Porsche 911 GT3 RS facelift spied ahead of 2018 release ~ station of gear

Tweaked GT3 revealed at Geneva Motor Show will be followed up with a refreshed GT3 RS next year

2017-03-29 15:30

Porsche will follow up the recently facelifted and tweaked 911 GT3 with similar upgrades for its more powerful, even more track focussed sibling – the 911 GT3 RS – and our spy photographers have snapped the upgraded, extreme 911 in testing.

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The car wears a thin disguise, giving us a great glimpse at the design revisions Porsche has in mind for its hardest 911. At the front, it gains a new bumper and grille arrangement, mimicking the new apron of the GT3 revealed at the Geneva Motor Show earlier this month. The rear bumper is the same arrangement found on the current GT3 RS, but it is unclear if this will stay the same or if Porsche has further bodywork tweaks in the pipeline. Two patches on the bonnet suggest new vents here, while new headlights and taillights could appear as well. The overall design changes will feed back into a wider ethos of further aerodynamic refinement.

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In terms of power, it seems likely that Porsche will stick with a naturally aspirated flat-six 4.0-litres in size, but power should be boosted beyond the 493bhp of the standard GT3.

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Purists rejoiced at the re-introduction of the six-speed manual gearbox on the refreshed GT3, but the option of three pedals and a gearstick on the GT3 RS may not arrive. As we reported last year in our GT2 RS story, Porsche’s GT chief Andreas Preuninger does not see a place for a manual gearbox in either the GT2 RS or GT3 RS.

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“There would be no sense in offering a GT3 RS with a manual gearbox because on some tracks it would mean that an ‘ordinary’ GT3 with a PDK gearbox would be as quick or quicker. RS must always be quickest on the track,” Preuninger told us at the time.

While the new GT3 will go on sale later this year, a debut for the new GT3 RS will take place in early 2018.

What do you think of the new 911 GT3 RS? Let us know in the comments below.

James Brodie

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