Porsche and the Nürburgring have a sweet history, with various Porsche sports cars setting records at the track. The latest in this regard comes from the 2019 Porsche 911 GT3 RS that impressed us at the Nürburgring by completing the 12.9-mile track in under 7 minutes.
The Porsche was powered by a naturally aspirated 6-cylinder engine, the Weissach package and Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 R tires with 265/35ZR20 front and 325/30ZR21 rear tire specifications. The car was driven by Porsche’s racing driver Kevin Estre on April 16 and he completed the lengthy race track in 6:56.4.
Achieving the feat is not something that could be waved off as pure luck since Kevin Estre and Porsche test driver Lars Kern first made practice runs and then each of them attempted four runs and unsurprisingly all were under the 7-minute mark with a deviation of tenth of a second.
Praising the sportscar, Andreas Preuninger, head of development of Porsche’s GT models, remarked, “This proves not only the outstanding power of the GT3 RS but also its extraordinary driveability at the limit.”
The impressive lap time means the 2019 Porsche 911 GT3 RS stands above the Porsche 918 Spyder with 6:57 and Dodge Viper with 7:01.3 lap time on the Nürburgring. The Porsche 911 GT2 RS is still the fastest among the lot even surpassing Lamborghini’s Huracan LP 640-4 (6:52.01). Helped by twin turbochargers, the 911 GT2 managed the long lap in just 6:47.3 last year in September.
The 911 GT3 RS hides a 4.0-liter six-cylinder engine under its hood that produces 520 hp and 346 lb-ft of torque. Power is sent to the rear wheels aided by a 7-speed transmission. The sports car debuted at the 2018 Geneva Motor Show is priced at $188,550 for the basic trim.