When the weather was really bad in the UK
a few months back, we did a runner to Portugal in one of the best circuits in Europe,
Portimão. We had with us some fine motor vehicles. But perhaps the fastest
was the Porsche 911 GT2 RS MR. I know. Catchy little name. MR stands for Manthey-Racing. It's an improved chassis, aero
and braking package for a car that already has more than enough power. And if you've not heard of Manthey then think of it as the ultimate
skunkworks Porsche outfit. You have a standard Porsche 911 then you go to Porsche Motorsport
and you have a GT3 and an RS. Well, Manthey makes the RS model
even more RS. Hypothetically,
and I mean this hypothetically, you've gone out in a GT2 RS, right, and I've said to you, as a friend, you need to make that car a bit faster
around the lap. Now, of course, your brain would say,
"Shut up, mate. That's ridiculous. I'm still clearing up the mess
from my under crackers after what that car just did to me." But Manthey, the now mostly Porsche owned
race team that deals with this stuff... Well, it's gone done just that. It's created the GT2 RS MR Manthey-Racing, which is an aero and suspension wheel
and tyre package for the GT2 RS. It's about 90,000 euros, which sounds ridiculous
until you experience it. This is the best car
that's based on a normal street car that you could take on a race track. I know that's quite a narrow niche
but it is sensational. Because it's like a wild ride, you know. It's not some accurate little racing car. This is...
This is a yob, this thing, you know. It wants to slide everywhere. I got 700 horsepower for God's sake. I can smoke this bad boy
whenever I want to but I can also set lap times as well. What a flipping machine! Now, I do it no justice
by just doing great big skids though. So we'll just go a bit sensible
on the straight and talk you through some of it. So suspension, basically a KW systems stolen from the GT3 R racing car
is expensive. Still has the help of spring. It does that very clever thing
that expensive suspension does. It takes all of those light imperfections
and stuff that your eye says, "That'll cause a bit of a bump,"
and it just irons it out. But then the moment you put load
into the car, it supports itself and it stays flat. It's a magic trick. It's so good. I mean, it's miles better
than the standard suspension which, in itself, is very, very good. There's a new brake pad material
to give it a bit more bite. That does make a big difference.
This thing really does stop. Look at the ride heights. The thing is buried into the ground,
especially the back. They're taking some rake out and that gives the car much better
stability on the entry to a turn. You can add lock, trail it in.
Always a problem in a 911. But that's just the way the thing goes.
Wow. They've done nothing to the engine. Well, this one feels pretty angry. This is an engineering car. It's done 49,000 kilometres
and it feels fit as a fiddle. And this is the actual car
that holds the record for a modified street car
around the Nürburgring with Lars at the wheel,
at six minutes 40 seconds, which is quite difficult
to comprehend really, isn't it? This also has a lot more aero. They fitted a massive gurney
to the rear wing, different end plates,
a different front splitter. They've managed the underbody.
It's got a different diffuser. Big difference. Have a look at the onboard, fast lap now, and you can see that I can stay flat
in places in this car, well, that you just can't in normal cars,
even in hypercars. So the big question is, this amazing tweaked up GT2 RS should have the performance
to take care of hypercars or stay with them... Let's see what happens. **** that. 49.5 49.5. Yeah, 49.5 I've not done a complete lap
fast this week, but that's the fastest I've ever done
around the circuit on scrubbed tyres. It's a **** animal. Wow. -So, 49.5.
-We have to look it up. -I'll take... I'll take it.
-It's really fast. -Not so far off as Lars.
-Yeah. -There's life in the old bog yet.
-Yeah. You just have to recalibrate your head, 'cause it's happening so fast
and you have also... Because it has more aerodynamic
than I thought. -More aero in the quick stuff.
-Definitely. 'Cause you're like...
I'm wide open through the hole, which you shouldn't be
in the car like that. And the whole thing is, as you go to it... Like smashed into the ground. Wow. So, that's two and a half seconds quicker
than I've ever gone around here, in a 918 or a P1 or anything. -That's amazing, huh?
-In a GT2 RS. Just an old 911. Forty-nine thousand kilometres,
probably 50 now. Yeah. A couple of things going on. First of all, the performance of the car
around Portimão is staggering. 49.5 or just under, 49.45. It's the fastest I've been here
by a long way, and it's a new lap record for the circuit. But Lars, the guy that developed it,
he went even quicker. So, he can have the record
at 48 something. We'll confirm it in a minute. So, fair play to him and he's young
and he's good at this, so I happily defer to the better man. The other thing that needs to be noted
is this car is gorgeous. The pattern of this car, this is the car that did
the Nürburgring lap record. I love that it's got a cup car seat in it. I love the fact that it's got a 911 R
passenger seat with a houndstooth trim. It's all a bit ratty inside.
This should never be changed. If anyone at Porsche, they're stood there, if anyone changes this car,
tries to make it look optically clever, then I'm gonna hunt you down. Leave it as it is
because it's a piece of history and it's just utterly gorgeous. The only thing is these Alcantara
steering wheels get a bit munged up. They've got too much DNA
from other people on them. So, that's progress.
You come here three years after you drove a McLaren P1
and set a certain lap time, then you go two or three seconds quicker in a slightly modified
series production Porsche with no hybridity and nothing clever. Well done, Michelin. Well done, KW.
Well done, Porsche. Well done, Manthey. So I'm stood on the hill
above the beautiful Portimão Circuit with Lars Kern,
who is a Porsche factory race driver and most importantly a test driver. Today, we're talking to him
as a test driver and this is the man that set
the Nürburgring lap record in the amazing GT2 RS MR,
that stands for Manthey Racing. But also has just broken the lap record
at Portimão. Everyone, clap behind, please. -Okay.
-Thank you. Tell us how the car felt around here. -It felt like it was made for Portimão.
-Yeah. I mean, the downforce is mega. Also the suspension, which was made for
the Nürburgring, fits perfectly for here. So, this was quite a surprise for us. Sure, we'll be running a little bit lower
compared to the Nürburgring. I mean, my first lap
was already a record-breaker, so... Without the installation lap,
the car had not run since it broke the Nürburgring lap record. They said we can go out and do an install
lap to make sure it still rolls straight and the first flying lap was the record. It was already a record then. And then they broke it again. It's outrageous really. So my thoughts were
that I just couldn't believe how stable the car was on entry. That lower at the rear
and the sophisticated damper just gave so much confidence
to when you rotate the car in. I think I can go faster, faster, faster
and it doesn't follow you around, does it? Yeah, exactly. This was a key part. I mean, on the Nürburgring you need a really stable rear
going into the corner and this was quite important for me
as a driver to trust the car and this is what you feel here. If you corner the car
it rotates really good, but when you go back
with the steering a little bit the rear just stays and it's like, yeah,
it's just perfect on the entry and also the traction on the exit
is incredible. And this tyre,
talk us through this Cup 2 R tyre 'cause this feels like a big step to me. The tyre is, for sure,
it's quite an important thing but it's not the key part. I think aerodynamics and the suspension
are the key parts of the car. The tyre we already had on the yellow car which we broke the record before
on the Nürburgring. So we knew the tyre, but I think the biggest difference
is the suspension and the aerodynamics. So it's a KW damper, yeah? Exactly. It's a KW three way damper. The same damper basically we use
with the GT3 R on the Nordschleife. -Yeah.
-It's just different spring rates, because the car is a bit heavier and you have to have a bit more control. -It still runs the helper spring though.
-Exactly. And how quickly are you through
the helper spring? -I have no idea.
-No? Because it has a very, very... I use the word sophisticated sense
of ride, over... over the sort of the smaller bits
of the circuit where you think you see something that'll impact quite hard in the car,
it floats through it. -Bit like a rally car.
-Yeah. And that helper spring
must be doing something there. Could be. Honestly I have no idea. It was just me being the sensor in the car
telling the guys, "Okay, it feels better like this.
It's better like this." And the KW guys and the Manthey engineers
they did all the rest and, yeah, at the end
I was just feeling super comfortable also on the Nürburgring, same like here. It's super easy to do a quick lap. Everybody feels comfortable in the car
from the first minute and this is I think what it's all about
because this is... It looks like a monster but it's not. That's what's interesting, isn't it? Because inherently you start to question
how you felt about the standard car. -The standard car is fantastic.
-Yeah. It's a great chassis
for a road track compromise, but if you'll do more track driving
you have to have that. Once you driven it
it's like really good red wine. There's no going back. It's like turning left on an airplane. -There's no going back.
-I mean, sure. The package is quite... We talked about yesterday,
it's quite expensive but... But at the end of the day as you mentioned
you have to have this if you want to experience
the level of creep and the level of performance and the level of trust you can have
with this car, you can never go back. Yeah. It's absolutely sensational. Now very quickly,
talk me through what this was like around the Nordschleife. I wonder whether you've been lobotomized. They just take your brain out like this
when you go in to do the lap. Not at all. Honestly it was really... It was really comfortable for me.
It was... Also when we prepared to lap, I already did lap times
quite close to the 640 so we knew what we have
and what we can do. So it was not a not a monster lap.
We just did what the car can do. So there's not one part of the circuit
that every time you get to you think, "Okay, I just swallow a bit harder." There are parts... You must be going into that thinking,
"What if something goes wrong here?" Yeah, but this is the point
where you normally... Yeah, you need to go through
with 270, 275, and that's it. But parts like Schwedenkreuz and Flugplatz
these are the parts like, "Okay, the boys know you have more aero. They're gonna see on the data
if you use it. So try to use it." So these are the parts where it's quite,
you're like... Okay, go through. But it's normal so it's the lap
and it was quite dark. That didn't help at all. We wanted to start the lap at 6:00, but they kept us waiting
until half past six and it was already quite dark. You see it on the video,
you see my lights on the street going. And in the first part of the track
I was quite struggling with orientation. I was like, "Oh, okay, it's quite dark." And... But for the rest of the lap
it was good. But sure our target was going sub 40. Everybody knows that, sure, but we have just this one lap
and, yeah, it's what it is. I'm sure you'll go back there
for another go at some point. I'm pretty sure as well. I think it's a stunning achievement and I hope that you still get
a great sense of excitement when you go there and do that, because genuinely for so many people
you're living the dream. You're the man that's out there.
I bet you can't believe... When you were young
I bet you were reading about... Yeah, for sure. Yeah. -And now you're that guy.
-No, I was reading that stories and I was following these lap times
and I don't know. I've seen guys crashing trying to do 740 and now we do 640
it's like, "Okay, it's really crazy." But you see how the car develops
and if you go back to an old car or a car from 10 years ago, 15 years ago
with the old tyres, you understand why. So it's nothing... Yeah, I mean the technique changed a lot,
tyres changed a lot. So, yeah, it's... I mean for me it's mega.
Nothing better. One of the best cars I've driven ever,
honestly. -Well done. Cheers, boss.
-Thank you very much. So there it is then.
Quicker than a hypercar. The new street-legal record holder
at Portimão. I think we need
to keep this competition going.
This thing is insane! Absolutely destroyed the 918's Nurburgring lap time.
I feel like Harris has aged 10 years in 1-2.
What an absolute monster. Always fun watching Chris Harris rip up a track.
Looks planted during hot lap crazy...also Chris is right this has more power than standard GT2 RS...They added bunch of aero on the MR (bigger rear wing etc) this adds drag and yet Nordschleife record lap MR was few km/h faster down dottinger hohe than standard GT2 RS....Companies like COBB have tune for GT2 RS ~100hp with just reflash.
The pace feels very close to a GT3 cup race car: https://youtu.be/WevtiniOcEg?t=1 however strangely enough the race car is ultra smooth, comfy and agile while the GT2 RS MR is a beast to be tamed, it even got upset at the final corner, it seems to demand more from the driver than the race car
My man Lars killing it!
After driving a standard gt2rs I can only imagine what this thing is like. The “regular” one is like a carbon fiber hammer.
Really hope this is road legal