HISTORY & TECH
On the water-cooled cars, where the GT3 had taken over the RS role, the RS was reintroduced as the homologation version. Porsche’s first foray was the 996 GT3 RS that revived the tradition of lighter body panels, harder suspension and a more powerful engine. It also used the wider Carrera 4 body. This, in Andreas Preuninger’s words, was a parts-bin exercise “to see what we could do.” Today, Andreas – the director of GT Cars at Weissach – admits that the 996 GT3 RS needed more development, but the car covered its costs and the exercise provided the template for the more sophisticated 997 GT3 RS, the first generation of which would appear in spring 2007.
The 996 GT3 used Herbert Ampferer’s 3.6, a development of the Le Mans GT1 engine that allied the 964/993 crankcase with a bespoke, water-cooled 24-valve head. This was officially rated at 376bhp for the Gen2 996 GT3, although in reality it was nearer 400bhp for the RS. Incremental improvements for the 997.1 GT3 – lower reciprocating mass, compression raised to 12.1:1 and a new induction system – contributed to a power output of 411bhp at 8,400rpm, almost 115bhp/litre. Porsche stated the engine was safe for 9,500rpm, which enabled some margin for premature downshifts.
The same specification was employed for the 997 GT3 RS. Like the 996
