Porsche 911 GT3 RS review

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   Porsche 911 GT3 RS costs from £131,296

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   2015 Porsche 911 GT3 RS is powered by a 4.0-litre flat six engine

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   This recess baked into the carbonfibre-reinforced plastic (CFRP) bonnet and magnesium roof is precisely 30cm wide and a reference to the styling of older air-cooled 911s. Well done if you'd registered that nod

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   Rear apron is made out of a new polymer of polyurethane, hollow glass beads and carbonfibre filler. Expect that material to be more robust, more flexible and cheaper to replace than CFRP

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   Exhaust styling is unusually subtle for such a purposeful car, and you'll note the absence of a conventional rear diffuser. That spoiler means the RS doesn't need the latter

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   Carbonfibre wing is adjustable through three positions and contributes up to 220kg of downforce. Profile suggests that it stabilises the car directionally, too

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   These lateral air intakes are from the 911 Turbo, on which they cool the charge air; here, they aspirate the engine via an all-new induction system

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   In keeping with tradition, RS badge takes pride of place on the rear

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   Our test car was fitted with Porsche's optional carbon ceramic composite brakes (£6248)

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   Standard 911 view forwards, so good for a sports car thanks to the moderate angle of the screen and A-pillars

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   Superb fixed-back buckets can be swapped (at no cost) for regular sports seats with tipping backrests, if you'd prefer access to the rear for storage

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   Half cage is part of the Clubsport pack, which is standard but can be deleted at no cost. Battery kill switch and driver's six-point harness come with it

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   Boot up front is surprisingly wide and deep and, therefore, useful. Its claimed capacity of 125 litres undersells it somewhat

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   The 'Pit Speed' feature keeps the car below a set speed when in the pits. Germany must have more strictly policed track days than we do in the UK

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   Downsized SportDesign steering wheel sits in front of shorter shift paddles than the GT3's. They're more tactile and offer better haptic feel

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   The GT3 RS is as quick to 100mph as the twin-turbocharged Mercedes-AMG GT S

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   Throttle response is nothing short of sensational

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   Grip and feedback are superb, but you pay for it with a lot of cabin noise

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   The steering, while direct, doesn't flirt with nervousness quite like that of a Ferrari 458 Speciale or F12 does

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   Our new hardcore champion is a car of supreme delicacy and excitement

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Although the RS badge has a longer history, Porsche itself measures the Renn Sport versions of the 911 GT3 from 2003, when it stripped surplus weight from the 996-generation model and had its race-spawned Mezger flat six hyperventilating on ram-air ducts.

It was a suitable starting place for a concept that has since set like folkloric concrete in the imagination of anyone interested in the performance potential of the naturally aspirated 911. Because the 997 moved through several stages of evolution (including the instant legend that was the much-coveted swansong RS 4.0), Porsche considers the 991 version to be the fifth generation of the model it has launched.

Matt Saunders

Deputy road test editor

If it adequately fills the enormous shoes left by the limited-edition 997 RS 4.0, it might just be the bargain of the decade

As with its predecessors, the manufacturer considers the car’s circuit-lapping capabilities to be second only to those of the race machines at the opposite end of the homologation process – in this case, the latest GT3 R.

The performance disparity between street legal and not, though, ought to be more slender than ever, given all the stops Porsche has evidently pulled from the RS’s development process. We’ll dive into the technical detail in a moment but will preface it with the same takeaway fact that its maker chose to highlight: namely, the car’s four-second improvement over the V10-powered Carrera GT’s lap time around the Nürburgring.

Typically, we’d query the relevance of such a comparison in a road car. Here, though, there’s no question at all that Weissach brews the RS to simmer best on a track, so knowledge of its apparent superiority over a lighter, slipperier, substantially more powerful mid-engined supercar is appropriate theme-setting for considering the extremities of performance Porsche has managed to coax from the humble 911, while still asking only £131,296 from its customers.

If it adequately fills the enormous shoes left by the limited-edition 997 RS 4.0, it might just be the bargain of the decade.