2023 Porsche 911 GT3 RS First Drive Video Assessment: Your Customized Race Automobile

Over the course of many years, the Porsche 911 has developed variants to swimsuit all method of drivers and driving kinds. From high-speed grand touring to flat-out observe weapons, Porsche’s signature mannequin affords one thing for everybody.

It takes only a look on the new 2023 911 GT3 RS, nevertheless, to let you know the place the automotive is supposed to be: the race observe. However can the laser-focused 911 adapt to a passionate man who has neither a racing license nor a wall stuffed with trophies?

That’s what I got down to uncover once I headed out to Thermal, California, with Porsche. You’ve already learn our First Drive of the brand new GT3 RS – if you happen to haven’t, test it out, it’s an ideal learn – however I assumed it fairly essential that we get a second take down on video.

Earlier than I headed out on the observe I sat within the cabin to familiarize myself with the various drive mode, suspension, and damper settings that may be adjusted on the fly. Similar to in a race automotive, most of those may be manipulated utilizing controls proper on the steering wheel and mirrored for multifaceted operation on the digital dashboard.

There are three primary drive modes that may be adjusted with these controls: Regular, Sport, and Observe. When you’ve chosen Observe mode, nevertheless, your choices get lots deeper, as all of the system-specific settings may be individually adjusted.

One can tailor the damper settings for every axle independently, for example, and thru numerous levels of hardness and softness on compression and rebound. A second rotary knob permits you to alter the differential lock price, for roughly slip. With the twist of a knob I may also tune each traction and stability management for roughly intervention, which is helpful even for a relative novice like me as I grow to be extra conversant in the observe structure and automotive.

Someplace beneath all that wild bodywork there are literally greasy bits, too. Porsche’s now-familiar 4.0-liter flat-six engine has been tuned to make 518 horsepower and 343 pound-feet of torque within the GT3 RS, serving to it dash to 60 in simply 3.0 seconds and hit a high pace of 184 miles per hour. To maintain that powerplant cool and hit the entire spectacular aerodynamic targets, one large, centrally mounted radiator takes the place of the three-rad setup used within the GT3.

However like most race automobiles, it’s the aero package deal that makes it actually attention-grabbing.

Aerodynamic aids are nearly in every single place you look on this automotive, from the aggressive radiator shops on the nostril, to the vented entrance fenders, and spectacularly capped off by the towering carbon-fiber wing on the rear. The wing is a masterpiece. It’s taller than the roof of the automotive, robust sufficient to face as much as the practically 1,900 kilos of complete downforce the GT3 RS can generate, and beautiful sufficient to take a seat in your mantle when you have additional excessive ceilings. Hell, I might construct a mantle for this factor.

Simply Comply with Jörg And Patrick

Earlier than I even flip the ignition for the primary run of the day, I’m reminded of how nice 911s are for tall people like me. Even at 6-foot-5, and sporting a helmet, I match neatly into the inflexible however comfy bucket seats, with a transparent ahead view and no scraping of my dome on the headliner… excellent.

Porsche solely has two automobiles to separate between six journalists, so I’ll get three 15-minute lapping runs round a roughly three-mile configuration of Thermal’s membership observe. That’s not lots of time to dive into these very deep tuning choices, however fortunately I’ve acquired GT3 RS improvement driver Jörg Bergmeister and longtime Porsche manufacturing facility driver Patrick Lengthy to assist me stand up to hurry, shortly.

For the primary stint, I have to do my finest to easily perceive the structure of the observe, but in addition set a baseline for what the automotive is like in its default observe settings. I depart every thing set to zero, with traction management on, and Porsche’s wonderful seven-speed PDK transmission in full auto mode.

After only one warm-up lap, Lengthy ups the tempo in entrance of me and I’m compelled to do my finest to comply with. After all, the exhaust be aware from the 4.0-liter is wonderful, nevertheless it quickly fades into the space as my mind scrambles to maintain up with the tempo at which corners are flying at me.

On this setup, the automotive feels extremely steady, stiff, and primarily “protected” irrespective of how I muck up a nook entry or exit. The elective carbon fiber brakes are immensely highly effective with an excellent preliminary chunk, and even at this sense out pace I get a way of the great grip ranges provided by the Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires, pressed into the tarmac by all that downforce.

In the meantime, even once I get overeager on the throttle whereas popping out of a decent left hand nook, the automotive offers me simply the smallest wiggle earlier than traction management subtly cuts energy and the automotive straightens out.

Stint one is over earlier than I do know it, and I’m completely primed for my second run in what I’ll name “Jörg Mode”

Spoiler Alert: I Love Jörg Mode

For my second run of the day, I transfer into the GT3 RS with the usual metal brakes following Herr Bergmeister. Earlier than we head out, I ask Jörg to point out me the setup he likes essentially the most for this specific configuration of the observe.

The massive change right here is the damper settings, so the entrance is softer on compression and each entrance and rear are stiffer on the rebound. Whereas I anticipate a change within the driving expertise, I didn’t anticipate the 911 to be virtually fully remodeled on the primary lap. Boy, was I fallacious.

The automotive feels much less restricted, a lot simpler to rotate across the apex of a flip, and much more fluid in transitioning between corners in a posh. Setup like this, it’s simpler for me to maneuver the automotive round by the use of the laser-precise steering.

With the newfound dealing with profile and my confidence within the automotive and the observe, I’m additionally capable of actually push laborious in lengthy corners to really feel the results of that large rear wing. I do know there’s extra nuance to it, however primarily the tougher I push, the sooner I am going, and the extra the automotive appears completely caught to the face of the Earth. I do know that is really science at play, nevertheless it appears like actual magic.

Porsche well picked a observe structure that provided an extended, lefthand sweeping flip, that basically permits me to maneuver quickly with a consistant steering enter and really feel the automotive simply sucked to the bottom.

A fast be aware on these metal brakes: don’t get them. The metal discs have tons of stopping energy in fact, however they’re tougher to modulate than the ceramic discs, with a softer chunk and clearly much less resistance to fade. Sure, the carbon ceramics price about 9 grand extra, however that’s successfully rounding error in a automotive that begins at $223,800.

Doing It Myself

I finish the day again within the automotive I began in, with Jörge Mode activated, and this time traction management off and shifting for myself.

After the primary lap, I quit on the paddles fully. The response from the PDK transmission is extremely fast, and the paddles themselves are straightforward to seize and beautiful to make use of, however the computerized shifts are simply far sooner and higher judged than my very own. I can’t do higher than the pc.

Deactivating traction management makes the automotive method, method looser on exits, and in lots of circumstances, I can really feel that I’m meaningfully sooner, too. That’s once I get the nook proper. Just a few occasions I nonetheless get grasping making an attempt to catch the racing driver in entrance of me, and should again off so I don’t spin. The GT3 is a splendidly balanced driving machine, however the fewer digital aids you’ve gotten switched on, the extra harmful it turns into if you happen to’re not completely locked in on the duty at hand.

The reply to the query I set out with – can one thing as centered as a 911 GT3 RS really praise a mortal driver like myself – is an emphatic sure. This impeccable machine is there to trim your lap occasions and prolong your confidence. The elegant marriage of {hardware} and software program permit the automotive to go from reassuringly locked down, to totally within the arms of the driving force, precisely as you need it to be and on the flip of a dial.