MotorTrend RS 4.0 Review

[CWS]

Three page story (partial excerpt below). Plenty of photos. Enjoy.

Porsche churns out so many run-out editions of the 911 that collectors must be feeling pretty gouged by now. There's the 911 Carrera 4 GTS, the 911 Black Edition Cabriolet, the 911 Turbo S Edition 918 Spyder. Seems like every combination of spec and paint becomes a model in its own right. We were just waiting for a narrow-body 2WD Turbo Targa Orange Stripe edition.
Instead, along comes the real deal. Not just the last 911, but the ultimate RS, and the roadgoing swan song for the magnificent Mezger flat-six. The 911 GT3 RS 4.0... now that's what we call a collector's car.

It doesn't just contain a mix'n'match of the very best body, aero, and chassis tweaks from the existing GT3 RS and GT2 RS, plus some competition parts in the suspension. Oh no, that would be the usual Porsche cheekiness. This time you get an actual new engine. A 493 HP [500PS] naturally aspirated 8500-rpm howler, just waiting to propel this sub-3000-pound sled to 100 mph in under eight seconds.
While all mainstream 911s now have an entirely different flat-six (even the Turbo does since the 997 phase 2), Porsche Motorsport's Mezger motor powers the GT3 and GT2s, and the track 911s. It began life back with the 1996 Le Mans Porsche GT1. But continuing with two families makes little commercial sense, so it's a sad goodbye to this one.

The new GT3 RS 4.0 shares its block, long-stroke crank, and titanium rods with the track-only four-liter 911 GT3 R and RSR. . It also gets a road cylinder head with variable cam timing and variable manifold, plus a catalyzed exhaust.
But those road elements aren't the same as the ones on the RS 3.8 engine - oh, no. They're redesigned for even higher gas flow. Valve timing is different; the inlet manifold has wider, shorter runners, and is a thinner casting; the air filters are track-type items; the compression ratio drops (yes, drops) to 12.6:1 from 13.0; and the exhaust cat has bigger voids, necessitating the use of hideously expensive new metals to keep the gas scrubbed clean. As a measure of the achievement, power output per liter is actually higher than the 3.8......


Read more: http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/...ive/index.html

[FTS]

All of the reviews thus far, all very positive, point out to this being the last Mezger engine. Since all these magazines have been to the same press day providing us the same photographs and pretty much the same review, I am assuming some Porsche AG person made such a comment, verified and/or nodded his/her head when the question was asked. However, when I asked this question to Porsche, the response was "why would you think that,..." [are there compelling reasons to abandon the design?]

Are there?

Btw, I really like the white

[cfjan]

Didn't the interview with Andreas Preuninger had him saying that it will definitely be the last car w/ the GT1 block?

See the attached scan that I found online..

[FTS]

Yep, you're right. Sometimes ppl play different games in different parts of the company