The next Porsche 911 GT2 RS has been spotted undergoing development testing on and around the Nürburgring, providing our first look at the German performance car brand’s new 911 flagship, including its extreme new aero package and re-profiled rear.
As has become tradition, the new GT2 RS is likely to be the finest and final version of the current (992-series) generation Porsche 911.
Essentially a turbocharged version of the rear-wheel drive, track-honed GT3 RS, it’s expected to once again combine the exotic chassis and high-downforce aero of Porsche’s latest racer-for-the-road with a rear-drive version of the latest 911 Turbo’s high-output boxer powertrain.
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Neither of those two top-shelf 911 models have yet been revealed in upgraded 992.2-series form, but the facelifted 911 Turbo is expected to employ T-Hybrid electrification technology from the latest 911 Carrera GTS.
Therefore the updated Turbo S should easily eclipse the 478kW/800Nm power and torque outputs of the current model’s twin-turbocharged 3.8-litre six-cylinder boxer engine (427kW/750Nm for the regular 911 Turbo).
But as Porsche’s quickest and fastest production model, the new GT2 RS will have even bigger shoes to fill, given the last vehicle to wear the hallowed nameplate produced an epic 515kW/750Nm, so electric turbo assistance could see the new range-topper punch out close to 600kW.
The T-Hybrid system introduced in the GTS comprises an electric motor to assist the turbine of the exhaust-driven turbocharger in spinning up more quickly, all but eliminating turbo lag.
It can also harness excess boost pressure and act as a generator to create electricity for a 1.9kWh battery that, in turn, powers a 40kW/150Nm electric motor integrated between the engine and transmission.
That helps give the single-turbo 3.6-litre flat six in the GTS outputs of 398kW and 610Nm – up 45kW/40Nm on the twin-turbo 3.0-litre 992.1-series GTS it replaced.
That’s enough for it to hit 100km/h in a claimed 3.0 seconds, or just 0.2 seconds more than the standard 911 Turbo (which is also only 29kW more powerful).
At the launch of the GTS T-Hybrid, Porsche engineers said there was no room remaining for a second turbocharger in the vehicle’s rear engine bay, but the revised rear-end design of the wide-bodied RS vehicle in these shots could be the packaging answer to the question of how to electrify the GT2’s (and the 911 Turbo’s) larger-capacity twin-turbo engine.
It may look similar to the existing GT3 RS up front, but this development prototype wears a heavily camouflaged rear bumper housing separated exhaust outlets rather than the twin central exhausts seen on the GT3 RS, while the rear wheel-arches appear to be even wider again.
A new GT2 RS comes around only every seven or eight years, giving Porsche the only GT2-class street car in its class and providing well-heeled 911 buyers with a fitting, top-end swansong for each successive generation.
Like the previous 991-series model produced between 2017 and 2019, the new GT2 RS won’t be a limited edition but will be made for a limited time, and will be expensive.
Ferocious enough to set new production car lap records at the Nürburgring and Bathurst, the old GT2 RS was priced at a cool $645,000 before on-road costs in Australia, where only a small number were made available.
But for another $70,000, the Weissach package allowed customers to swap the titanium roof for a carbon-fibre unit, and also get forged magnesium wheels, thinner glass, and carbon stabiliser bars and shift paddles.
An even wilder single-seat, track-only Clubsport version was produced, limited to just 200 vehicles worldwide but producing the same 515kW.
At the time, the GT2’s 2.8-second 0-100km/h and 340km/h top speed made it the quickest and fastest production Porsche ever, excluding the limited edition 918 Spyder hypercar, which quoted figures of 2.6 seconds and 345km/h.
But given even the current 911 Turbo matches the old GT2’s 0-100km/h pace and the Turbo S lowers it to 2.7 seconds, the upgraded Turbo S should at least match the 918 for standing-start acceleration and the new GT2 RS should become the quickest and fastest road-legal Porsche ever.
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