Porsche 997 GT2 RS Explained – Video

The recipe was simple: Put the company’s most powerful street-legal powerplant ever in the back of a GT3 RS chassis and remove even more weight. The engine is a port-injected, 3.6-liter flat-six from the Le Mans–winning GT1 race car of the late ’90s, with a pair of variable-geometry turbochargers huffing a maximum of 23.2 psi of boost into the combustion chambers. The result is 620 hp at 6500 rpm and 516 lb-ft of torque at 2250. Compared with Porsche’s other leading turbocharged rocket, the 530-hp, all-wheel-drive 911 Turbo S—which is fitted with a seven-speed PDK dual-clutch automatic—the GT2 RS’s six-speed manual gearbox and rear-drive layout invite a significantly higher level of driver involvement.

Weight was pulled from throughout the car, with a total saving of about 70 pounds compared with the GT3 RS and 400 or so relative to the Turbo S. Some of the more notable lightening bits include a single-mass flywheel, a carbon-fiber hood and front fenders (the latter a $6840 option), various aluminum suspension bits, lighter springs, single-lug wheels, an optional lithium-ion battery ($1700), less sound-deadening material, carbon-fiber racing seats, and polycarbonate rear and rear-side windows. Deleting the infotainment system and air conditioning—as on our example—is a no-cost option and further reduces mass, but we recommend keeping them if you plan on commuting to the track. A roll bar where the rear seats used to be adds several pounds back in, as do airbag-equipped seats and actual glass for the rear windows—these latter two included on U.S. models to meet safety regulations.

 

 

Performance:

Zero to 60 mph: 3.3 sec
Zero to 100 mph: 6.6 sec
Zero to 130 mph: 10.4 sec
Zero to 150 mph: 14.4 sec
Street start, 5-60 mph: 4.3 sec
Top gear, 30-50 mph: 7.8 sec
Top gear, 50-70 mph: 6.3 sec
Standing ¼-mile: 11.1 sec @ 133 mph
Top speed (redline limited, est): 209 mph
Braking, 70-0 mph: 145 ft
Roadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad: 1.07 g