992 GT3RS SETS MIND-BLOWING NURBURGRING TIME
Used as a benchmark to determine just how able and incredible road cars can be, is how quickly they can complete a maximum-attack lap at the Nürburgring or the ‘Green Hell’ as its more affectionately referred to. Porsche has a pioneering attitude towards achieving lap records here and will go above and beyond to carve seconds off anywhere they can, with every new road car they produce. The scale is arguably meaningless for all of us road car users, but it’s one we’ve come to recognise and will always refer to as each newcomer is presented to us.
Back in 2013, the most complete iteration of ‘The Holy Trinity’ (the Porsche 918 Spyder) managed to achieve a sub-7-minute time of 6 minutes and 57 seconds. At the time this was an eclectic achievement and won’t be forgotten in a hurry. Fast forward a few years and the then-new, 991.2 GT3RS set a blisteringly quick time of 6:54.4 in 2018.
The competition was hotting up and this time was superseded by the almighty 759BHP Lamborghini Aventador SVJ which broke records with a time of 6:44.97. The latest Mercedes-AMG GT Black Series – equipped with well over 720BHP – managed a time of 6:43:6.
These cars are or were all at the top of their game upon their release and certainly come equipped with power to pack a serious punch. So then, how does the latest track-focussed, road-going Porsche 911 fair up? Quite frankly, it’s a bananas time of just 6:49.3 seconds. That’s around 8 seconds faster than the Porsche 918 Spyder, and 4-5 seconds slower than the SVJ & GT Black Series. For a car that comes with around less than 200BHP than the Italian and its German cousin, is astonishing.
The GT3 RS’ active aerodynamics help play a huge factor in achieving this. At the front of the car, there are two flaps just ahead of the front wheels that work harmoniously with that enormous rear wing to constantly tweak and adjust the levels of downforce produced on the car – there’s even a DRS button on the steering wheel! In the onboard lap below, you’ll see driver Jorg Bergmeister, get familiar with this a few times.
Mr Porsche GT, Andreas Preuninger, said that “Considering the far from ideal conditions, with a strong headwind on the long straight of the Döttinger Höhe and cool asphalt temperatures, we are satisfied with this time.” The RS is also 10 seconds faster than the regular 911 992 GT3 around the Nürburgring which is to be expected given its sheer amount of downforce available.
Bergmeister added too that “in the fast sections, the GT3RS is in a league of its own. Here it’s on a level usually reserved for top-class racing cars and it also sets new standards in braking.”
As ever, we’re eagerly anticipating seeing the first one up close in the flesh. The GT3RS is a model that always has and always will be a firm Premier GT favourite.
