Geneva International Motor Show 2018: Porsche 911 GT3 RS

This is it fellas. In all likelihood, the model that will see out the current 991.2 generation of the Porsche 911 – the big winged road-legal track car also known as the GT3 RS.

This particular one brings back the much-loved GT3 RS stickering but stays with the PDK gearbox instead of the manual shifter. Why? Because it’s quicker and when you are throwing one of these around a circuit, likely not in a professional racing series, you’d prefer not to have to take your hands off the wheel to go through the gears.

Porsche saw no reason to change the engine and gave this new GT3 RS the same engine as the standard GT3. But the naturally aspirated 4.0-litre flat-six powerhouse is tuned to produce 520 hp and revs to 9,000rpm. Those figures give this 911 a 0-100kph time of 3.2 seconds and a top speed of 312kph. Yes, the top speed is under the 200mph milestone but then again, the GT3 RS is meant for track abuse which means handling and acceleration over straight-line speed. Is there really a point in arguing about that with the company that holds the current Nurburgring lap record for a production car? No.

The enhanced engine is part of the RS update to the GT3, along with re-calibrated rear axle steering, iconic fixed wing, aerodynamic tweaks weight saving wherever possible and the 7-speed PDK has been further tinkered with too. There’s a lot more of course, like new ball joints on all arms that provide more precision than conventional elastokinematic bearings. That’s straight from the Porsche release, but if anyone can explain that to us, that’d be great too. Oh, there’s also new lightweight wheels: 20s at the front and 21s at the back. New lightweight wheels for these track toys seems to be a trend among all manufacturers at the Geneva Auto Show like the carbon fibre ones for the Ferrari 488 Pista and the new ones for the McLaren Senna as well.

If you want to make the new 911 GT3 RS even more of a track car there is the no-cost Clubsport package which includes a roll-over bar, six-point seat harness, fire extinguisher and a battery disconnect switch. The optional extras which will add to the billings are part of the traditional Weissach package that has additional carbon bits for the chassis, interior and exterior, and magnesium wheels for further weight saving.

What do you think of the new 911 GT3 RS? Would you take this over the standard RS or just shell out more cash to try and get a record-holding GT2 RS? Share your thoughts in the comments below the gallery and subscribe for more news about the coolest cars.