These customer race cars are all are beasts on a track

First Drive: Porsche’s 911 GT3 R, RSR and GT3 Cup

DRIVING.CA

EUROSPEEDWAY LAUSITZ, KLETTWITZ, Germany — It’s one thing to post 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.

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 multilink rear suspension systems, the RSR has double wishbone axles front and rear, with an integrated rear axle sub-frame.

In a rare case where the transfer of technology has gone from street to track, the RSR features a radarassisted 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 nonturbo 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. From the interior, 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, something Porsche GT Motorsport communications spokesman, Oliver Hilger, says Ferraris are particularly good at.

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 4.0L, 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 United States, before opening up to all 20 of Porsche’s spec series worldwide next year.

This is the machine that young drivers who participate in Porsche’s Junior Drivers program must master before moving up the ranks to the Young Professionals program, and eventually to a factory ride. 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.

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 street-legal 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.