German Car Zone

By Samuel Ee - May 19, 2007
The Business Times

ONE of the most exotic Porsche cars to be built has arrived in Singapore. The Porsche 911 GT3 RSR is an endurance race car that is wilder and more aggressive than any 911 you'll ever drive. The 370,000 euro (S$760,530) car was bought by Team Porsche Club Singapore Racing, whose team principal Mok Weng Sun is currently leading his class in his debut season of the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia. The team, made up of Porsche Club Singapore members, plans to unleash the car at the 12-hour Merdeka Race on Aug 24.

Based on the GT3 RS road car, the RSR will be the only one in South-east Asia out of the 27 examples being produced for the 2007 season. It is hand-built by Porsche Motorsports primarily for endurance races ranging from four to 24 hours. It is in no way street legal.

Under its full carbon kevlar body, the RSR has a hand-made 3,795cc version of the GT3 Cup car's 3,598cc horizontally opposed six-cylinder engine.

It produces 485 hp - 85 more than a Cup car - despite being fitted with two mandatory FIA GT-Spec 29.5 mm air restrictors. Without these restrictors, it is rumoured that the power produced could be as much as 580 hp.

With its carbon fibre intake manifold, the engine revs up to 9,500 rpm and is capable of competing in an entire 24-hour race, like Le Mans, with an additional six hours for testing, before an engine rebuild is required.

Its transmission is equally exotic - the six-speed sequential 'dog-engagement' manual gearbox has a triple disc carbon clutch. The advanced engine control systems feature 12 modes of traction control - with six settings each for wet and dry conditions.

A GT3 Cup car (costing only 130,000 euros by comparison) can lap the Sepang International Circuit in two minutes and 10 seconds with touring car champion Tim Sugden behind the wheel. The RSR is expected to pull in a lap time that is five to eight seconds faster than that because of its significantly higher power output and more tuneable suspension set-up. That would make it close to two minutes flat and when compared with the lap record set by a Formula One car of about one minute 34 seconds, it means the RSR is blindingly fast.

Team manager and chief of operations Arjunan Kulasegaram says: 'God willing, with some luck and a decent race pace, the RSR could help us make it to the Merdeka podium!'

Engine: 3,795 cc flat-six
Gearbox: 6-speed sequential manual transmission
Max power,: 485 hp @ 7,250 rpm
Max torque: 435 Nm @ 8,400 rpm
Price: 370,000 euros
For more information, call Stuttgart Auto on tel: 6363-0911

This is exactly one of the things I like about Porsche. There's a clear and distinct lineage from "cooking" road car all the way into high performance motorsport tar burner. And every one of them from greenest to meanest remains undeniably: a 911.

Looks hottt! I wonder if Dr. Ron would want one of these as his track day chariot?

O.. my god..

I would love to have one, but the last I heard they were about $480,000 USD. It is a big step up over a GT3 Cup car.
Maybe a used one in a few years. For comparison my the best lap I have had in my 914-6 race car at Sebring was 2 min 32.0 secs. I forget now exactly the length of Sebring- it's either 3.4 of 3.7 miles. I'm leaving tomorrow to go there for 2 days, then next Sunday I drive at Moroso (another track here in Florida) and back to Sebring on June 30- 3 track weekends in one month!

Dr. Ron, you're one seriously enviable dawg! Sebring? In a Porsche? Stuff of dreams for us mere mortals!

Dr. Ron, lol. I always thought drronh some some kind of animal or animal sound you made up in your head

One learns something new every day.

Ditto! Sorry Dr. Ron.