Porsche reveals 911 GT3 RS has an official Nurburgring lap time of 6:56.4

by in New houses
A few days ago, we talked about two cars that attempted to set a record at the Nurburgring. One of those would be the Porsche 911 GT3 RS that finished the course in 6 minutes and 56 seconds. To be more precise, it was actually 6:56.4 and Porsche has finally confirmed the performance of the track focused model, with Kevin Estre behind its wheel. Impressively, he was able to beat its predecessor’s record by as much as 24 seconds.
New 911 GT3 RS sets a lap time of 6:56.4 minutes through the 'Green Hell' - Porsche Newsroom

Estre wasn’t the only one who drove the 911 GT3 RS, as he was also joined by fellow driver, Lars Kern. Both of them completed four laps of the 20.6 kilometer (12.8 mile) Nurburgring, or the so called Green Hell. And both drivers finished each lap in under seven minutes with just a few tenths of a second difference. This is clear proof of how fast naturally aspirated cars are, especially when the one driving it is extremely skilled too.

During the fastest lap finished by the 911 GT3 RS, the conditions were very much ideal too. At exactly 11:40 on Monday morning April 16, it recorded 18 degrees Celsius (64.4 degrees Fahrenheit) track and 14 degrees Celsius (57.2 degrees Fahrenheit) ambient temperatures.

New 911 GT3 RS sets a lap time of 6:56.4 minutes through the 'Green Hell' - Porsche Newsroom

After his attempt, the 29 year old driver, Estre expressed how impressed he was with the braking and handling of the car, particularly its high speed cornering. He said that it felt just like the track-only GT3 R race car.

You’re probably wondering if the GT3 RS had any special modifications before taking on the Green Hell. Well, the answer to that is no, it was just the standard model. Though it did wear a set of Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 R tires, which will soon be available to the public (and they are fully compliant with the laws of the European Union and the United States). These tires measure 265/35 ZR 20 up front, and 325/30 ZR 21 on the rear. Mind you, these will be available for the GT2 RS as well.

Since we already mentioned the GT2 RS, this range topper is still significantly faster than the GT3 RS, when it lapped the Green Hell in only 6 minutes 47.3 seconds last year. Both these models continue a tradition, which began in 2013 when the 918 Spyder lapped the ‘Ring in 6:57. Now, if you think of it, it is quite cool how a five-year-old super expensive hybrid hypercar has already been beaten by an old school naturally aspirated sports car.

This explains Porsche’s progress in the past few years. Though lapping the Green Hell isn’t really that significant to many, these are quite relevant when we are discussing cars that are intended to race on the track.