Column The speed king

If you plan to buy the new Porsche 911 GT3 RS, make sure you have a racetrack close by

You would think that the purpose and relevance of the new 911 GT3 RS, the most track-focussed production Porsche ever did, would be lost on Indian customers. Quite the contrary. With race tracks mushrooming all over the country, there’s no better time than now to put your deposit down for the most extreme 911 yet. Essentially a race car with a number plate on it, the GT3 RS is the result of decades of motorsport experience (and excellence) distilled into what is possibly the most engaging and uncompromising road-legal machine.

Except that, though it has niceties like air-conditioning and an infotainment system, it’s not really a road machine. Its natural habitat is a place like the Buddh Circuit, where, in the hands of the right driver, it could easily break production car lap records. This latest Porsche is all about speed—blinding speed—and it looks the part even when standing still.

WITH THE NEW, TRACKBRED, AERODYNAMIC 911 GT3 RS, PORSCHE HAS BROUGHT F1 TECHNOLOGY TO YOU

F1 tech

Track-bred 911s are known for their massive wings, but the one on the GT3 RS takes it to the next level. The humongous rear wing, big enough for the Porsche management board to use as a conference table, sets the tone for what the new GT3 RS is all about—aerodynamics.

Honed in a wind tunnel, the car has a number of groundbreaking aero aids that generate a record downforce—860kg at 285kph. That sort of weight pressing down on the car gives you fantastic grip around corners, but not on the straights, where the air pressure creates lots of drag and limits your top speed.

However, with the 911 GT3 RS, Porsche has brought F1 technology to you. This is the first Porsche to have a Drag Reduction System (DRS) which pops up the rear wing for maximum downforce around corners, or flattens it for low drag down the straights. Apart from making you feel like Messrs Hamilton and Verstappen, DRS optimises the car’s aero-efficiency around a racetrack in the quest for the best lap time.

Taking off

The race track we are at is Silverstone, home to the British Grand Prix, and amongst the fastest circuits on the Formula 1 calendar. The ultra-fast, sweeping corners makes it the ideal venue to sample the aerodynamic innovations the GT3 RS is bristling with. Trouble is, the typically English weather is far from ideal. A strong and steady drizzle all morning has soaked the track and hence, instead of marvelling at all the high downforce and lateral grip the 911 GT3 RS is capable of, I spend the first four laps slithering around the wet track, testing the car’s traction control system to the max. It’s on a wet track that you can really test and feel the nine levels of traction control the 911 GT3 RS comes with, but to be honest, I’m too busy trying to keep up with the pro driver leading me around the track to be able to play around with the myriad of settings and modes you can select by rotating the four rotary dials on the steering wheel. If there’s one thing driving the GT3 RS in the wet is teaching me, it is that this is a finely honed machined that rewards precise driving like no other.

The weather gods bless me with clear skies and bright sunshine for the afternoon stint. By now the track is completely dry, ready to exploit the car’s potential. Within the first few corners, I realised that potential is way ahead of mine and that I am merely scratching the surface of what this car is capable of. Flying through Silverstone’s long and sweeping corners, the GT3 RS feels superglued to the tarmac. A hard jab of the accelerator gets the tail to shimmy a bit, but overall, the grip levels and the brakes are astonishing. This car is an incisive track tool with a razor-sharp steering and dynamic capability that will suck out the best of your driving skills.

Price of power

Whilst the ground breaking aerodynamics define the new Porsche 911 GT3 RS, the 4.0-litre, six-cylinder engine, which produces 525hp, is what stirs your soul. It’s not the most powerful engine by supercar standards, but it revs to a hysterical 9,000rpm, is ultra-responsive and is strong enough to propel the GT3 RS to a top speed of 296kph.

If you have ₹3.25 crore to buy the GT3 RS, make sure you have the time and inclination to take it to a race track near you. It will be worth it, for the most seminal experience on four wheels.

The views expressed by the columnist

are personal

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