So You Think You Can Fly

The 2023 Porsche 911 GT3 RS will probably be the last 9000-rpm 911 without some kind of electrification or turbochargers, but it’ll have plenty of wing.

You could set a watch by the familiar cadence of Porsche’s 911 product strategy. New, more powerful iterations follow each other in steady, predictable order. According to the timetable, the next one up is the new RS version of the naturally aspirated 992-generation 911 GT3. Porsche has long placed the letters RS on the best and most extreme 911s. The Rennsport name is for cars designed specifically for regular track use—one as close as possible to its motorsport siblings. Now approaching its 50th birthday, the first 911 to get the treatment, the 1973 Carrera RS, has become so sought after by collectors that good examples can sell for seven figures. More recently, the branding was applied to the raciest versions of the GT2, GT3, and GT4.

We know that the new car will use the existing GT3’s glorious naturally aspirated 4.0-liter flat-six, one that will almost certainly have a small performance bump over that car’s 503 horsepower. Drive will go exclusively to the rear axle—motorsport 911s aren’t sullied with the added weight and complexity of all-wheel drive— and although we would love the idea of a three-pedal RS, it is overwhelmingly likely that Porsche will only offer its dual-clutch automatic in the RS.

Spy shots have shown RS mules wearing a vast, swan-neck double-plane rear wing, one that actually looks larger than the one on the company’s RSR race car. Huge downforce is a certainty, as is the RS improving on the regular GT3’s incredible track performance. Expect Porsche to best the last-gen GT2 RS’s 6:43.3 time at the Nürburgring Nordschleife. The new car will carry a hefty upcharge over the GT3’s $163,750, but demand means potential buyers will still struggle even to get their name onto an order and will be even luckier if they get to pay the manufacturer’s sticker price.