hesperus

well, MAJOR caveat here: i didn't get to try the car on a test track, and unfortunately, the roads around Stuttgart on a Monday morning are not exactly traffic free. so while there were opportunities to take it to redline on some backroads and the autobahn a couple times, its pretty hard to get a full picture of such a powerful car on public roads.

with that being said...

the most striking thing about the car has to be how it truly is such a capable jack-of-all-trades. saying that it is track focused, yet can be used everyday seems to the litany that Porsche spurts out ad nauseam about their "GT" cars, but it seems they've taken it to yet another level here.

the car is really easy to drive on the street, and rides at least as well as the current GT3RS. ok fine, so the clutch is still on the heavy side, but it felt lighter than on a regular GT2 (based on how i remember the GT2's,) and lighter too than my 997.1 GT3. i particularly noticed-- and liked-- the clutch's engagement point. you know how there's some cars where the clutch bites early near the bottom of the pedal travel, and there's some where it bites late, towards the top of the travel. the test car's clutch stuck out in my mind as having the most perfect bite point of any 911 i've ever tried. for those wondering, "my" GT2RS (the silver one in my photos) had 11,000+ kms on the clock.

can someone confirm whether the GT3RS is rose jointed? Preuninger clearly says in my video that the GT2RS has rose jointed suspension. if this car is that way, and the GT3RS uses more rubber in the suspension, then that simply underlines what a hell of a job Porsche has done on the 2RS, for it to ride as well as it does.

as far as the power goes... ok, yes its obviously very fast. but truth be told, i don't think you can really notice the diff between a GT2 and this car at "sane" speeds on public roads. i actually attempted to do a 60-130 VBox run in the car, but the autobahn section I was on simply didn't allow that, unfortunately! it didn't feel much faster than a stock GT2, nor did it feel much slower than my RT12. which is simply to say that for cars at this level, my butt dyno isn't sensitive enough to tell the difference, given the limited driving conditions.

what i DID notice, is how healthy the torque curve is. from say, just below 3k RPM even in the higher gears, prodding the throttle results in a near instantaneous slug of torque. not saying that the car goes ballistic immediately, but you definitely feel nice quick pedal response, and virtually none of that "wait for it-- ah there's the boost" effect that you sometimes get with certain high output turbo motors.

Preuninger makes a lot out of how close this engine gets to the emotion of a normally aspirated motor. IMO its still quite a ways off from a sweet high revving motor in terms of pure feel, but... yes the motor in the GT2RS did somehow feel more "alive" or more... "alert" (?) than other turbocharged flat-sixes. its not a night & day thing though, vs the regular GT2's.

i can't comment on the handling unfortunately, for reasons already mentioned. the car steered just like a regular GT2 at the speeds we were driving at. so i can't with honesty say i felt the benefits of all the weight savings, as that sort of thing shows up on track or on a nice clear winding route.

in all other respects, the car is like a regular GT2. interior, exhaust note, etc. that's good or bad, depending on your POV.

so, to summarize (and i'm afraid there's nothing here you wouldn't already have read before):

PRO'S:
drivability: lovely clutch feel, great torque curve
everyday usability: for a car designed for the track, and arguably better on-track than cars even a price class above it, it truly can live on the road w/o compromises (other than chin clearance)
power: basically you're top dog, unless you run into some crazy modded P-car, Lambo or GTR

CON'S:
nothing on the inside to differentiate from lesser 911's (the two-tone scheme doesn't count in my book, as I'd never have my car with that);
power: half of the RL population seems to own some crazy modded P-car, Lambo, or other!

a good friend of mine is trying to decide whether to sell his GT2 and upgrade to a 2RS (the transaction would entail having to pay an additional $US160k NET of his GT2's selling price). now the fella does have the money, so the question is... "is it worth it"?

if i were exactly in his place... I'd probably do it.

TB993tt

You mean "the RL population"

Great write up many thanks for sharing

TB993tt

I had the same decision and even less $$ to change since the UK price was (for once) relatively cheap !
I am sticking with the GT2 and making some RS style mods. I am not one of the 80% users who Preuninger refers to who use the cars mostly on the track so RS is total overkill for me and I would be totally paranoid about some monkey in a car wash scratching my plexglass windows

hesperus

DOH! fixed!

hesperus

doesn't your car already have more power than the 2RS anyway? and... you could always retrofit them tasty 2RS bits... we now know for a fact its possible!

4porsh

Thanks for sharing really enjoyed the videos.

silverboy

Excellent write up and videos JV! This seems like the most comprehensive interview on the technical side of the GT2RS that I've seen and has totally changed my perception on the car. I wish I had the money. If I had I wouldn't care about the dep'n which is another story.

sharkster

great thread and thanks for sharing!

iLLM3

RS ideally will be the only car I give my RUF GT2 up for (but for the price, CGT is enticing)...... It's incredible, thanks for the review of what you could do with it... I wonder how the market will be on them down the line, hrm

GT9111

Thanks for the video links. But, having the GT2RS surrounded by classic cars was distracting. In a pleasant way!

Snowboarder54

+1! I would love to get one of these on the loop for a day!!

TB993tt

I wonder if there is a bit of BS at 5:39 when Preuninger says:

"back then we had 550 horse power which we thought was the maximum we could extract from the engine"

Most standard GT2s have at least 540PS, mine had 544PS in stock form when engine dynoed so his statement seems strange ?

I had it on pretty good authority last year when they were developing the GT2RS that they were trying to use the Dfi turbo engine for the RS and it was this engine which was struggling at the 550PS level (I posted this on here somewhere at the time: https://rennlist.com/forums/7150839-post1.html) and was deemed not reliable at these levels hence the old warhorse Mezger was wheeled back in and easily tweaked to the 620/640PS which it has in the RS......
We have come to expect this sort of BS from Porsche marketing but it is a bit sad when the chief engineer cannot be honest about the real sequence of events but then I guess he likes his job

camlob

What an excellent post! Now I know more about the GT2 RS than what has appeared in magazines or the web!

Two things caught my attention:

1. Engine internal reciprocating weights were brought down to help give the engine a more "atmospheric or NA" feel. Internals were lighter than some GT3 RS parts.

2. The front wider track brings about a 15% increase in cornering speed.

Did I get this correctly?

Bravo again for the coverage!

964C4

Thanks for sharing, this is for Porsche hardcore fans only !

Carrera GT

Interesting that they've gone to spherical joints instead of elastomer bushings. I wonder how thoroughly they've gone through the compliance in the rear end. It's still an issue in the new (997.2) GT3 RS. Given the concession that these parts will retrofit to the 997.1 GT2 (and presumably therefore, the 997.2 GT3 RS) then it should be a more appealing upgrade for owners to improve their RS or GT3 with the suspension and geometry of the GT2 RS.

I guess the 1360 kilo is a nominal weight to try to get under 3000lbs. Still, for the sky high price, you think Porsche could afford to give up a little profit margin and start by going through the car with lightweight materials top to toe ... it's a helluva let-down to look through the "carbon fibre!" vents to see large areas of superfluous plastic and metal body parts simply left over from the base chassis and enormous metal band clamps holding on the ever so light exhaust system.

Perhaps the audience was being polite or showing deference, but the few questions were far too tame. Nothing about the heavy LED tail lghts? Nothing about the durability of the PCCBs? The caliper flex? The limits of PASM on the track? Steel clamps negating all these expensive lightweight changes?

They surveyed 800 GT2 and GT3 owners? I guess not too many of them in the US market, since we still won't get the lighweight seats, windows, clubsport package.

Still, I liked the body language from Preuninger on "scrapping" the pre-production car ... not a poker player ...