Porsche’s R&D boss, Wolfgang Hatz, is one of those auto industry execs that journalists pretty much form lines to interview, such is his willingness to discuss future model plans and strategy. And so it proved in Detroit, with Hatz spilling details of the upcoming new RS version of the new GT3 (pictured above)—and even the next-generation 911.
The 2016 911 GT3 RS wasn’t at the show–we’re expecting it to make its debut in Geneva in March–but Hatz was happy to tell us plenty about it. The RS will be getting an all-new flat-six engine, which sticks with natural aspiration. This engine will then become the basis for a range of turbocharged engines that will roll out through the rest of the 911 lineup later this year.
Hatz promises that the new RS will be a bigger step over the base GT3 than the last one was–to the extent the company is questioning whether it needs to do separate GT2 and GT2 RS derivatives. “The RS has to be more to the peak,” he said, “the 991 GT3 was very much a surprise for everybody because it’s really usable for every day; the GT3 RS will be more extreme.”
Although we’ll have to wait for performance figures, we’d be surprised if the new RS didn’t make more power than the 493-hp 4.0-liter engine in the last GT3 RS, with some aggressive weight saving to boost its power-to-weight ratio further. It will have to be special to deliver on Hatz’s promise that the car will be “substantially quicker” around the Nordschliefe than the outgoing GT3, which posted a 7:25 time when it was tested there. He admitted the RS will be slower than the record-breaking 6:57 figure recorded by the Porsche 918, but it sounds as if not by much.
More good news, certainly for those who regard the best Porsches as being those with three pedals, is Hatz’s surprise admission that serious consideration is being given to offering the RS with a manual gearbox as an option, although he confirmed that it will launch with a PDK.
Hatz also seemed to confirm previous reports that the rest of the 911 range will be switching to all-turbocharged engines when the car gets its mid-cycle facelift for 2016. “We have to respect the legal requirements,” he said, referring to CO2 and fuel economy numbers. “But don’t worry, if we have a turbocharged engine it will rev, it will deliver.”
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Beyond this generation of 911–that is, looking to the model we’ll be expecting to see in 2019 or 2020–Hatz said that we’re almost certainly looking at some form of hybrid powertrain to meet emissions targets. But although the Boxster and Cayman will soon receive turbocharged flat-four engines, at least in the lower reaches of the range, he also went on record to say that the 911 will always stick with a six. “We don’t have a problem with a four-cylinder sportscar,” he said, “but never on the 911. The 911 has to remain flat-six.”
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