WING COMMANDER

The 992-gen GT3 RS introduces extreme aero and race-car levels of downforce to the familiar Porsche RS recipe, raising its track capabilities to a whole new plane (for some reason Boeing comes to mind). Prepare to be gripped

-  RICHARD MEADEN

THIS ISN'T THE FIRST TIME EVO HAS driven a brand-new 911 GT3 RS at Silverstone. Rewind back to 2003 (issue 062 to be precise) and you'd have found us getting our first taste of the original 996 GT3 RS, courtesy of a kind reader who'd managed to get one of the very first cars to arrive in the UK. Well ahead of Porsche GB receiving its own press demonstrator, our drive was a somewhat improvised affair. But we blagged some track time, did some skids and got ourselves an exclusive.

Much has changed since those dim and distant millennial days. Not least Porsche's grip of how its hottest new models find their way into the hands of the motoring media. However, it's the product that has seen the greatest transformation. Witness the spectacular 992 GT3 RS.

Photographs don't prepare you for your first up-close audience with the '22 3RS. Such is its devotion to downforce it looks far closer to a Le Mans-ready RSR than anything you could reasonably expect to drive on the road. Literally every surface of the body (and underbody) has been altered. Those parts not dedicated to pressing the RS into the tarmac have been designed to direct airflow through the new, centrally mounted radiator, towards the brakes, or under the car towards the rear diffuser. Even hot air exiting the radiator is managed, guided left and right of the rear window to ensure the engine breathes only cool, dense air.

The result is a DRS-equipped active aero package of epic magnitude. One that sits well outside the scope of international GT racing, and more commonly associated with track-only specials or hypercars such as McLaren's brutally functional Senna. It's certainly way beyond anything we're used to seeing on road-going 911s and makes a regular GT3 look like a Touring. Such extremes are indicative of a car that has had everything thrown at it. If wind tunnel analysis showed a kitchen sink added a few points of downforce, you'd find one attached to the 992 RS.