New Porsche 911 GT2 RS: A new benchmark of performance

More than half a century of putting the engine in the back of a million cars, Porsche has put together what is undeniably the most powerful 911 ever, to roll out of their Stuttgart home. It’s the baddest, the maddest and the fastest one yet, and it comes with a massive wing – the new 911 GT2 RS.

It was first shown in production form at the launch of the Forza 7 game, then properly revealed at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in June this year, and now it’s clinched the title of the ‘Fastest-production-car-around-the-Nürburgring-that-you-can-buy’ with a jaw-dropping time of 6 minutes 47 seconds.

For a reference, that’s 10 seconds faster than the 918 Spyder and the only road cars that can claim to be even quicker are the Nio EP9 electric hypercar and the McLaren P1 LM, both costing somewhere over the million pound mark. The 911 GT2 RS managed that time with just two driven wheels to put its 691bhp to the tarmac, running on Michelin Pilot Cup 2 tyres, with German driver Lars Kern behind the wheel while fellow test driver Nick Tandy also managed laps under the 6m50s mark.

The man in charge of the GT2s, 3s and 4s at Porsche, Andreas Preuninger also commented: “It’s not just the record time achieved by the GT2 RS that demonstrates the vehicle’s class, but also its consistent performance in every lap. We’re particularly proud of the fact that this was achieved with two different vehicles and two different drivers, as this underlines the GT2 RS’s ability to reproduce this record result over and over again”.

You can take a look at the record lap below:

Let’s take a closer look at how the maddest, most powerful, almightily fast 911 for the road managed this supremely impressive achievement.

The new GT2 RS still has a familiar 3.8-litre flat-six from a 911 Turbo, which in this 911 puts out 691bhp and a face-peeling 750Nm of torque, all to the rear wheels alone. The Porsche boffins at Stuttgart managed this with larger turbochargers, optimised cooling and a coolant injection system which sprays water onto the charge-air cooler to reduce air-intake temps. Dieting is part of the process, its new extra-lightweight titanium bespoke exhaust alone saves 7kgs while turning up the volume too. With a claimed 0-100kph time of 2.8 seconds and a top speed of 340kph, it is indeed the 911 Speed King.

It’s got plenty of aero too with its squared jaw air intakes at the front, carbon scoops on its haunches, gaping exhausts and the massive wing — all of it coming together for its super-aggressive look. It’s got clever bits too like rear-wheel steering and even has certain ‘comforts’ like the PDK-box (no manual option, fair enough as we too would prefer to keep both hands on the steering at all time in this bad boy) and even its touchscreen PCM media system.

There’s the Weissach Package for a more extreme lightweight version that will shave off another 30 kilos. It’s got carbon-ceramic brakes, carbon hood, carbon in the body trim too with plenty of red alcantara and black leather. Can Porsche up the ante on the 911? Will it still be all-combustion or will it too incorporate the hybrid technology like it’s hypercar sister? Share your thoughts in the comments section.