates combines with the tenacious grip of the large slicks to glue the car to the racetrack, amplifying the forces felt from the driver’s seat many times over. Braking bulges eyeballs, and cornering forces you into the seat’s very deep side bolsters. The six-point seatbelts are pulled tight like cargo straps for a reason: to keep you planted so you can manage the controls.
Whereas the GT3 R sounds angry at startup, the RSR’s raspy roar is absolutely livid, making earplugs in the cockpit a must.
Its loud exhaust note wasn’t intentional, according to Porsche GT Motorsport communications spokesman, Oliver Hilger, but was instead a byproduct of a safer exhaust-system design. It was discovered that when racing, rubber thrown off the tires would accumulate on the exhaust pipes and occasionally catch fire.
Because there’s less weight over the rear axle, the RSR had a tendency to oversteer when trailbraking into a turn, demanding a more judicious foot on the pedal, especially since it lacks the R’s ABS. The RSR’s altered weight bias allows it to pivot much quicker than the R mid-turn, almost feeling like steering is assisted from the rear. Traction control keeps the rear in check at corner exit, a series of blue LEDs on the dash lighting to let you know you might have otherwise spun the car.
Despite its less aggressive appearance and more modest spec sheet, the hardest car to drive was the GT3 Cup. It has no traction control, no ABS, reduced downforce and less mechanical grip. In other words, there’s not much there to help you drive fast, other than talent.
There are only two ways you can apply the throttle at corner exit: the right amount or too much. After driving two cars with traction control, my right foot had been tempered to apply the latter, and on my fourth lap in the Cup, while exiting the track’s fastest sweeper, the rear end kicked out and the car slid sideways into a gravel trap.
I offered to pick up a broom and help sweep the track clean.
The GT3 R barks to life
... its chassis reverberating with an angry roar. It’s the only car equipped with traction control and ABS.