- Porsche GT3 RS test drive –
after a four hour`s drive I arrived back at my work place, the EZW. after some chatting with some of my colleagues and a brief visit in my office my friend who arranged everything for me showed up. “ready...???” what a question...
unfortunately the track`s been closed due to heavy testing, so we decided to wait and he introduced me to the GT3RS he brought along. he took it from Stuttgart HQ which is ~25km away from Weissach. the picture above shows exactely that car, although I haven`t taken it.
so first of all he explained the car to me, mainly tech. details, I think you guys already know all the things to know about the RS, but just some brief infos: the main goal for the GT3 RennSport had been to reduce the weight, base modell had been the GT3 Club Sport (CS).
in the end the RS now has a 4% better power-to-weight ratio (4.86 kg per kW ) than the CS
it`s 52kg lighter with a dry weight of ~1250kg, and a DIN weight of ~1360kg.
this is manageable because of the use of carbon-fiber for the mirrors, front hood, rear wing and deck lid. the rear glass window is replaced ba a polycarbonate acryl window.
sound proofing materials haven`t been used as well, the doors and the whole interiour is weight optimized. The RS has various technical features that will also appear on the racing version, for example the complete wheel hub assemblies, divided front-and rear lateral suspension control arms, optimized rear-axle geometry, the whole suspension system is pure racing technology, 10mm lowered, the front axle features special McPherson racing wheel carriers, spring strut axle whith wheels individually suspended by control arms with travelling arms and spring struts, cylindrical springs with internal single tube gas-filled shock absorbers, split control arm and as mentioned above a racing oriented axle movement. the rear axle features a multi link axle where the wheels are guided by five control arms, cylindrical coil spring per wheel with coaxial internal shock absorbers. the other stuff is the same as on the front axle.
uhmmm, it`s getting a bit too tech now i think...
the most important element on on the RS is the engine, as with the std. GT3 it`s the 3.6l flat-six M96/76 B6 from the GT1 that has been drastically optimized for high revs, achieving 8200rpm at its top end. 381hp @ 7300rpm, 284 lb-ft @ 5000 rpm, equaling a specific output of 105.8 hp/l.
it has a aluminium engine block and cylinder heads, titanium con-rod, four OHC`s, four valve technology with VarioCam, hydraulic valve clearance compensation, shifting intake pipe, dry sump lubrication, two pipe exhaust system with sport three-way cat.conv. Bosch ME7.8 with sequential multi point injection. Porsche supplies a close-ratio 6-speed manual transmission for changing gears, connecting to the engine via a single-mass flywheel, with a lower rotating mass than a double-mass flywheel which results in better throttle response and lower inertia under load. the limited-slip differential provides superior traction for better acceleration, better mid-corner handling which leads to even better lap times.
our RS has been equipped with the std. brakes, IMO the PCCB`s are disadvantageous for a car like the RS that may be driven mainly on the track.
the interiour is nearly perfect, the steering wheel is covered with rough alcantara which permits a better grip on the driving. although the recaro`s in the RS are amazing i still like the one´s in the CGT better, with the proper adjustements with teh pads, teh esats in the CGT is really like a second skin, and of course they`re lighter. nevertheless the RS seats are suiting perfekt and the roll cage is really looking like serious business.
although there`s no A/C, no rear seats, no side airbags, no luxury at all beside the power steering, radio and el. window lift, i`d have leaved all this out as well, you don`t need a radio with that engine sound, you don`t need el. window lift...
so but back to the main topic, the driving...
as testing seemed to be endless on the track we decided on the spur of the moment to hit the outskirts of the EZW, including the autobahn A8...
first off, iwas a bit surprised with the clutch, it`s kinda comfortable and “daily driver” like, the CGT´s clutch is definately heavier. the gearbox is probably one of the best ever, very accurate, very short shifting travel and extremely direct, you don`t remark that on the road, but that gerabox is worth gold on the track, i simply love it. nevertheless, it`d be very interesting to see something like a optional SMGII tranny for track use...
first we drove around in the city and the RS handles really well even at very low speeds, no critical behaviour of the racing engine, and the RS is definately an eye catcher, even in “Porsche city”, everybody recognises that it`s a RS and that this is simply a very special car.
on a deserted country road which i know quite well it was time to let the fun beginn...
i stopped in the middle of the road, selected first and did a hard launch by dropping the clutch @ 4500rpm. the RS accelerates like going ballistic, hardly any traction loss and i reached 60 in approx. five seconds, under better conditions it should be possible in 4.2sec, again shifting is a real pleasure the gearbox is just so precise, it´s amazing, in second i revved up to ~8100rpm, there`s a significant “boost” at around 4500 rpm and ~5600rpm and it just keeps on accelerating very linear untill 7500+ rpm. the exhaust sound is more or less the same as in the std. GT3, to be honest i expected a bit more, nevertheless it a beautiful mechanical typical flat-six Porsche sound which is getting better end better the more the engine revs up.
another thing about sound, although Porsche is saying that the single mass flywheel won`t be that noisy, it`s noisy, but it`s definitely not disturbing, the sound is even smoother at idle speed because of the s.m.fw. so it handles superb on the country roads, the suspension isn`t that stiff, there´s still a bit of comfort, but on the other hand there`s a very good feeling for the road. but as i said, the best thing after the gear box is that engine, even in fourth it just keeps on going, i`ve never experienced something like this with a non turbo engine in that performance class. braking hard into the first corner is just not to believed, thoses brakes are marvellous and due to the low weight the perform superb. conering is freaking, with that sport tyres lateral g`s can be driven that are really amazing, no roll, the steering is light, very linear and sharp, there´s always a good feedback from the road.
out of a fast med. corner there`s some wheelspin but mainly because of the slippery road.
overtaking is really challenging: “how many cars can i overtake bevore the next corner...”, it`s just amazing how the RS pulls away in third, up to fourth... again smiling all the way...
next step, the autobahn and we immediately decided that we won´t give a shit, and my friend replied: “well there won´t be any problems, we`ve the red plates on...” ...as you see on the picture... to start off, i played around with some BMW`s including a M5 and MB`s also some bikes which had been a real pleasure, but in the end no one really wanted to challenge the RS, i think it`s because of that massive rear wing
the RS is good for 190+ mph, but after three or four attempts the fasted i traveled had “only” been ~168mph due to traffic...
my friend said that he reached 198mph on the digital speedo @ ~7500rpm.
it`s a bit tricky to drive the RS at that speeds because of the aggressive suspension layout.
after that little experience we drove back to the EZW, had lunch, and went out to the track earlier when the test crew had been leaving for lunch as well.
i know the test track by heart so i pushed from the very first lap quite hard to see how the brakes will perform under, what we call: stress testing
on lap two the brake pedal travel lenghtened quite a bit, but not a real problem at all, it remained really strong and it´s an easy task to check where`s the limit of the brakes when braking later and later before a corner. we all know the PCCB issue with track use ( wear rate of the pads is quite high ), so I really won`t go for the PCCB`s as well as the optional BiXenon headlights, they can easily be smashed by a little stone on the track and then it´s getting really expensive.
and even after that two laps one thing is to say: the 2004 GT3 RS is definitely the best 911 i`ve ever driven, better than the GT3, TT and GT2 on the track, it`s a perfect racing machine.
but a RS driver has to be kinda skilled to be fast, it`s noticeable that the RS is nearly a pure race car and it behaves like that. the suspension is performing really well and always is providing a very good feeling from the road although it`s also useable in daily life. definitely a benefit is the fact that the suspension e.g. ride height, camber, toe angle and both anti-roll bars are adjustable easily for track use.
you`ve to get used to the steering on the track because it´s a bit tricky when pushing hard, it´s very simple, very light on the straight, but entering a corner is happening really fast, no understeering it`s direct and sharp and sometimes you need to be really quick with corrective lock although the overall traction is not to believed. there`s hardly any understeer when cornering like in a TT, the overall handling is very neutral and you`ve to push really hard to provoke oversteering, but with some practice it´s a real pleasure to go sideways in every corner. but you definitely need some practice, the traction band when pushing hard is very thin, a bit too hard or long on the throttle and you can easily loose it.
as i mentioned above, the gearbox is just perfect for a 6speed manu on the track, changing gears is not a real effort and also hard downshifts are handled well due to the special steel baulk rings. with that free reving engine the car SHOULD be used on the track, it`s such a pleasure to drive, but it`s important to drive the car in the upper rpm band, because there`s where the power`s going on… the Pirellis`s on our RS perform better than the Michelin`s on the GT3, they are more precise and provide an enourmous grip level. lateral g`s on the track can be compared with the CGT`s although the feeling in the CGT is way better, it simply feels faster, and the Pilot Sport 2`s are simply the best tyres…
all in all i´ve driven 16 laps that day and yes, it`s true, there is a noticeable handling difference the longer you drive because the car get lighter due to fuel consumption, just like in a Cup race car.btw, i`ve also seen the upcomming surprise from Porsche for their 911TT customers for 2004... very nice...but hey it´s a secret
i hope you enjoyed my little report i´m really sorry that i can`t provide you some nice pics as with the CGT report but you know, cameras are forbidden inside the facillity but i think i can manage something to get some pics from that RS...
and at a price tag of only 100-120k€ it`s nearly a bargain because the RS easily outruns the GT2 class cas…
as always, if there are any questions, don´t hesitate to ask...
a special thx goes out to my good old friend who gave me the opportunity to test drive the GT3 RS the day before my birthday, so really a very nice gift,
thx a lot chris 
!!!
I know nearly all of you`ve seen this one, but just to imagine the track layout:
http://content3.eu.porsche.com/prod/...erienceontrack
some pics i´ve posted before in “Porsche news”
http://www.imagestation.com/album/?i...ulation_page=Y
Linear Mode
