Simply the Fastest 911 Production Car Ever
For those untrained in the world of the modern Porsche 911, the dizzying array of variants in the line can certainly be cause for some confusion. And, somewhat oddly, spending the most does not always get you the fastest in the bunch.
What the 911’s variety does offer is a chance to get exactly the car that scratches a particular itch. And if that itch is to obliterate track lap records, you’ll want a 911 GT2 RS. There is one caveat: Porsche does not currently offer a GT2 RS, so you have to get a 2018-2019 model from the secondary market. The Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale auction in January is offering a 2019 911 GT2 RS with the Weissach Package that further reduced weight and sharpened track performance. As a bonus, this car’s previous owner was IndyCar champion Paul Tracy.
As with all cars in Barrett-Jackson auctions, this track-scorching Porsche is offered at no reserve.
Thirty-Year History
The Porsche 911 GT2 began 30 years ago as a race homologation special version of the 993 series 911 for competing in the FIA GT2 category. The car was based on a rear-wheel-drive 911 Turbo chassis. Just 57 were made through 1998, as this was not intended to be a regular production model. Meanwhile, Porsche had been developing a GT2 version of the 996 series 911, the first of this iconic model with a liquid-cooled engine. No longer a race special, the second-generation GT2 was simply the ultimate 911 Turbo road car.
The GT2 resurfaced again in 2007 in the 997 series 911. In the hands of Porsche test driver Walter Röhrl, a 911 GT2 lapped the Nurbürgring North Loop in 7:32. (Keep that number in mind for later reference in this article.) Just 194 of these super 911s came to the U.S. A GT2 RS model arrived in 2010, with 500 sold globally.
Built for the Track but Ready for the Road
Porsche’s latest iteration of the 911 GT2 debuted at the 2017 Goodwood Festival of Speed in England and was built only as an RS model. That stands for rennsport, or motorsport. The car’s intent was clear: street-legal and street-drivable, but optimized for track activities.
Not surprisingly, this was the king of the track-performance hill in the Porsche line, with a 3.8-liter twin-turbo flat six giving 691 horsepower at 7,000 rpm and 553 lb-ft. of peak torque at 2,500 rpm. While that might not sound like a huge leap from the 640 horsepower in the current 911 Turbo S, the 911 GT2 RS weighed about 400 pounds less than the 3,636-pound Turbo S. Like that model, the GT2 RS was offered only with the seven-speed PDK dual-clutch automatic transmission.
About 2,500 of this latest GT2 RS model were made, with nearly 1,100 sold in the U.S.
Lighten Up
Porsche went all-out to make the most recent 911 GT2 RS an ultimate street-legal and drivable track machine. Taking out weight was paramount, so the GT2 RS deleted the rear seat and had a magnesium roof. Carbon fiber was used for the front hood, front and rear fenders, and engine lid. The front and rear fascias are made from lightweight polyurethane. Rear and side windows are lightweight polycarbonate, and the exhaust system is titanium. Porsche claimed a vehicle weight of 3,241 pounds.
The $18,000 Weissach Package added carbon-fiber anti-roll bars, carbon fiber roof, and other carbon-fiber components for a further 40-pound cut. Optional magnesium wheels cur more weight, and the buyer could also delete the air conditioning and stereo to shed more pounds (and comfort, of course). Notably, most U.S. market cars came with the Weissach Package.
Record-Setting Track Star
The GT2 RS delivered staggering performance, making this an ideal car with which to enjoy a private track membership. For starters, its 2.6-second 0-60 sprint and 10.3-second quarter-mile at 140 mph made it the quickest rear-wheel drive car that Car and Driver had ever tested. Other media tests showed similar results.
But that was in 2018. More recently, the magazine crowned a new rear-drive sprinting champ, the Ferrari 296 GTB with 2.4 seconds for 0-60 and 9.7 seconds at 150 mph in the quarter mile.
Porsche built the 911 GT2 RS to be a road-course lap star, not an NHRA super stocker. Accordingly, Porsche factory test driver Lars Kern wheeled the GT2 RS to a stunning 6:47.3 lap around the twisty 13-mile Nurbürgring North Loop in September 2017. That set a record for a production car. For comparison, that was 10 seconds faster than a Porsche 918 Spyder had run the course in 2013. The record has has since been beaten, including by Kern in a GT2 RS equipped with a Manthey-Racing Performance kit offered by Porsche.
Fully Loaded
The 911 GT2 RS started at about $294,000 before options. As noted, the vast majority, like the car offered by Barrett-Jackson’s Scottsdale auction, had the Weissach Package. The Barrett-Jackson car also has the optional black leather and Alcantara interior, Bose sound system, heated 18-way power seats, and illuminated carbon-fiber door sills. The final sticker price would have been more than $330,000.
We’re eager to see what this amazing Porsche hammers at in Scottsdale.
