New Porsche 911 RSR Revealed With Massive 4.2-Liter Flat-Six at Goodwood Festival of Speed
The 911 RSR features the largest engine ever fitted to a 911 and will compete in the FIA WEC as well as IMSA in North America.
The Goodwood Festival of Speed is happening right now across the pond and Porsche sought to seize the spotlight to reveal its all-new 911 RSR sportscar racer. The car succeeds the old 991.1-based machine to continue as a template for teams competing in the FIA World Endurance Championship series as well as IMSA's GTLM category in the United States.
“Since 2017, the 911 RSR has yielded us more than 20 class wins in the world championship as well as at long-distance series in North America and Europe. Our job in the development was to make a very good car even better. The engineers at Weissach have perfectly implemented this in every aspect,” said Fritz Enzinger, vice president of Porsche Motorsport, in the company’s official statement.
Moving the RSR into the next generation, the geniuses at Porsche’s Weissach facility boast that the car is 95-percent new all around. For starters, engineers overhauled the potent naturally-aspirated flat-six engine to displace 4.2-liters with output rated at around 515 horsepower.
But more so, Porsche claims it’s the largest boxer engine to ever be fitted to a Porsche 911. It’s mated to a beefed up sequential six-speed constant-mesh transmission, which is said to shift faster thanks to an improved clutch and be more efficient from better gearing. The exhaust for the engine is also repositioned to exit at the sides in front of the rear wheels rather than at the back. This also saves weight and improves aerodynamics.
“We never rest on our laurels,” said Pascal Zurlinden, director of Porsche GT Factory Motorsport, explained to reporters. “We’ve extensively analyzed all factory and customer campaigns with the Porsche 911 RSR. Our engineers noticed room for improvement in a number of areas. We have made significant progress in the development of our car for the next three-year homologation period, especially in the complex areas of driveability, efficiency, durability and serviceability.”
The new 911 RSR features a completely revised brake system, plus bodywork that optimizes aerodynamic efficiency and boosts stability at speed. Fully reconfigured suspension makes the car even more capable on-track and compliments the Porsche's mid-engined configuration. But the engineers didn’t leave the improvements out from the driver as it also includes new headlights for better nighttime visibility and a refined driver’s seat. Designers also overhauled the interior to offer drivers better usability.
For the first time ever, the factory 911 RSR race cars will also be offered in two different designs and color liveries. The No. 91 car will continue Porsche’s tradition offering a predominantly white exterior with red stripes and sills along with grey highlights, while the No. 92 features only white and grey colors that are reversed, along with black side view mirrors rather than white.
Zurlineden also said that his team worked to cover over 6,000 kilometers, or 3,728 miles, during more than 30 hours of initial prototype testing to ensure the car’s reliability and dependability, which are crucial factors to any endurance competition. During the testing period, engineers were truly able to fine tune the new 911 RSR to be the meanest machine it can be for the likes of the 24 Hours of Le Mans all the way to the 1,000 Miles of Sebring.