- The 992.2 911 GT3 RS has been spotted during track testing at the ‘Ring.
- Spy shots show the car with a revised front fascia and new aero canards.
- European emissions rules could shave a little torque off the engine.
Porsche shocked the world when it launched the 992-generation 911 GT3 RS, creating something that looked less like a road car and more like a track weapon that happened to wear a license plate. Now that car’s due for a facelift, and it appears Porsche has decided to make it even more extreme.
Testing of the 992.2-generation 911 GT3 RS has been ongoing since at least the middle of last year, but new spy shots show the tester being driven at pace at Germany’s Nurburgring for the first time. It’s also our first look at the car without any fake body panels, wearing its production-spec skin instead, even if it’s still buried under camouflage.
Read: Porsche Just Built The Brownest 911 GT3 RS Ever
For the most part, the facelifted GT3 RS will be very similar to the outgoing model. However, some noteworthy alterations have been made. Most of these are centered around the front bumper, which, like on other 992.2 models, has been tweaked. We can see that the central grille is slightly different, and there are also new air intakes positioned to either side of it. In addition, small canards have been added to the bumper, which should boost downforce at the front axle.
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The sides of the refreshed model look largely identical to the current model, although it appears some minor changes have been made to the air intakes on the rear haunches. At the rear, the towering wing appears unchanged, although the bumper looks slightly different and the diffuser is slightly wider.
Sticking With Familiar Power, Or A New Engine?
Details about the new 911 GT3 RS’s powertrain remain unclear. Some rumors suggest Porsche will ditch the 4.0-liter naturally aspirated flat-six in favor of a turbocharged mill, but we’d be surprised if that were the case. This is a minor midlife facelift, after all, and the 992.2 GT3 has held onto its naturally aspirated engine.
If the 4.0-liter flat-six is retained, it may be slightly restricted to meet European emissions regulations. In the latest GT3, Porsche was forced to lower torque from 346 lb-ft (470 Nm) to 331 lb-ft, while retaining the same 502 hp output. The existing 911 GT3 RS delivers 518 hp from its tweaked engine, along with 343 lb-ft (465 Nm) of torque, but that torque figure may fall slightly.
