Sometimes improvement in a vehicle is massive and difficult to miss, but for some automakers progress is incremental — and still noteworthy. Porsche keeps making its machines, like the 2023 911 GT3 RS, a little better delighting fans and potential buyers alike.
In this case, the new 911 GT3 RS just set a new lap record at Wisconsin’s Road America. Actually, it didn’t just beat it, it crushed it.
Porsche Deluxe Carrera Cup North America veteran Dimitri Dimakos piloted the GT3 RS around the four-mile, 14-turn road course in just 2 minutes and 13 seconds — nearly 2 seconds faster than the previous record holder, a 911 GT2 RS.
Conditions were near perfect, with an air temperature hovering around 75 degrees and a track temperature just above 90 degrees Fahrenheit, officials noted.
Not just fast, but better
The previous record-setting Porsche 911 had some advantages, primarily that it was powered by a 700 horsepower beast. The previous best lap was set by David Donohue in a 2019 Porsche 911 GT2 RS in April 2019, and the new record shaved off nearly two seconds.
Dimakos was quick to point out that it’s not just that the new model is faster, it’s how the performance came to be that is notable.
“The biggest thing is not necessarily the lap time, it is the ease at which the car can achieve that lap time and the confidence it inspires in the driver,” Dimakos said.
“The car can be driven by someone who is a novice or intermediate level driver and still be very fast and comfortable to drive. The braking is nearly identical to what we run in the 911 GT3 Cup car. I was braking at exactly the same spot. No wiggling at all. The car stopped exactly straight, turned-in great.”
The differences
The sophisticated active aerodynamics and new Motorsport-based 4.0 liter, naturally aspirated, flat-six engine of the current generation 911 GT3 RS also made it over 4.5 seconds quicker than the 2019 Porsche 911 GT3 RS at the same track.
The privately owned production-spec road car — which had been delivered to the owner just weeks before — was aligned for the track by an authorized Porsche Center and fitted with optional, road-legal Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 R N0 high performance road tires size 275/35 ZR 20 front and 335/30 ZR 21 rear, which are specifically developed and homologated for the 911 GT3 RS.