Porsche 911 GT3 RS design & styling

The 992-generation GT3 RS has innovations to spare but it is also the first GT3 RS to be heavier than its GT3 underling.

Granted, with the Weissach pack fitted, the difference is only 15kg on paper (but 45kg on our scales versus a Clubsport-pack GT3 with carbon buckets and ceramic discs), and when you consider that the RS has a wider body and axles, and bigger wheels, as well as the electric actuators for its active aero systems, the difference starts to look impressively slim. But still, a heavier car is not the traditional RS philosophy.

Forged magnesium wheels are part of the Weissach package and as a set are 8.7kg – or 20% – lighter than the standard forged aluminium wheels. Track-day tyres are from Goodyear, Michelin or Pirelli – but you can’t choose which brand your car arrives with.

Matt Saunders

Road test editor

The reason the difference isn’t greater is because of the extensive use of CFRP. The GT3 already has a carbon bonnet but the RS also uses it for doors, front wings, roof and engine cover. Weissach pack cars also have carbon rear axle parts.

In terms of powertrain, changes are incremental. For the GT3 RS, the dry-sump, naturally aspirated 4.0-litre flat six is lifted from 503bhp to 518bhp by way of hotter cams. With individual throttle bodies, it spins to 9000rpm and operates through a seven-speed PDK gearbox. There is no manual option as there is in the GT3 because an RS product is all about outright performance.

Suspension is by wishbones at the front and multiple links at the rear. The car’s elongated, drop-shaped front links are aerodynamically optimised and contribute 40kg to total downforce. That total is an astonishing, McLaren Senna-beating 860kg at top speed, with 409kg offered at just 124mph. The RS also wears carbonfibre anti-roll bars far chunkier than those of the GT3.