Andreas Preuninger shows us what’s under the front hood of the new GT3 RS. A small plastic piece with mesh grilles covers the opening.<\/figcaption>\n\tChris Perkins<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\nAt the debut of the new RS last week at the Quail, Andreas Preuninger, head of GT road cars at Porsche Motorsport, took us around the new car. The new 992 GT3 RS has arguably the most extreme aero package this side of a McLaren Senna, as far as road cars are concerned. Unfortunately, it comes at the expense of having a front trunk, because downforce is far more important than luggage space. Instead, there’s a radiator canted forward similar to what’s used on modern 911 race cars. <\/p>\n
“The mono-cooler concept is the enabler,” says Preuninger. “It’s easy to produce downforce on the rear, because you just put a big wing on it, but you have to bring the car back to balance. The 911 is always very difficult to get the downforce at the front, and so we needed aero modules with electromechanically operated flaps where the side radiators normally sit. So they had to go.”<\/p>\n
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\t\t\t<\/p>\n <\/picture> <\/picture><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n\tPorsche<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\nThese movable flaps look like small wings, though Preuninger describes the whole package as a front diffuser. “We use a wing to modify the diffuser shape,” he says. The wings are adjusted by specially developed brushless electric motors which can rotate a maximum of 80 degrees in 0.3 seconds. Angle of attack is infinitely adjustable, working in concert with a new bi-plane rear wing that has a hydraulically adjustable top section. There’s even an F1-inspired drag-reduction system (DRS), activated by a button on the steering wheel that automatically puts the car in its lowest-downforce configuration. Preunigner says the effect is very noticeable at high speeds, but you won’t need to hit the button on track because the car will automatically adjust the downforce level as needed. <\/p>\n
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<\/picture><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n\tPorsche<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\nThe front diffuser wasn’t quite enough to achieve what Preuninger says is the ideal aero balance of 70 percent rear, 30 percent front. Instead of resorting to things like dive planes, which add drag and increase frontal area, Porsche opted to develop new hydrofoil-shaped components for the front suspension, which Preuninger says contribute to an 88-pound increase in downforce. <\/p>\n
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<\/picture><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n\tPorsche<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\nOther neat aero details abound. The vents in the hood are designed to get the hot air from the radiators as far away from the car as possible, and there’s a funny side-effect of their use. Preuninger tells us that there’s always hot air rushing by the car, so you can drop the windows in winter without getting cold. Helping vent pressure from the wheel wells are new upright vanes behind the tire that create an air channel with the dramatically sculpted bodywork. The channel behind the front wheels required a new door, which is made from carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic (CFRP), which not only saves weight, but is far cheaper than making a new door from metal. This also gave Preuninger an excuse to bring back the fixed door handles of the 991, which he prefers over the 992’s retractable units. “I just like it better,” he says. “Old school, but old things are the things we’re used to for a reason. Because they’re good, because they work.”<\/p>\n
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<\/picture><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n\tPorsche<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\nOn either side of the roof (which is also made from CFRP), are two fins that help keep the hot air rushing down the side of the body away from the intake on the engine cover. Preuninger says these components contributed to an increase of 20 horsepower in testing. The last two iterations of GT3 RS also used intakes ahead of the rear wheels to feed the engine, though now, this is just a vent to reduce drag. <\/p>\n
At 124 mph, the GT3 RS is capable of generating around 900 pounds of downforce, and at 177 mph\u2014the speed achieved on the N\u00fcrburgring’s long D\u00f6ttinger H\u00f6he straight\u2014that figure jumps to an astonishing 1895 pounds. For context, the new GT3 RS is capable of making twice as much downforce as its predecessor, and three times as much as the current GT3. One of the great road-going aero monsters, the Dodge Viper ACR, made over 1700 pounds of downforce at 177 mph<\/u>, while the McLaren Senna made 1775 at 155 mph. Porsche says these figures put the new GT3 RS on par with a GT3 race car. Its ability to cut drag on the fly should make it even faster flat-out.<\/p>\n