The Rennsport Reunion is on, and Porsche has a race car just for the occasion.
We’ve all been there: What would you do if there were no rules? Well, if you’re Porsche, you’d create something like this: the 911 GT3 R rennsport. It’s a hardcore track machine — that’s fairly obvious from first glance, isn’t it? — but it’s designed for the best racing performance on the track, bar none. The normal 911 GT3 R? That’s meant to comply with FIA GT3 competition regulations. This Rennsport version says, “screw the rules, we’re going to the moon!”.
So, the Porsche 911 GT3 R rennsport (yes, it’s stylized with a lowercase ‘r’) is something special. Only 77 will ever exist, which means a tantalizing few with deep enough pockets and connections at Porsche will be able to snag one. This car changes up pretty much everything on its exterior from your “standard” GT3 R, leaving just the hood and roof as common pieces between the two. From the front fascia with huge openings and massive canards to an even more massive rear wing, engineers were given carte blanche to go berserk to make the car both more aerodynamically efficient and produce as much downforce as possible.
At the rear, the 4.2-liter inline-six makes even more power this time around, partially because it redlines at a stratospheric 9,400 RPM. Porsche also specially designed the pistons and camshafts for this application, and it’s even designed to run on bio-ethanol, as the automaker’s been pushing development for more environmentally conscious fuels (it can still run on conventional race gasoline, though). The upshot is that the Porsche 911 GT3 R rennsport makes 611 horsepower rather than 557.
While the engine does make more power, the six-speed sequential transmission carries over from the GT3 R without major changes. The car has a taller sixth gear to manage a higher top speed above 200 mph, or about 12 mph faster than the shorter-geared, FIA-homologated GT3 R. This limited edition model also gets specially designed Michelin tires with a new racing compound, as well as unique brake pads with titanium backing plates to save a little bit of weight.
Overall, the GT3 R rennsport weighs around 2,734 pounds with all the weight reduction Porsche’s managed. To make a low curb weight, the automaker removed the car’s air conditioning system and fitted a lighter fuel tank, among all the other changes.
How much does the GT3 R rennsport cost, exactly?
As you probably guessed, you’ll have to have some serious cash to grab one of the 77 GT3 R rennsports slated for production. In fact, each car will cost at least $1,046,000 before options, destination fees and taxes. On top of seven exterior colors and three different livery designs, you’ll be able to pick among three different exhaust systems, based on whether you can run without mufflers or need a quieter system to keep within certain tracks’ noise restrictions. Run it completely unbound, though, and Porsche says you’ll get an “authentic and extremely emotional engine sound.”
Among the design options are “Rennsport Reunion Design”, “Speed Icon Design” or “Flacht Design”.
Would you pick one of these up if you had a cool million lying around?