Friday 20th April 2018

911 GT3 RS goes sub 7 minutes

Porsche takes its very green 911 to the Green Hell and returns with an outrageous lap - watch it here!

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Say what you will about those buy-and-sell cars like the GT3 RS, there's no denying the ability of the product. Appropriately enough, Porsche has wasted no time in proving that point with the latest Rennsport 911, taking the car to the Nurburgring and handing it to factory racer Kevin Estre.

The result is a sensational Nordschleife lap of 6:56.4, 24 seconds faster than the old GT3 RS, which really is remarkable when it only boasts another 20hp. That of course also means it's gone quicker than the 918 Spyder, which is perhaps even more notable. It's said, too, that all four laps set by both Estre and Lars Kern were less than seven minutes, so this wasn't a fluke either.

Estre described the car as "unbelievably close to our racing car GT3 R", while Andreas Preuninger said it was the car's "perfectly composed overall system" that allowed "highly dynamic performance even with a relatively modest engine power."

It's easy to become a bit blasé about manufacturer Nurburgring lap times, but there can be no denying that Estre is really, really on it for this lap. See, just as an example, the run into Adenauer Forst and the quite large application of opposite lock whilst on the brakes. Note too just how much of the time is spent beyond 7,500rpm, flat six howling and the track disappearing beneath the wheels. Well if peak power is 8,250rpm, then it makes sense to stay up there...

So set aside a bit of time this fine Friday morning and watch an incredible sportscar driver at work - it really is worth ever second.

 

 

[purple haze]

Wow! And you can even see where he could do with more power in several places. Just goes to show how well balanced and sorted the car is, quite apart from the fact that he's rather a good driver. Makes my several attempts on the ring look pathetic.