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.
Denne historien er fra December 2022-utgaven av Evo UK.
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Denne historien er fra December 2022-utgaven av Evo UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
BEST BUYS BMW M CARS
THE PERFORMANCE CAR LANDSCAPE WOULD HAVE looked very different over the last five decades without BMW. Its M division, founded in 1972, has produced some of the best driver’s cars ever to hit the road, and in the process has provided a stream of benchmark models for its rivals to chase. In recent years, stricter emissions regulations, downsizing and electrification have seen some of those rival cars falter, yet by and large BMW’s M machines have remained strong. In fact, some rank among the greatest the department has made think of the eCoty-winning M2 CS and M5 CS while others are the only options worth recommending in their respective segments. Price tags have risen with performance, however, putting those latest offerings out of reach for many, but the marque’s popularity means there are numerous earlier M models available on the second-hand market for far more attainable figures. Here are four of our favourites.
TYRE 2024 TEST
Want to fit the very best tyres to your performance car? The annual evo Tyre Test identifies the cream of the current crop
HONDA ACCORD TYPE R
A liberal sprinkling of Honda Type R fairy dust on the late-'90s Accord produced an unlikely evo icon and a genuine performance bargain
TOY STORY
Where best to store some of Toyota’s most prized and valuable racing superstars? Under the wind tunnel at its Cologne HO, of course...
POWER PLAY
It develops 819bhp. It has no turbochargers, no hybrid assistance. Ferrari describes it as the most complete GT it's ever made. And it’s so proud of its mighty V12 engine it’s named the whole car after it. This is the 12 Cilindri
THE FIRST SAMURAIS
Japan has been responsible for many of our favourite driver's cars of recent decades, but their ancestors are often much less well known. We take a look at where the big manufacturers began their performance car journeys
DEFINITELY. NO MAYBE
Three Japanese performance icons - Lexus LFA, Subaru Impreza 22B and Nissan GT-R. Over three days on some of our favourite roads we explore what makes each uniquely thrilling, but also the car culture that unites them
1V3.0
F1, P1... and now W1. The next chapter in McLaren's Ultimate Series is the British firm's challenger to the forthcoming new Ferrari hypercar and a £2million, 1257bhp, hybrid-powered, technical tour de force
Thornley Kelham European RS
One man’s dream to build the perfect Porsche 911 has resulted inthis aaticMously restored and enhanced classic. We delve into the details and take it for a drive
Bentley Continental GT Speed
The new Continental GT is the most powerful Bentley ever, and the beginning of anew plug-in hybrid era for Crewe. But is it still a benchmark grand tourer?
