Fastest, most powerful Porsche 911 uncovered

PORSCHE has revealed its latest GT2 RS at this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed, which is the fastest and most powerful road-legal 911 available to date.

Cashed-up Australian buyers can place their orders now, with first deliveries expected in early 2018.

Porsche is asking $645,400 plus on-road costs for the 911 GT2 RS, making it about $55,000 more expensive than the limited-edition 446kW 911 Turbo S Exclusive Series that was revealed early last month.

The Exclusive Series was the most powerful, fastest and priciest Porsche 911 production coupe yet, but it has been usurped by the new track focused GT2 RS.

The most expensive “standard” 911 variant is the Turbo S, which retails for $461,900 in Australia.

Under the bonnet of the GT2 RS is a revised version of the 3.8-litre twin-turbocharged flat six in the 911 Turbo S, pumped up from 427kW to 515kW, while torque remains at 750Nm.

Compared with its 3.6-litre predecessor, the latest GT2 RS has 59kW more power and 50Nm more torque.

The two-seat, rear-wheel-drive, lightweight coupe – it weighs just 1470kg with a full tank of fuel – can hit 100km/h from a standing start in a blistering 2.8 seconds, 0.1s quicker than the Turbo S, while the top speed is 340km/h.

To improve performance over the Turbo S, Porsche has included larger turbochargers to push more processed air into the combustion chambers, while an extra cooling system helps keep the temperature down, ensuring “optimum power output, even under extreme conditions”.

It also features a customised seven-speed GT ‘PDK’ dual-clutch transmission and a special exhaust system made from extra-lightweight titanium that is 7kg lighter than the standard system and delivers an “emotional sound”.

To ensure track-ready performance, the GT2 RS is fitted with 265/35 ZR 20-inch front and 325/30 ZR 21-inch rear “Ultra High Performance” tyres, and Porsche Ceramic Composite Brakes as standard.

The GT2 RS also gains a massive rear wing, big air intakes and outlets, a magnesium roof and carbon bonnet, while the front wings, wheel housing vents, exterior mirror housing, air intakes on the rear side and sections of the rear are made from carbon-fibre reinforced plastic.

Porsche is even offering the GT2 RS with an optional Weissach package, although Australian pricing for this is yet to be confirmed.

The package ensures a weight saving of an additional 30kg and includes more parts made from carbon-fibre reinforced plastic and titanium. It also adds a central strip the same colour as the car on the luggage compartment lid and the carbon-weave finish roof.

Inside the track-ready coupe gets red Alcantara, black leather and some parts with a carbon weave finish, full bucket seats, sports steering wheel with paddle shifters, the Porsche Communication Management system, and the Connect Plus module and Porsche Track Precision app that records and displays analysis of driving data via a phone.  More driving data is available if buyers choose the optional Sport Chrono package.

The German sportscar-maker is also offering the 911 GT2 RS with an exclusive Porsche Design Chronograph watch that took three years to design.