With the 2017 racing season already well underway, there is now some video of the new-spec 2017 911 RSR running flat out. In watching some of that video, the very first thing that stuck out to us was the sound. With the new mid-engine chassis came a completely new engine based on the production 911’s direct fuel injection flat six architecture, though still naturally aspirated. The new engine sounded flatter, not quite as perky and screaming as the still-Mezger-based-after-all-these-years engine that ran in 2016. If you’d like to hear the difference for yourself, you can check out the two videos below for an instant comparison.
The above video was recorded at several venues throughout the 2016 IMSA Weathertech Sports Car Championship season here in the US. The notes emanating from the still-rear-engined tailpipes of this car are some of our favorite Porsche noises ever. This is very reminiscent of the 996 and 997 versions of the street GT3, just turned up a few hundred notches. The high-revs of this engine make it sound almost like a formula car as is streaks past. Can’t get enough of it.
In this new video from 19BOZZY92, one of our favorite YouTube channels, You can instantly tell that the new 911 RSR’s engine note has been brought down a handful of octaves, has a bit more vibrato, and there’s a new kind of pop when the driver upshifts. The new four-liter direct injected engine sits amidships in the new 911 RSR, right behind the driver, and hidden from sight with the rear decklid removed. It’s possible that some of the new sound has to do with a longer set of exhaust pipes, but certainly everything to do with a completely new engine. That engine has already proven itself through a 24 hour race, a 12 hour race, and a not insignificant test session in Italy (where this video was filmed). It seems like Porsche has done enough to make this new engine a potential winner straight out of the box.