991RS Review thread
02-03-2016, 03:04 PM
#721
Instructor
It is a teaser for the next issue of Total911.
"The 991 GT3 RS is, on paper, the antithesis of the 997’s analogue thrills: a PDK gearbox in place of the lauded six-speed manual shifter, a flat six based (loosely) on the Carrera’s 9A1 engine rather than the motorsport-derived Mezger, and rear-wheel steering in place of the previously passive back axle.
These changes have made the latest RS devastatingly effective – our first drive in issue 128 proved as much – and hugely coveted, just like its 4.0-litre 997 forebear.
That was in isolation though; context is key here, which is why we have gathered both 4.0-litre Rennsports (as well as both previous generations of the 997 GT3 RS) together for the ultimate test on track and road.
To find out how the 991 GT3 RS gets on against its 997 rivals, pick up Total 911 issue 136 in store today. Alternatively, order your copy online for home delivery, or download it straight to your digital device now."
"The 991 GT3 RS is, on paper, the antithesis of the 997’s analogue thrills: a PDK gearbox in place of the lauded six-speed manual shifter, a flat six based (loosely) on the Carrera’s 9A1 engine rather than the motorsport-derived Mezger, and rear-wheel steering in place of the previously passive back axle.
These changes have made the latest RS devastatingly effective – our first drive in issue 128 proved as much – and hugely coveted, just like its 4.0-litre 997 forebear.
That was in isolation though; context is key here, which is why we have gathered both 4.0-litre Rennsports (as well as both previous generations of the 997 GT3 RS) together for the ultimate test on track and road.
To find out how the 991 GT3 RS gets on against its 997 rivals, pick up Total 911 issue 136 in store today. Alternatively, order your copy online for home delivery, or download it straight to your digital device now."
We all know the 997's wont stand much of a chance comparing figures..
But as a new Porsche owner and a 991RS one in fact, the mere stance of the 997RS (specially the 4.0) will always pinch my desires and stirr a lot of regrets not having one!
Wael
02-03-2016, 04:42 PM
#722
Race Car
Thread Starter
03-16-2016, 09:22 AM
#725
Race Car
Thread Starter
Courtesy of Trakcar and Evo Feb 2016:
GT3 and GT3 RS
You can absorb all the numbers, stand agog at the sheer size of the GT3 RS’s rear tyres and its front track, you can understand completely that this is a GT3 taken to an unprecedented extreme, and yet until you drive a GT3 and GT3 RS back-to-back it’s very hard to imagine just how successful a metamorphosis has taken place. Better still, drive them in convoy behind Nick Tandy absolutely on the limit in a 991 Turbo S showing you the perfect line. This seems to sometimes involve ploughing through guidance apex cones and exiting corners well beyond the kerbs, kicking up dust, with half a turn of corrective lock. I can almost see his grin wrapping around the back of his head.
For the first few laps I’m directly behind that dancing Turbo S in the GT3, the RS following my lead and driven by a simian former colleague recently confirmed as one of the new Top Gear hosts. I know I’ve got my work cut out as the RS has the edge in every department: the GT3’s 3.8-litre flat-six produces 468bhp at 8250rpm and 324lb ft at 6250rpm to the RS’s 4-litre unit with 493bhp and 339lb ft. My car is also 10kg heavier, at 1430kg, despite using a narrower shell and hence running narrower tracks front and rear by 36mm and 2mm respectively (the RS actually runs a wider front track than rear by 30mm). In terms of contact patch, it’s also at a disadvantage, the GT3 running 20-inch 245-section and 305-section Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tyres to the RS’s 265- and 325-section tyres, the rears of which utilise a 21-inch rim. Add to that the huge aero advantage of the RS and the result seems inevitable…
The Turbo S ahead fires out of corners and just hauls away on the straights, but I can drive right up to its rear bumper under braking, turn in just a shade faster and keep in touch over the course of a lap. Not that it matters. The GT3 is such fantastic fun: its engine is possessed of reach, soundtrack and instantaneous response and its chassis alive to my every input. The brakes (optional ceramics) are fantastic, too. It feels so hooked-up, so sharp, and yet fluid and forgiving. I’m having a great time, until I look in the rear-view mirror to find the RS about 3mm behind and obviously impatient to get past. So I try a bit harder; the GT3 starts to slide into understeer on turn-in and through the long corners in particular the RS is clearly being held up hugely. ‘Was that me or the car?’ jokes our small friend back in the pitlane.
If a car could sulk, the GT3 would have slumped shoulders and wear a scowl. I adopt the pose in sympathy.
The next few laps thankfully prove it was the RS’s brilliance that made the difference. This time I’m following the GT3 and the RS I’m in just has more grip, much better turn-in and superior traction. It eats up the GT3 so easily that I can back off maybe 15 car lengths and then recover the gap within two or three corners. The way you can lean on the front tyres is remarkable, and that neutral mid-corner balance allows you earlier access to full throttle as the car refuses to wash into understeer. It’s an edgier experience, more likely to snap sideways than bleed away from the apex, nose first, but the RS clean blows the GT3 away.
Bergmeister’s laps serve to highlight the differences.
The GT3 records a 1:31.99 to the RS’s 1:30.61 around this 2.1-mile circuit. The speed trace shows the RS eking out time relentlessly. It hits 151.4mph to the GT3’s 147.2mph along the start/finish straight – an illustration not just of its greater acceleration but also superior traction away from the very tight final chicane. From here the advantage just grows. Into Turn 1 the RS carries more speed and is 3.1mph faster at the slowest point. Jörg is faultlessly smooth out of each corner, showing that the GT3 too has exceptional traction, but the RS’s strong front grip, bigger contact patches and better aero mean it’s faster into every corner and can use its power advantage to good effect on the way out. Through the long left hairpin off the banking and the following long, tightening-radius right-hander it’s devastating. Just as my laps in the cars suggested, the GT3 is fighting the onset of understeer here, whereas the RS is balanced, composed and driving forwards.
Conclusion
Today wasn’t meant to be about surprises. The GT3 was never going to steal a victory against the more powerful, lighter and more extreme RS. Yet I’ll never forget trying to find every last bit of grip the GT3 could summon, braking as late as I dared and trying to smoothly get on the power nice and early in the corner, only to see an RS utterly unfazed in my mirrors. It might as well have been flashing its headlights. It was surreal watching the process in reverse, too. The GT3 visibly struggling to get turned in and then edging into understeer and oversteer several times throughout a corner whilst the RS sat behind totally composed and ready for full throttle if only that bloody GT3 would get a move on…
‘The real lesson is how endlessly adaptable the 911 formula is’
It makes you wonder when the next GT2 RS might come along, doesn’t it? ‘I can’t think of a good reason not to build it,’ says a Porsche Motorsport representative who works on road-car development. Me either.
GT3 and GT3 RS
You can absorb all the numbers, stand agog at the sheer size of the GT3 RS’s rear tyres and its front track, you can understand completely that this is a GT3 taken to an unprecedented extreme, and yet until you drive a GT3 and GT3 RS back-to-back it’s very hard to imagine just how successful a metamorphosis has taken place. Better still, drive them in convoy behind Nick Tandy absolutely on the limit in a 991 Turbo S showing you the perfect line. This seems to sometimes involve ploughing through guidance apex cones and exiting corners well beyond the kerbs, kicking up dust, with half a turn of corrective lock. I can almost see his grin wrapping around the back of his head.
For the first few laps I’m directly behind that dancing Turbo S in the GT3, the RS following my lead and driven by a simian former colleague recently confirmed as one of the new Top Gear hosts. I know I’ve got my work cut out as the RS has the edge in every department: the GT3’s 3.8-litre flat-six produces 468bhp at 8250rpm and 324lb ft at 6250rpm to the RS’s 4-litre unit with 493bhp and 339lb ft. My car is also 10kg heavier, at 1430kg, despite using a narrower shell and hence running narrower tracks front and rear by 36mm and 2mm respectively (the RS actually runs a wider front track than rear by 30mm). In terms of contact patch, it’s also at a disadvantage, the GT3 running 20-inch 245-section and 305-section Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tyres to the RS’s 265- and 325-section tyres, the rears of which utilise a 21-inch rim. Add to that the huge aero advantage of the RS and the result seems inevitable…
The Turbo S ahead fires out of corners and just hauls away on the straights, but I can drive right up to its rear bumper under braking, turn in just a shade faster and keep in touch over the course of a lap. Not that it matters. The GT3 is such fantastic fun: its engine is possessed of reach, soundtrack and instantaneous response and its chassis alive to my every input. The brakes (optional ceramics) are fantastic, too. It feels so hooked-up, so sharp, and yet fluid and forgiving. I’m having a great time, until I look in the rear-view mirror to find the RS about 3mm behind and obviously impatient to get past. So I try a bit harder; the GT3 starts to slide into understeer on turn-in and through the long corners in particular the RS is clearly being held up hugely. ‘Was that me or the car?’ jokes our small friend back in the pitlane.
If a car could sulk, the GT3 would have slumped shoulders and wear a scowl. I adopt the pose in sympathy.
The next few laps thankfully prove it was the RS’s brilliance that made the difference. This time I’m following the GT3 and the RS I’m in just has more grip, much better turn-in and superior traction. It eats up the GT3 so easily that I can back off maybe 15 car lengths and then recover the gap within two or three corners. The way you can lean on the front tyres is remarkable, and that neutral mid-corner balance allows you earlier access to full throttle as the car refuses to wash into understeer. It’s an edgier experience, more likely to snap sideways than bleed away from the apex, nose first, but the RS clean blows the GT3 away.
Bergmeister’s laps serve to highlight the differences.
The GT3 records a 1:31.99 to the RS’s 1:30.61 around this 2.1-mile circuit. The speed trace shows the RS eking out time relentlessly. It hits 151.4mph to the GT3’s 147.2mph along the start/finish straight – an illustration not just of its greater acceleration but also superior traction away from the very tight final chicane. From here the advantage just grows. Into Turn 1 the RS carries more speed and is 3.1mph faster at the slowest point. Jörg is faultlessly smooth out of each corner, showing that the GT3 too has exceptional traction, but the RS’s strong front grip, bigger contact patches and better aero mean it’s faster into every corner and can use its power advantage to good effect on the way out. Through the long left hairpin off the banking and the following long, tightening-radius right-hander it’s devastating. Just as my laps in the cars suggested, the GT3 is fighting the onset of understeer here, whereas the RS is balanced, composed and driving forwards.
Conclusion
Today wasn’t meant to be about surprises. The GT3 was never going to steal a victory against the more powerful, lighter and more extreme RS. Yet I’ll never forget trying to find every last bit of grip the GT3 could summon, braking as late as I dared and trying to smoothly get on the power nice and early in the corner, only to see an RS utterly unfazed in my mirrors. It might as well have been flashing its headlights. It was surreal watching the process in reverse, too. The GT3 visibly struggling to get turned in and then edging into understeer and oversteer several times throughout a corner whilst the RS sat behind totally composed and ready for full throttle if only that bloody GT3 would get a move on…
‘The real lesson is how endlessly adaptable the 911 formula is’
It makes you wonder when the next GT2 RS might come along, doesn’t it? ‘I can’t think of a good reason not to build it,’ says a Porsche Motorsport representative who works on road-car development. Me either.
03-16-2016, 09:28 AM
#726
I guess this confirms what most would have believed, despite other journalists previously commenting to the contrary. For me, the GT3 is still plenty and then some. I enjoyed the read--thanks!
04-07-2016, 12:42 PM
#730
Courtesy of Trakcar and Evo Feb 2016:
GT3 and GT3 RS
You can absorb all the numbers, stand agog at the sheer size of the GT3 RS’s rear tyres and its front track, you can understand completely that this is a GT3 taken to an unprecedented extreme, and yet until you drive a GT3 and GT3 RS back-to-back it’s very hard to imagine just how successful a metamorphosis has taken place. Better still, drive them in convoy behind Nick Tandy absolutely on the limit in a 991 Turbo S showing you the perfect line. This seems to sometimes involve ploughing through guidance apex cones and exiting corners well beyond the kerbs, kicking up dust, with half a turn of corrective lock. I can almost see his grin wrapping around the back of his head.
For the first few laps I’m directly behind that dancing Turbo S in the GT3, the RS following my lead and driven by a simian former colleague recently confirmed as one of the new Top Gear hosts. I know I’ve got my work cut out as the RS has the edge in every department: the GT3’s 3.8-litre flat-six produces 468bhp at 8250rpm and 324lb ft at 6250rpm to the RS’s 4-litre unit with 493bhp and 339lb ft. My car is also 10kg heavier, at 1430kg, despite using a narrower shell and hence running narrower tracks front and rear by 36mm and 2mm respectively (the RS actually runs a wider front track than rear by 30mm). In terms of contact patch, it’s also at a disadvantage, the GT3 running 20-inch 245-section and 305-section Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tyres to the RS’s 265- and 325-section tyres, the rears of which utilise a 21-inch rim. Add to that the huge aero advantage of the RS and the result seems inevitable…
The Turbo S ahead fires out of corners and just hauls away on the straights, but I can drive right up to its rear bumper under braking, turn in just a shade faster and keep in touch over the course of a lap. Not that it matters. The GT3 is such fantastic fun: its engine is possessed of reach, soundtrack and instantaneous response and its chassis alive to my every input. The brakes (optional ceramics) are fantastic, too. It feels so hooked-up, so sharp, and yet fluid and forgiving. I’m having a great time, until I look in the rear-view mirror to find the RS about 3mm behind and obviously impatient to get past. So I try a bit harder; the GT3 starts to slide into understeer on turn-in and through the long corners in particular the RS is clearly being held up hugely. ‘Was that me or the car?’ jokes our small friend back in the pitlane.
If a car could sulk, the GT3 would have slumped shoulders and wear a scowl. I adopt the pose in sympathy.
The next few laps thankfully prove it was the RS’s brilliance that made the difference. This time I’m following the GT3 and the RS I’m in just has more grip, much better turn-in and superior traction. It eats up the GT3 so easily that I can back off maybe 15 car lengths and then recover the gap within two or three corners. The way you can lean on the front tyres is remarkable, and that neutral mid-corner balance allows you earlier access to full throttle as the car refuses to wash into understeer. It’s an edgier experience, more likely to snap sideways than bleed away from the apex, nose first, but the RS clean blows the GT3 away.
Bergmeister’s laps serve to highlight the differences.
The GT3 records a 1:31.99 to the RS’s 1:30.61 around this 2.1-mile circuit. The speed trace shows the RS eking out time relentlessly. It hits 151.4mph to the GT3’s 147.2mph along the start/finish straight – an illustration not just of its greater acceleration but also superior traction away from the very tight final chicane. From here the advantage just grows. Into Turn 1 the RS carries more speed and is 3.1mph faster at the slowest point. Jörg is faultlessly smooth out of each corner, showing that the GT3 too has exceptional traction, but the RS’s strong front grip, bigger contact patches and better aero mean it’s faster into every corner and can use its power advantage to good effect on the way out. Through the long left hairpin off the banking and the following long, tightening-radius right-hander it’s devastating. Just as my laps in the cars suggested, the GT3 is fighting the onset of understeer here, whereas the RS is balanced, composed and driving forwards.
Conclusion
Today wasn’t meant to be about surprises. The GT3 was never going to steal a victory against the more powerful, lighter and more extreme RS. Yet I’ll never forget trying to find every last bit of grip the GT3 could summon, braking as late as I dared and trying to smoothly get on the power nice and early in the corner, only to see an RS utterly unfazed in my mirrors. It might as well have been flashing its headlights. It was surreal watching the process in reverse, too. The GT3 visibly struggling to get turned in and then edging into understeer and oversteer several times throughout a corner whilst the RS sat behind totally composed and ready for full throttle if only that bloody GT3 would get a move on…
‘The real lesson is how endlessly adaptable the 911 formula is’
It makes you wonder when the next GT2 RS might come along, doesn’t it? ‘I can’t think of a good reason not to build it,’ says a Porsche Motorsport representative who works on road-car development. Me either.
GT3 and GT3 RS
You can absorb all the numbers, stand agog at the sheer size of the GT3 RS’s rear tyres and its front track, you can understand completely that this is a GT3 taken to an unprecedented extreme, and yet until you drive a GT3 and GT3 RS back-to-back it’s very hard to imagine just how successful a metamorphosis has taken place. Better still, drive them in convoy behind Nick Tandy absolutely on the limit in a 991 Turbo S showing you the perfect line. This seems to sometimes involve ploughing through guidance apex cones and exiting corners well beyond the kerbs, kicking up dust, with half a turn of corrective lock. I can almost see his grin wrapping around the back of his head.
For the first few laps I’m directly behind that dancing Turbo S in the GT3, the RS following my lead and driven by a simian former colleague recently confirmed as one of the new Top Gear hosts. I know I’ve got my work cut out as the RS has the edge in every department: the GT3’s 3.8-litre flat-six produces 468bhp at 8250rpm and 324lb ft at 6250rpm to the RS’s 4-litre unit with 493bhp and 339lb ft. My car is also 10kg heavier, at 1430kg, despite using a narrower shell and hence running narrower tracks front and rear by 36mm and 2mm respectively (the RS actually runs a wider front track than rear by 30mm). In terms of contact patch, it’s also at a disadvantage, the GT3 running 20-inch 245-section and 305-section Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tyres to the RS’s 265- and 325-section tyres, the rears of which utilise a 21-inch rim. Add to that the huge aero advantage of the RS and the result seems inevitable…
The Turbo S ahead fires out of corners and just hauls away on the straights, but I can drive right up to its rear bumper under braking, turn in just a shade faster and keep in touch over the course of a lap. Not that it matters. The GT3 is such fantastic fun: its engine is possessed of reach, soundtrack and instantaneous response and its chassis alive to my every input. The brakes (optional ceramics) are fantastic, too. It feels so hooked-up, so sharp, and yet fluid and forgiving. I’m having a great time, until I look in the rear-view mirror to find the RS about 3mm behind and obviously impatient to get past. So I try a bit harder; the GT3 starts to slide into understeer on turn-in and through the long corners in particular the RS is clearly being held up hugely. ‘Was that me or the car?’ jokes our small friend back in the pitlane.
If a car could sulk, the GT3 would have slumped shoulders and wear a scowl. I adopt the pose in sympathy.
The next few laps thankfully prove it was the RS’s brilliance that made the difference. This time I’m following the GT3 and the RS I’m in just has more grip, much better turn-in and superior traction. It eats up the GT3 so easily that I can back off maybe 15 car lengths and then recover the gap within two or three corners. The way you can lean on the front tyres is remarkable, and that neutral mid-corner balance allows you earlier access to full throttle as the car refuses to wash into understeer. It’s an edgier experience, more likely to snap sideways than bleed away from the apex, nose first, but the RS clean blows the GT3 away.
Bergmeister’s laps serve to highlight the differences.
The GT3 records a 1:31.99 to the RS’s 1:30.61 around this 2.1-mile circuit. The speed trace shows the RS eking out time relentlessly. It hits 151.4mph to the GT3’s 147.2mph along the start/finish straight – an illustration not just of its greater acceleration but also superior traction away from the very tight final chicane. From here the advantage just grows. Into Turn 1 the RS carries more speed and is 3.1mph faster at the slowest point. Jörg is faultlessly smooth out of each corner, showing that the GT3 too has exceptional traction, but the RS’s strong front grip, bigger contact patches and better aero mean it’s faster into every corner and can use its power advantage to good effect on the way out. Through the long left hairpin off the banking and the following long, tightening-radius right-hander it’s devastating. Just as my laps in the cars suggested, the GT3 is fighting the onset of understeer here, whereas the RS is balanced, composed and driving forwards.
Conclusion
Today wasn’t meant to be about surprises. The GT3 was never going to steal a victory against the more powerful, lighter and more extreme RS. Yet I’ll never forget trying to find every last bit of grip the GT3 could summon, braking as late as I dared and trying to smoothly get on the power nice and early in the corner, only to see an RS utterly unfazed in my mirrors. It might as well have been flashing its headlights. It was surreal watching the process in reverse, too. The GT3 visibly struggling to get turned in and then edging into understeer and oversteer several times throughout a corner whilst the RS sat behind totally composed and ready for full throttle if only that bloody GT3 would get a move on…
‘The real lesson is how endlessly adaptable the 911 formula is’
It makes you wonder when the next GT2 RS might come along, doesn’t it? ‘I can’t think of a good reason not to build it,’ says a Porsche Motorsport representative who works on road-car development. Me either.
04-07-2016, 03:41 PM
#731
04-28-2016, 08:53 AM
#733
Addict
Rennlist Member
Rennlist Member
"Drive it naked"! Hahaha
04-28-2016, 10:27 AM
#734
That article really got me thinking. Says the pragmatist in me, I wonder if they could also have shaved 700 g from anywhere else that's relatively high in the car, like from the rear quarter panel / C pillars, or the roll bar?
04-28-2016, 10:33 AM
#735
Race Car
Thread Starter
