Porsche 911 GT3 RS 4.0: A Race Car with License Plates?

This Porsche 911 GT3 RS 4.0 is the goodbye-model of the 997. They only made 600 of these hardcore version of the hardcore of the hardcore. What makes the GT3 RS 4.0 more special than the normal RS? Why do I love them so much? Am I enjoying mine? Well, after 1 year of ownership, your questions are about to be answered in this Readers’ Review of my Porsche 911 GT3 RS 4.0: A Racecar with License Plates?

The Extreme of The Extreme

We all can agree that the Porsche 997 GT3 RS is a very, very extreme and crazy car. Ever since driving my cousin’s 997.1 GT3 RS, I always thought that Porsche will never manage to make a road car as crazy, as ludicrous, as extreme, as maniac as the GT3 RS. And I was wrong. Very Wrong. The 997.2 RS came and it was really, really crazy with its aerokit, its new suspensions, its lighter weight, and of course, its new engine. A 3.8 litre flat 6 that produces 450 PS (445 hp). And top that with the GT3 RS’ diet that makes the car lighter by 44 lbs than the 997.2 GT3 which gives the RS an outstanding power-to-kerb-weight ratio of 300 bhp per tonne. And that really blew my head. And apparently, Porsche wants to say goodbye to the 997 generation by making the most ludicrous 997 possible and they did it by making the 997 GT3 RS 4.0.

Under the Bonnet (not really)

Open up the rear engine cover and you’ll find a 3996cc naturally-aspirated unit with 493bhp at 8,250rpm and 399lb ft of torque at 5,750rpm are the results of the fettling, which also includes swapping the GT3’s standard crankshaft for the item from Porsche’s RSR racer. Compared with a “standard” RS, those are gains of 50bhp and 22lb ft of torque, enough to knock a tenth off the car’s 0-62mph acceleration time (now 3.9 seconds) and add 1mph to the top speed (193mph). That last figure might not seem particularly impressive given the extra grunt on tap, but that’s because the 4.0 has more downforce than a regular RS. Much more.

Road and Track Drive

On places like Anglesey, Brands Hatch, Silverstone, Hockenheim, Nurburgring, or wherever, the 4.0 with its stiffer, more race focused suspensions and lighter body and reworked handling parts, the 4.0 feels at home. The cornering speed here is just unbelievable. You can take the Fuchsröhre with little taps on the brake pedal and you’re off. The acceleration isn’t really that impressive once you’re up to fourth but that’s common. There’s miles and miles of understeer in the 4.0 which is very, very annoying and sometimes it’ll understeer in situations that you wouldn’t expect a 500 hp RWD car to understeer. It is scary and it takes massive balls to really push the 4.0.

On places like the road….it’s a pain the butt. Literally. You see, track cars like the RS are made for track and not the road and the 3.8 RS is still forgiving to drive around UK. But the 4.0’s RSR derived racing suspensions makes the 4.0 a pain in the ass on the road. Again, literally. And the lightweight racing bucket seats isn’t going to help your butt pain either. But, here’s the upside of a 4.0 on the road. You have a big bonnet to put in some bags and thing like that. 911’s are known to be practical for a supercar. And the 4.0 isn’t an exception.

If I have to describe the 4.0 with one sentence, I’ll go with “It’s like an ice cream. You put it in one place, it’ll be fine, you put it in another place, it’ll sh!t itself”.

CTzens, I hope you enjoy my review. This is my first #blogpost. Don’t forget to leave a comment.

-ronreid