The 2011 Porsche 911 GT3RS 4.0 Is a $500,000 Track Weapon

this is a 2011 Porsche 911 gt3 RS 4.0 and it is a very special car this was the ultimate track version of the 997 generation of the Porsche 911 which was sold from 2005 to 2012 this car is really special it has almost 500 horsepower and only 600 of these were made for the entire world and today I'm gonna show you around this one I borrowed this gt3 RS 4.0 from only a company in Northern California that makes products for the athletic automotive enthusiasts to wear on a daily basis Olli has already rolled out a utility wrist sweat band with some pants to follow you can check out Olli by clicking the link in the description below so I've already reviewed the new gt2 RS and the new gt3 RS so what makes this car so special worthy of a review well like I said this was the ultimate track-ready 997 model although Porsche made a gt2 RS version of the 997 this car was designed for a little bit more track-day finesse rather than all-out crazy power and speed of course that's not to say that it can't handle a straight line this car has around 500 horsepower and 340 pound-feet of torque it eludes zero to 60 in three and a half seconds on its way to a top speed of 193 miles an hour and like I mentioned there are only 600 of these in the entire world and just about 150 in the United States this car is a Porsche collector's dream and that's why values of this car have shot up to the point where this has become one of the most expensive 911s of all time with a really nice one selling for a half a million dollars or even more so today I'm gonna take you on a tour of the gt3 RS 4.0 and I'm going to show you all of its interesting quirks and features then I'm gonna get it out on the road and drive it and then I'm going to give it a dug score and for more of my thoughts on the RS 4.0 click the link below to visit autotrader.com slash oversteer where I've also compiled a list of all the best Porsche 911 versions throughout time according to me now I start up front with the RS 4.0 and I want to talk first about the canards which is the technical term for those little bits of the material that come off from the front thinner of the bumper down there next to the headlight now when this car came out I think it was the very first factory car I'd ever seen with canards they're designed to sort of change how the air flows for better on track performance and race cars have him but Road cars never do and I was just stunned to see them on there now it's become a little bit more common with some of the craziest PI performance cars but back then nobody had it and it was a huge deal our next interesting item up front is the Porsche badge decal now I showed you this in my recent review of the gt2 RS but I'm gonna show you some of the things again in the interest of being comprehensive only the highlights the badge decal is certainly a highlight rather than use metal emblems on the front of their GT cars Porsche has decided to use decals in order to save 0.7 ounces it is amazing to me they can take out the metal emblem put in a decal and people will pay more for it but such as the world of these lightweight track focused cars now more unusual than the decal the Porsche logo is the rest of the graphics on this car all of which look kind of ridiculous when you really think about it the front graphic which looks like sort of a missile with the silver ring in front and then the red on the sides of it how about the RS 4.0 on the side of the doors that are written in like clipart shadow font and then my personal favorite you have these eyebrows over the fog lights on the front bumper that just looked kind of weird I think in 20 years we're gonna look back on this car and laugh at these graphics and say I can't believe they ever did that it looks so 2011 and then in 40 years we're gonna look back in these graphics and say and that was cool we gotta replicate that and Porsche will bring out another RS 4.0 fully electric this time of course with these same graphics to mimic the original now next up we move into the cargo area the front trunk of the RS 4.0 where we discover that there's really not all that much interesting in here although it is a rather large trunk for a car like this a track focus kind of supercar usually doesn't have this much practicality but this car does another thing I love about the trunk in this car is the emergency inside trunk release latch to get out in most cars it's this flimsy little afterthought latch they put there only to comply with federal regulations but in this car it's this really nice latch that even has sort of its own cubby in the trunk I could just see Porsche engineers going if they want us to make a latch they make the best latch because of course Porsche would settle for nothing less now next up we move on to the rear of this car where there are a couple of interesting items back here starting with this air intake back here now every time I see a picture of an RS 4.0 oh I mainly see as the wing the colors whatever and I've never noticed that underneath the wing the engine cover has been enlarged for a larger air intake so you can get more air into the engine that is kind of cool it's truly something I had never noticed before something I always notice is the massive wing I showed you the massive wing and the gt2 RS this isn't quite on that level but it is still absolutely massive and once again Porsche is written across the top it is huge when an interesting item with this wing is that when you fold up the engine cover Porsche I had to be careful to design the wing so that it didn't run into the mat glass and so it's actually neutered a bit it could probably be a little bit taller but they didn't want to hit the glass and shatter it every time you open the engine cover now next up moving under the engine cover me open it up to reveal the engine and first off you can see that this car doesn't have a little plastic thing holding it in place unlike the gt2 RS it uses hydraulics even though they might be a little heavier they're also a lot easier to deal with you don't have to unlatch and latch a little plastic thing to keep this up now once you get under here the other difference from the gt2 RS is that you can see stuff you can actually see engine which isn't true of the modern 911 GT cars there is a little carbon-fiber cover that says RS 4.0 but you can also see a lot of engine back here and it's a reminder that if you drive one of these you really don't want to get rear-ended by somebody because that would be an expensive accident next up moving inside the RS 4.0 I want to start with something you may have seen some of the outside shots and that is the roll cage behind the front seats now this roll cage cannot be installed when the car comes in from Germany if you install a roll cage the federal government considers it a race car and you're not allowed to sell it on the road and so that's why gt3 RS - RS models don't have a rollcage from the factory instead people who want to drive these cars on the racetrack like the owner of this car they just put it in aftermarket and so that's what it would look like and there are European versions of this car that are able to be sold with that roll cage but in Europe not in North America now with the roll cage there you can see that means this car has no back seats most 911 models do have back seats but the RS 4.0 does not have back seats from the factory Porsche removed them and instead they just put sort of this carpeted area back there with RS 4.0 written below the rear window instead all you have in this car are two front seats and they are quite the seats indeed these are not plush leather luxury line seats instead these are tight sport bucket seats and they're manual in operation in fact if you look closely at the bottom of them you can kind of see all the little Springs and stuff this is not your dentist's Porsche 911 that he only drives on the weekends and tries to keep the miles off this car is designed for track use not comfort and these seats are proof now we have further proof of that with the door handles the interior door handles in this car are not plastic or metal things you pull in order to get out but instead they're these red fabric and loops you pull them and then the door opens this is intended to be for weight savings Porsche saves 1/4 of an ounce by using fabric instead of an actual door handle now the funny thing I've always felt about these door handles is they're right next to the power windows which sort of reminds you that it's just a gimmick because if Porsche are really wanted to save weight they would put in crank windows wouldn't they I would just love to see them try put in the little door loop and also a crank window and then their owners will complain no we want weight savings but we don't want that much weight savings now we're good next up another item I like is in the drivers footwell there's a little graphic there that teaches you how to find the battery in three easy steps first step battery second step question mark where is it third step it shows a picture of a 911 with the front open the battery where in the front what a nice little simple cartoony graphic now next up I want to move on to the centre console where we have one of the strangest ashtrays I have ever seen it starts pretty simply you just have a lid you open it and there's your ashtray the weird thing is when pull out the ashtray in order to empty it you also pull out the lid and most of the assembly first off that leaves your center console looking very weird and unfinished but also it means that you can close an open B ashtray lid while it's out of your car this is very strange that that whole thing comes out at once but it does and that's how it works now next up I want to move on to the center control stack where this car has something that is absolutely baffling and that would be sport mode why does this car have a sport mode okay let me take you through the decision process of buying this car okay you could buy a regular Carrera no not want something sporty er good buy a GTS not want something sporty er could buy a gt3 no no one something sporty or could buy a gt3 RS no no sporty you're still and then you end up with this car does anybody go through that entire decision process and then be like you know I'm gonna drive it and regular I passed over six models because I wanted something sporty and you know I just I just want a comfortable ride today it's so stupid to the left of sport mode same deal there's a handling mode a sports suspension mode why isn't this car just standard sport suspension it makes no sense that this has those buttons I will say the gt2 RS I reviewed no sport mode button Porsche realized this was stupid and they got rid of it next up in the vicinity of the sport mode button is the gear lever and this gear lever is an excellent example of why Alcantara is a horrible material for gear levers take a look at it looks incredibly worn this car only has 7,000 miles on it which is like nine months of regular driving for a regular 911 and look how worn it looks now I will say though Alcantara is a wonderful material for everything else the interior this car despite being like the lightweight stripped-down version is beautiful the Alcantara door panels the seats even the parking brake handle is all Alcantara and it looks great but the shifter because you're constantly using it you're resting your hand there it wears too quickly Alcantara not a good material for that surface and because I am in a newish 911 I also simply must discuss the cupholders and their brilliance you push on this little carbon fiber piece and then it drops down and then you push out the cupholders and then because Porsche has these little cuts in the carbon fiber piece you can put the carbon fiber bit back up and still have the cupholders in place they are basically hidden until you want them and once you have them you can hide the mechanism that spits them out it is brilliant design is so stupidly over engineered and over thought but it works great and I love it and I always have to mention it when I'm reviewing one of these cars mixed up in the vicinity of the cupholders want to talk briefly about the glovebox one interesting item is the little plaque on the glovebox that shows which number RS 4.0 you have that plaque is really sought after having a numbered special porsche is considered very much cooler than just having a special porsche so having one of a specific run 264 of 600 in this case is a really big deal and it's helped keep the values of this car probably higher than they would be if that plaque wasn't there now when you open the glovebox to find a couple of interesting items one is there's a pen holder stick some pens in there more interesting there to the left the pen holder there is a CD holder for two CDs the actual CD slot is in the center but you can keep CDs that are sort of waiting on deck in your glovebox there in the little CD slot more interesting in terms of weird storage is the center console the lid is finished in Alcantara you open it up and there are individual coin slots and you just know Porsche knows they have customers who are like I have to separate my nickels in my quarters of course there are individual coin slots what kind of monster would keep their pennies and dimes together and so Porsche does that one other interesting Adam the interior there's a button to turn off PSC that's stability control and then there's a separate button to turn off ASC and traction control the button to turn off ASC has this tone but if you turn off ESC and traction control it has this tone Porsche changes tones I guess so that you don't accidentally turn off one thinking you're going to turn off the other of course turning off the stability control and traction control is a lot more serious and so it gets maybe that's considered a more serious tone makes you move on to the infotainment system which in this car is truly laughable now back on the 997 was out Porsche had a full color touchscreen infotainment system with navigation and it worked very well and they didn't put it in this one the most expensive 997 that's because they were trying to save weight so this car doesn't get navigation it doesn't even get a touchscreen it gets this pixelated terrible old display that can barely do anything aside from play the radio it is laughable to see this now but I bet gt3 RS 4.0 owners brag about this thing oh you have the navigation module oh that was four pounds heavier don't you know it's the same story in the gauge cluster it has tremendously limited functionality you can't really do anything although you can monitor your fuel economy you can see the gauge cluster also says lift and that's because this car is currently in its lift in position it has an axle lifter to help it clear steep driveways or curbs and if you put the axle withdraw in the front of the car lifts itself up and then that little lift icon appears in a gauge cluster to let you know that the lift is on and so those are the quirks and features of the gt3 RS 4.0 now it's time to get it out on the road and see how it drives alright driving the gt3 RS 4.0 I worked at Porsche when this car was being sold and I was responsible for allocating the cars to the dealers and I remember allocating this car I'm just determining which dealers got which whatever this was a desirable car at the time I think the sticker price was like 200 thousand but we had no idea what was going to become this was really the first Porsche that kind of immediately was worth more right after it came out and that sort of was the beginning of what ended up happening after that which is now like every gt3 RS every special car is worth more that Porsche makes and other brands but at Porsche that hadn't happened until this car because it was sort of the limited run at the end of the line these cars are so easy to rev match it just feels natural for some reason Porsches in general but the 997 and especially the men men seven gt3 just felt so perfect it was such a shame when Porsche went away from manuals for these cars because they were so wonderful but they brought them back one of the complaints that I have with the regular 997 is that it just doesn't feel all that powerful in the mid-range it was like 350 horsepower just and but more than that it just didn't feel like it had all that much torque by enlarging the engine here the four liters it's a bigger engine torque your motor and it feels and I mean I'm in fourth that's not even the right gear because I got a car in front of me and it feels like I got power four days sitting in a stoplight you hear the car tremor feels almost like a Cup car I mean I don't want to say it sounds like a cup car those are so loud those are race cars they're so loud they don't let you forget that they're race cars it doesn't quite feel like that but it's much different from a regular 997 all right some good chorus here man this thing just hugs the ground and just grips and grips and grips man it's impressive how much mid-range power this car has so different from so many other 911s and the the quickness of revving the feel of the shifter is wonderful I've already started to get over how heavy the clutch is it's still heavy but I mean you kind of get used to that I was shocked when the owner of this car told me this is his favorite 911 he's got a nine six four he's got a 993 he had the gt2 RS he's got a Carosi T he knows cars and he said this is his favorite 911 that's a pretty big statement my Florida Evans Wow well it's fast Wow I have to admit that's where you start to realize that you are the weakest link I'm pretty good at shifting I'm not trying to be immodest I Drive a lot of cars I've got pretty good at it but this car would be so much faster with dual clutch now you want to have fun you get a manual and I get that but a car like this that's so focused you can see why Porsche didn't do the PDK now the feel of this car around corners is quite impressive it really really grips the road well no body roll feels fantastic I will say the gt2 RS the new gt2 RS which came out seven years after this motor feels sharper that shouldn't be a surprise to RS you know a more modern car that you know development things have changed in the last seven years but there's no question about it this car isn't quite on the same level of precision as the two RS but it's a it's it's and it doesn't it doesn't even feel as brutal but it's sort of more of a driver's car a little less power to kind of bring out at corners for you you kind of have to be the more of the work yourself and obviously it's a manual and so that's the gt3 RS 4.0 this is one of the most unbelievably exciting sports cars ever and even though its performance numbers have been eclipsed by the latest round of crazy 911s this is still tremendously special car hence its crazy price tag and now it's time to give it a dug score starting with the weekend categories and styling the RS 4.0 is fine nice enough but it's more functional than beautiful and it gets a 7 out of 10 acceleration does 0 to 60 and 3.8 seconds which gives it an 8 out of 10 handling is amazing especially for 2011 the steering feels very connected to the road but it lags slightly behind sharper new cars and it earns an 8 out of 10 fun factor is excellent this car is a blast to drive on fun roads and it earns a 9 out of 10 falling just shy have a perfect score as it's a little behind the best of the best in terms of raw horsepower and acceleration finally cool factor the artist 4.0 is very obscenely special to Porsche people but just special to you and me who are into all the special versions and model designations of the 911 and it owns an 8 out of 10 for a weekend score of 40 out of 50 next up are the daily categories starting with features the RS 4.0 has the basics but it's low on any modern amenities and it gets a 3 out of 10 Comfort is low the ride is harsh the seats are narrow and it gets a 3 out of 10 quality is high the interior is well made and dependability is strong and it gets an 8 out of 10 practicality is low even though this car has a big trunk for a supercar it also has a rough ride and only two seeds it gets a 2 out of 10 value is a tough one the RS 4.0 is expensive probably the most expensive modern Porsche 911 so it's hard to give it a very high score but the RS 4.0 is also really special and very limited production and it's an excellent car and it's holding its value well it gets a six out of ten for a total daily score of 22 out of 50 add it up and the Doug score is 62 out of 100 which places it here among track-focused recent models and other special versions of the Porsche 911 the best comparison is against the Ferrari 430 scuderia which was a track focused version of the f430 that came out around the same time as the RS 4.0 the Ferrari just barely edges it out as the 430 is a bit more fun than the RS 4.0 but still the RS 4.0 is a special car and it'll be regarded as one of the ultimate 911 models for years to come turn on/off Stability control of my Porsche be like turning off stability and traction control of my Porsche be like

Channel: Doug DeMuro

Views: 831,962

Rating: 4.8934832 out of 5

Keywords: porsche 911 gt3rs 4.0, 911 gt3rs 4.0, 2011 gt3rs 4.0, gt3rs 4.0, rs 4.0, 911 gt3rs review, 911 gt3rs 4.0 review, gt3rs 4.0 review, gt3rs review, 911 review, porsche 911 review, porsche 911 gt3rs review, 2011 gt3rs 4.0 review, doug demuro, demuro

Id: l9777M1Wmzo

Length: 20min 54sec (1254 seconds)

Published: Thu Nov 08 2018

Reddit Comments

[u/John_Sux]

The ultimate version of the ultimate version of the ultimate Porsche

[u/Michelanvalo]

Porsche carpeted the rear area? My god, how much weight must that add?! 5, maybe 7 lbs? They should have just painted it!

[u/hougaard]

Hey /u/Doug-DeMuro The battery icon thingie is because it takes power to open the hood. So how do you open the frunk if your battery is flat? Under that panel there is a "fuse" you can attach a battery tender to power the latch for the hood.

The first 996 did not have this, leading to all sorts of creative solutions to power the latch in case of a flat battery (Been there done that) :)

[u/andrewjaekim]

This car has a special place for a lot of enthusiasts. Pinnacle of the Mezger motor, hydraulic steering, 997 body shell (valued for its smaller dimensions).

[u/xtra_medium]

lol they've already made a sweatband, and they're about to make pants!

[u/random352486]

/u/Doug-DeMuro, electric window regulators are actually lighter than hand cranked ones.

[u/StudentDriver69]

Or you can spend $200,000 and get a 991.2 GT3.... just saying.

[u/dabocx]

I thought the value of these has fallen significantly? The 991.2 GT3 and GT3RS are fantastic and the GT3 offers the manual as well

[u/e39hamann]

Every time I see a new Doug video I'm hoping for an E60 M5 review haha, I think I remember seeing that he did review one but just hasn't posted it yet.