Porsche 911 GT3 996–992.2 vs Porsche 911 GT3 RS 992.1
“The 911 GT3 is the road car that also laps; the GT3 RS is the same 4.0-litre flat-six handed to the aero department, and it gives up the road to find the lap time.
What the RS buys can be measured. Throttle House's own lap put it about a second clear of the 992 GT3 on the same board, Savagegeese worked out two and a half metres less stopping distance from 120 mph, and Hagerty's Henry Catchpole thought the standard GT3's brakes were good until he tried these: "a whole other level." EVO counts springs "50 percent stiffer than in the regular GT3," and Autotrader finds the steering response "lightning quick, even more so than the standard GT3." The engine is not the difference. Tedward quotes 518 horsepower, "a little bit more than the standard GT3," and Savagegeese points out that the extra drag and weight leave the RS "a little less quick in a straight line."
The GT3 answers on the days between track days, and it keeps borrowing from the RS. CarExpert notes the 992.2 takes the RS's lower-control-arm ball joints to cut dive under braking, and MotorWeek's Manthey-kit GT3 ran a tenth quicker in their acceleration test than the GT3 RS had a year earlier. CaroSeria's verdict on the new GT3 is that it pairs its racing character with real everyday usability. Savagegeese's verdict on the RS: "by far the worst street car" and "a complete driving tool."
The RS is the faster car wherever there is a corner or a braking zone. The GT3 is the one you can also use.
You drive to the circuit, and you drive on the days you don't go to one. You want the flat-six and the front-end communication in a car CaroSeria calls usable every day, and you accept that the car with the bigger wing is quicker round a lap.
Lap time is the point. You want the downforce, the braking and the steering response that reviewers put a level above the GT3's, and you'll live with much stiffer springs and an upright driving position to have them.
How many of the car's miles will be on a circuit? Top Gear asks the current version of the question with a Manthey-kitted 992.2 GT3 and concludes it still isn't an RS, and that a used GT3 RS "would probably be a safer place for your money." If most of the miles are track miles, RS. If the car has to work on the road every week, GT3.
Two things are unsettled. Straight-line pace: Savagegeese reasons that drag and weight would lose the RS a drag race against the regular GT3, and carwow's quarter mile went to the RS anyway, 11.1 seconds to 11.3. Street manners: Savagegeese calls the RS by far the worst street car, while Throttle House says the ride is "not punishing" and that "you could daily drive this." On coverage: the RS on this page is the 992 only, but the GT3 side is not pinned to a generation. Thirteen of the eighteen channels compare a 992.1 or 992.2 GT3 with the 992 RS; the rest set a 991.2 or a 996 GT3, or a GT3 race car, against it, so the like-for-like evidence is thinner than the headline count. Fun and daily use are mostly judged from separate reviews of each car, not back-to-back drives.
Performance
Handling
“the steering is very direct, very sharp. It doesn't actually have as much feedback as the 991.2 GT3 RS that I reviewed on the street.”
“the 92 GT3 RS has almost endless grip with its double wishbone suspension and its additional arrow.”
Fun to drive
Daily drivability
“compared to KR S it is a little bit less comfy and a little bit less suitable I would say for daily driving.”
“I said: 'Well not a great car for the track but I wouldn't want to drive it every day' this car the new GT3 unbelievably here combines its racing purebred sporty character with already some kind of such damn cool everyday usability”
Value
“You could have a used GT3 RS instead, and it would probably be a safer place for your money.”
