PORSCHE 911 GT3 RS

The new GT3 RS's ultimate weapon is something you can't see the air around it. Allow Chris Harris to demonstrate

- CHRIS HARRIS

The supporting press info for the new 992 generation GT3 RS contains many memorable words and statistics. It is possibly the most extreme road car the company has ever made, including all the expensive supercars, but there is one piece of information that is quietly glossed over. To become the fastest track-oriented 911 of all time, this car had to become the slowest modern GT3. A 'normal' GT3 will hit 198mph, but the RS stops at 184mph, because it has so much drag and a shorter final drive. I can't think of another car whose speed is so obviously curtailed by a rear wing. A Honda Civic Type R isn't much slower.

Silverstone was the launch venue for this outrageous-looking machine. The thinking was clear - few other circuits have as many high-speed corners on which to demonstrate downforce, but the weather isn't always helpful. As Porsche racing legend Jörg Bergmeister and project boss Andreas Preuninger, both of whom I know reasonably well, looked wearily at the sky, I offered some British cheer. "Morning chaps - why did you choose Silverstone at the end of September?! It's always pissing down!" They grinned, demonstrated a high degree of competence in the British vernacular and sauntered off to get coffee.

Sopping wet in the pitlane were several new RSes. Porsche first released pictures of this thing a few months ago, so we already knew the wing was absurdly big, but some of the details you need to appreciate up close. I thought it looked a bit silly when I first saw it. The Signal Yellow number I'm due to drive makes me reconsider that. Where the suspicion lurked the car might have had a cartoonish 'aftermarket' look about it, the result is quite different. It's cohesive, appears factory original and there's enough frontal bulging to add balance to the mayhem out back.