Porsche GT3 RS

(News Today) - We go flat-out at Phillip Island Raceway in Porsche's 911 race car for the road. Would you pay $337,700 for a car with no air-conditioning, no audio, no cupholders, no seat-height adjustment and not even doorhandles?

If the answer's 'no', then you're not among the 35-odd Australians who have placed their order for the extreme version of Porsche's most extreme 911 sports car - the GT3 RS.

Paying a $64,200 premium over the already track-focused GT3 gives these buyers the key to a model Porsche calls "a racing car with number plates" - with not a hint of hyperbole. The RS is almost identical to the Carrera Cup racer that is set to return to Australian racetracks as a one-make series in 2011.

There's an 11kW power gain (now 331kW) for the 3.8-litre flat-six engine, and shorter gearing for the six-speed manual, though the RS also brings another key to superior performance: less weight.

The RS tips the scales at 1370kg, shedding 25kg through changes such as a lighter flywheel, titanium exhaust muffler, reduced soundproofing and plastic rear window. Air-con and a radio are standard on local models, though hardcore enthusiasts seeking to eek every tenth of a second out of their lap time can delete them at no expense to reduce weight by another 40 kilos.

Further improving the RS's impressive power-to-weight ratio (81kW per litre) requires opening your wallet again. $20,590 for ceramic brakes (save 20kg); $9790 for lightweight carbon-fibre seats (save 24kg); $4390 to exchange the car's regular lead battery for a lithium-ion one (saves 10kg).

The RS certainly looks like a motorsport-inspired car, even inside. A rear roll-cage is standard (with full one optional), durable Alcantara adorns the steering wheel, gearlever and handbrake, there's a six-point harness (plus regular lap-sash belt), and the doors open via lightweight pull straps instead of handles.

Enough details, however, because you need to know how this car drives. It took only the first few laps around the fast and technically challenging bitumen of Victoria's Phillip Island racetrack to find myself reaching for the Book of Superlatives.

Any Porsche 911 is great to drive, but the RS takes driver connectivity to yet another level. You don't need to be Doctor Dolittle to understand what this mechanical animal is saying to you.

The RS's perfectly weighted steering wheel relays what's going on beneath the front wheels like a finger running over Braille. It also defines precise steering with the way it responds to millimetric movements from your hands.

There are fabulously linear responses from other key controls, the throttle and brake pedals - the former allowing to you to delicately balance the car's attitude in corners, the latter providing powerful and progressive stopping performance for successive laps.

The super-accurate six-speed manual gearbox prefers an aggressive shift action that feels in keeping with its intended purpose.

Cornering grip can also only be described as phenomenal. The RS wears similar super-sticky, low-tread (but road legal) tyres to the GT3, but wider front and rear axles (housed in a wider-looking body) help to produce extra stability.

The large carbon-fibre rear wing and wider front chin spoiler help to pin the car to the ground with greater pressure. Porsche claims the RS generates the same amount of downforce at 160km/h as the GT3 does at 300km/h.

We also drove a 911 Turbo at the Island and can tell you in comparison the all-wheel-drive model feels lethargic and cumbersome.

The Turbo is ultimately quicker in a straight line, though it consistently lost to the RS in our 0-100km/h tests despite its launch control system and superior performance claim - 3.4 seconds v the rear-drive RS's 4.0. (Porsche said the slightly damp and uphill piece of track was likely responsible; Drive has recorded a 3.2sec time for the Turbo on previous occasions.)

Porsche's racing car for the road completes its titillation of the senses with its six-cylinder engine that pleasures the ear drums all the way from a noisily grumbling idle towards a glorious crescendo as the tacho needle races towards the 8500rpm rev limit.

You'll want to keep taking each gear to redline, even if it's unnecessary because of the RS's chunky mid-range - which is at its strongest when the driver activates the Sport button on the dash.

This also engages the active engine mounts that are designed to minimise movement from the rear-mounted engine, while the suspension's Sport, rather than Normal, setting is the natural pick for smooth racing circuits.

The GT3 RS, in fact, is missing only one key ingredient: a professional racing driver. Fortunately, touring car legend Jim Richards is on hand at the launch to better demonstrate the car's extraordinary abilities in his new RS that's still fresh from an outing in Targa Tasmania.

And, yes, Jim didn't tick the boxes for air-con, radio or cupholders.

Porsche 911 GT3 RS
Price: $337,700 (plus on-road costs)
Engine: 3.8-litre six-cylinder
Power: 331kW at 7900rpm
Torque: 430Nm at 6750rpm
Transmission: 6-speed manual
Weight: 1370kg
0-100km/h: 4.0 seconds (claimed)
0-200km/h: 12.2 seconds (claimed)
Top speed: 310km/h
Fuel consumption and emissions: 13.2L/100km and 314g/km

Source : kompas.com

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