The huge rear active spoiler is 40 per cent larger than before and, for the first time, is higher than the car’s roof. At the front, a new splitter directs air through the large single radiator and up over the hood, where directional fins on the fenders and roof make sure the hot slipstream doesn’t get into the intakes for the engine at the rear. Hot air instead of cool can sap 10 per cent or more of the 518 horsepower from the 4.0-litre boxer six. Once you’re driving at speed, all the fins and scoops help suck the Porsche to the ground, creating more than 400 kg of downforce at 200 km/h, and an astonishing 860 kg of downforce at the near-top speed of 285 km/h, which is more than twice the suction of the previous car. When you’re on the straight and you don’t need (or want) so much downforce, the giant spoiler at the rear and small spoilers by the front wheels will automatically flip flat, activating a drag reduction system (DRS) to boost your speed. Or you can do it yourself with the press of a button on the steer- ing wheel. There are four buttons on the steering wheel for making electronic adjustments on the fly. The
previous GT3 RS needed you to get under the vehicle with a wrench if you wanted to adjust the individual shock absorbers, but the new car lets you change the rebound and compression rates of the front and rear suspension with just the twist of the button, to account for the variances of differ- ent race circuits, and for the weather. You can also adjust the torque vectoring and traction control and stability control just as simply. When it comes time to slow things down, the brakes are massive, two millimetres thicker than before; ceramic brakes that don’t overheat so readily are an option for around $11,000. Nothing about this car is cheap, of course. The list price begins at $248,000, but the six test cars here at Silverstone each came in around $300,000, and the most expensive was $341,650 – it included the ceramic brakes and a $20,000 personalized paint job and a $38,250 “Weissach package” of extra lightweight carbon fibre. There’s just no point in owning the new 911 GT3 RS if you don’t intend to take it to a race track, just as there’s no point in buying all the carbon fibre pieces if you’re already overweight. If you’re large,
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