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First Drive

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Porsche 911 GT3 RS

Test date 25 April 2007  Price as tested  £95,640

What is it?

Awesome, that's what. We’re not easily pleased at Autocar – it’s a rare thing for a car to get the full five-star rating in our roadtest, but Porsche’s GT3 is just that, a car so complete we gave it full marks.

And this is the even more extreme RS version, a car that takes the ‘standard’ GT3, adds 44mm to the rear body width, a monster rear wing, and £14,740 to the price.

What's it like?

Our plans to get scientific and record a lap time around Mira’s dry circuit to compare with the regular GT3's time were sidelined by the only rain we’ve had in months. Still, the motorway commute is visceral enough.

The lightweight plastic rear window – so thin you can see it moving – and carbonfibre engine cover might be instrumental in the RS’s 20kg weight saving, but to my mind the bigger benefit is the reduced sound deadening – it’s not often we praise heightened road and engine noise, but in this case we’ll take everything you’ve got.

Pouring rain, wipers set to maximum, flat six bellowing and 305mm section tyres noisily forcing their way through the damp surface, this is most extreme experience this side of a trip down the Mulsanne in a GT car.

As quickly as it arrived the rain disappears for day two and the Salisbury plains. For homologation purposes the RS is 5mm longer in wheelbase and has split rear wishbones for greater adjustability. Although the difference is slight, the RS turns more incisively, committing instantly to your chosen line and with the 34mm broader rear track grips harder. There is little loss in the GT3’s surprising ride compliance – firm yes, but with a subtlety that leaves you isolated from the harshest impacts.

Should I buy one?

Do you need the extra grip? Not unless you’re a track day regular, and even then gains aren’t really worth the extra money. But do you want the most extreme, do you want that look and do you want that noise? We'd find it very hard to say no.

Jamie Corstorphine

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