PORSCHE 993 GT3 RS
The PORSCHE 993 GT3 RS
In historical terms the GT3 RS was either a poorly kept secret or a macro-run special, knocked out at the last minute to counter a few loose-lips at the latest GT3 launch earlier this year. One day I'll find out which. Either way, while being presented with the most aggressive 996 variant to date, a few hacks rightly pointed out that for all its 375bhp and 1380kg, the GT3 still wasn't quite the real-deal. Followed by the statement that brings out an inspector Dreyfus-style twitch in Stuttgart's chassis engineers: 'It still isn't a replacement for the 993 RS.' Andrew Flintoff is less weary of being the perennial next-Botham than Porsche is of hearing that whatever it does isn't the new 993 RS. Bet it wished the bloody thing hadn't been so good after all. But this time it came armed with an off-but-on-the-record response to the GT3 jibes: just wait for the RS version. The almost pornographic representation of the current Carrera you're looking at is Porsche's final word on the subject.
More than anything else, Porsche is proud (almost obsessed) with its heritage. And that's why in 1999, when it launched a Carrera shorn of some equipment and with an extra 60bhp, it resisted the temptation to resurrect the RS label. You see Rennsport is much more than a signifier of increased performance potential; it's a performance philosophy unto itself. More power brings more pace, but only if overall mass is reduced through race-car technology can a Porsche earn the most respected tag. This is one of those cars.
Waving two fingers at Newton's hard graft, the RS places the same 3600cc flat-six as the GT3 over the rear axle. Peak power of 381bhp yowls into focus at 7300rpm (6bhp up and l00rpm lower than a GT3) and the torque curve is a carbon-copy of the standard car's: 2841b ft at 5000rpm. Miniscule gains I percentage terms, but then RS has never been about large specific power gains (the geek in me can confirm that for 911/964/993 RS variants the average is 15bhp over the respective standard car). For some reason Porsche decided that this car needed a light- weight, single-mass flywheel, even though a GT3 doesn't exactly suffer from a recalcitrant revcounter needle and it also needed to homologate a new rear spoiler lip. So it gulps a little more 02, and it revs even quicker.
Perhaps the basic 996's greatest single achievement is its humble approachability: see it, open door, start, blitz everything else on four wheels. All ruined by the RS I'm afraid. There is so much detail to imbibe, so many aspects that deserve a grinning nod of approval that get-in-and-go isn't an option. Like me, you're trying to look beyond the redness of it all, but that's not easy. You may think the writing crass, the wheel centres OTT and wonder about those fading sticker sections at either end, but I just adore such touches. Mixed in with a huge carbon rear wing, a nostrilled front bumper straight off a Supercup race car and an overall 10mm reduction in ride height, it has unrivalled road and pit-lane presence. Other shapes are more attractive, better suited to making school children whoop and point, but the GT3 RS is the most enticing-looking device out there. It's a battle of wills: do you resist salivating over other RS details like the Porsche logo on the bonnet (that's actually a sticker to supplement the weight saving of the carbonfibre panel itself) or do you shuffle between the roll-cage and Recaro bucket to sample what this car's really all about? Oh, the agony.
Full cage, fire extinguisher, six-point harness. Not your average tally of NCAP- friendly safety-equipment, but then no number of airbaggy pretensioner things can match the womb-like security of what is essentially a race-car cabin. There's also some carpet, a hi-fi and this example has air-con. A few more outward signs o specialness Alcantara trim for the wheel and gearlever finish what is certainly a workmanlike cabin, but somehow you wish it was a little further removed from the cooking car. Still feels generic GT3 as you adjust the seat for length (fixed backrest only in the RS), pull the wheel as far towards your chest as possible (still no height adjusttment, but then there's no need for it). However, you then adjust the electric wing mirrors and notice that they're carbonfibre. Nice. But the driver's seat Rennsport connection is only fully justified when the rear-view mirror is tweaked to reveal a world as see through vapourising petrol. A Perspex rear screen may not help visibility, but it saves pounds, looks trick and that's why this car, with a full tank of gas weighs 50kg less man a GT3 Clubsport.
Familiar key, familiar fleshy action in the lock-barrel. New noises as the engine fires, though; louder from the inside because there's precious little sound deadening and the flywheel chunters away when the car's idling in neutral. The circuit is drying fast, but were on Pirelli P-Zero Corsas: best take it easy then. The RS doesn't understand easy though. As soon as the oil temperature gauge has risen to a level that makes me feel less guilty about 'caning Brendan Corr's thousand-mile-old baby, it's impossible not to push. The RS is a multi-layered sports car in the way only the most talented are, but like everything else that comes with soft-compound, lightly treaded tyres, it's the rubber that defines the driving experience. When cold it's not the 295/30 ZR18 Corsas that need watching because the 911's inherent traction advantage means that even out of the first hairpin on the first dampish lap, the RS can handle just about all of 8300rpm in second. It's the 235/40 ZR18 fronts that require attention; until there's some heat in 'em it's understeer city. That doesn't affect a full-bore hit down the straight. Everything in second, third, fourth and a couple of seconds in fifth. Bedford's longest straight is a little under a kilometre long, I entered it at 45mph and backed off rather earlier than necessary with the speedo reading 149mph. A 911 Turbo Powerkit would only manage 151mph earlier this year. For flexibility, noise, choice of gear ratios, shift action and punch this is the best 911 drivetrain ever. And at 149mph you think it must be the RS's finest aspect, until you drill the middle pedal to the floor and feel the optional £5355-worth of PCCB (Porsche Carbon Composite Brakes) do their thing. The retardation is mighty and the pedal feel bang-on. But I haven't been sanctioned to run all day and therefore can't test what every GT3 owner would like to know - their resistance to fade. Shame.
Three laps in and we have temperature. The understeer doesn't disappear, you just build corner speed up to it, the nose pushes on a little, the rubber bites and the rear tyres just hook up. Once settled it feels like mild oversteer, but is in fact the RS is finding its own very special steady state cornering posture.
Do you notice any lack of mass? A little: the RS is keener to change direction than the standard car, but it's the revised spring and damper rates that matter more. My biggest gripe with the standard car is an unacceptable amount of rear-end movement - dare I say it's too soft - and the RS is much better tied down, doesn't meander like the GT3. If I already had a GT3, I'd be finding out what exactly does constitute 'rear geometry changes' and finding if they could be fitted ASAP. Because while you'd expect the extra rigidity to manifest itself on the road as a torrid lack of compliance, it simply doesn't appear.
Yes, the RS is firmer than a GT3 on ordinary terra firma, ie away from the confines of a billiard-table smooth test track. On B-roads it snaffles out the slightest camber changes and feels like it wants to tramline badly under brakes (in fact, it doesn't). But the fact is, the standard GT3 isn't a great road car in the first place, and the RS is only very marginally worse. It has maybe two per cent less ride comfort. In the great scheme of things, it hardly matters.
What does is that despite its stiff ride and edgy front end, the RS is still perfectly useable on the road if you're that way inclined. Okay, show it a really rough surface and the suspension shows you its track roots, and it hardly absorbs anything. And of course there are still creature comforts: air conditioning, hi-fi, electric windows and mirrors mean that if you've got the cash and a strong spine, you could use it every day -although I suspect dealing with the attention it attracts might be a more important issue to deal with in coming to such a decision.
Two questions, then. What if you own a GT3 and are wondering whether the RS is nothing more then a sticker and wing-fest: is the RS worth the extra £12k? Used M3 CSL values are in free-fall, and the market seems unhappy with these limited editions of already small-volume models. But remember, Porsch invented this game, and therefore knows precisely how far it has to go to keep the customer sweet. What matters is that for various cumulative reasons, the RS feels a lot more special than the GT3. Only the £133k Ferrari 360 Challenge Stradale gets close.
It is the supreme lightweight, track-attack 996 and in so being rights nearly all of the GT3's problematic areas. Which leads us on to the really big question: is it better than 993 RS? No, not quite. But being a close second best to the finest 911 ever at a time when legislation makes this kind of exercise infinitely more difficult than it was in 1995 is still a mighty achievement.
SPECIFICATIONS
Price £84.230
On Sale in UK Now
Top Speed 190 mph
0-60 mph 4.4 secs
MPG 12.0/24.9
CO2 emissions 328g/km
Insurance Group 20
Engine Flat, 6 cyls, 3600cc
Power 381 bhp at 7300 rpm
Torque 284 bhp at 5000 rpm
Power to Weight 282 bhp per tonne
Bore/stroke 100.0/76.4mm
Compression ratio 11.7:1
Installation/management
Rear, longitudinal, rear wheel drive, Bosch Motronic ME 2.8
Transmission
6 speed manual
Steering
Rack & pinion, hydraulic assistance, 3.0 turns lock to lock
Suspension front/rear
Struts, coil springs, anti roll bar/multi link, coil springs, anti roll bar
Brakes front/rear
350/330mm ventilated discs
Wheels and tyres
8.5Jx18in (f) 11Jx18in (r) 235/40 ZR18 (f) 295/30 ZR18 (r) Pirelli P-Zero Corsa
Dimensions
Length 4435mm Width 1950mm
Height 1265mm Wbase 2355mm
Weight 1350kg Fuel Tank 64 litres
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