Posted on: Mar 19, 2013 | 15,675 reads

Porsche GT3 RS Coming Next Year

Think the new 911 GT3 is hard-core? Just wait until Porsche releases the next GT3 RS.

Every few months, Porsche releases another version of its 911, then another, and another, until it has 20 or more. Then it replaces the 911 with a new model and it starts all over again. You might it a Sisyphean endeavor but for one important difference: While the ancient Greek story of the man consigned to roll a bolder up a hill (only for it to roll back down again in perpetuity) was all about futility, each new 911 makes serious and fast progress over the model it replaces.

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So far Porsche has released base, S, all-wheel-drive, convertible and GT3 versions of the 991-generation model. So what’s next? As we know there’ll be a new 911 Turbo unveiled within a few months from now. But as powerful and rapid as that forced-induction model will be, what the hardest core of Porsche enthusiasts are looking forward to most is the next 911 GT3 RS. And according to the latest, that’s due to arrive early next year. Like the new GT3, the upcoming GT3 RS will pack a dual-clutch transmission – something likely to upset the purists but make the RS faster than it would be with a manual.

Speaking with Britain’s Car magazine, Andreas Preuninger (the man behind Porsche's GT models) said it would be too complicated to offer both on such a niche product. The RS will also retain the GT3’s four-wheel steering system, but ditch the steel exhaust with a titanium system, upgrade the aero kit and further enhance the 3.8-liter flat-six. In the GT3, it’s quoted at 475 horsepower, but Preuninger says actual output is closer to 500, so expect the GT3 RS to have another 10 or 20 horses on top of that – pushing it close to the previous Turbo’s 530 hp. The new 911 Turbo, then, will produce even more.