Porsche Experience 2024: The 911 GT3 RS, the 718 GT4 RS, a Racetrack and a Dream Debate

My dream garage is faced with a rather delicious debate – GT3 RS or GT4 RS as the designated track tool? Fortunately, Porsche India had both on hand during the recently concluded Porsche Driving Experience at the BIC (Buddh International Circuit) to help me reach a hypothetical conclusion. So, let the games begin… 

Slalom

Not so fast. You think Porsche is just going to let you loose on a Formula 1 circuit with its most prized machinery? Not quite!

We started out in the lowly 911 Cabriolet – well, “lowly” only in the company of Porsche’s legendary GT cars – on a slalom course in the parking lot to get acclimatised. And that’s just as well, since it eases you into what is an extremely special day of driving.

The 911 Cab was followed in quick succession by the 911 Turbo S, which makes speed so accessible that you have to recalibrate the pace at which the neurons travel from your right foot to your brain’s frontal lobe. The 3.8-litre flat-six in the Turbo S puts out 641bhp and propels this relatively unassuming missile on four wheels to 100km/h in just 2.7 seconds. Of course, all this speed will cost you – a mere ₹3.35 crores for performance that would shame any supercar on the planet.

The key to the slalom course is to look as far ahead as possible and be as smooth as possible – both valuable lessons to learn before the main course, the 5.125 kilometres of the Buddh International Circuit.

Skidpad 

The next dish on the menu was the 718 GT4 RS on a wet skidpad – with the objective of stringing together a couple of clean power slides. Now I’ve been waiting a very long time to get behind the wheel of this machine. So, I had to pinch myself – not just because I found myself in the driver’s seat, but because the first thing I was tasked to do was slide it at will! One of those stranger-than-fiction moments – thank you very much Porsche India.

And to say that the GT4 doesn’t disappoint would be the understatement of this millennia. The bark from its 4.0-litre naturally-aspirated race-tuned motor is instant – and feral. The chassis is pinpoint sharp, as is the throttle pedal. Suffice to say, this is the perfect car to come to grips with on the skidpad. Here, again, the key is to look at where you want to go, be smooth and measured with your inputs and really get a feel for the car under you – all valuable lessons in the lead up to the main event. 

GT vs GT 

Finally, we had primed our reflexes and recalibrated our brains to handle the best from Zuffenhausen on the full track.

I started with the GT4 RS. And, immediately, the first thing that struck me was the scale of the chasm that separates the GT cars from their more ordinary brethren, because the GT4 really does feel like a race car for the road.

The steering is talkative in your hands, the seat of your pants is brimming with feel, and it’s extremely happy at the limit. In fact, if there’s one characteristic that I would use to define a great driver’s car it would be how comfortable it makes the driver feel while approaching the limits of adhesion – and that’s one trait that’s been a Porsche hallmark for decades.

The best part of the GT4, though, is the NOISE! The howl from the naturally aspirated flat-six as it gulps air through the intake duct that goes through the cabin, just behind your right ear… well, it’s sheer magic. If the next-gen 718 goes electric, then this is an experience that I’ll savour for a long time to come. Who am I kidding, this is an experience that I’m going to savour regardless of what comes next.

Speaking of which, it was time for the main event – the GT3 RS! But before I attempt to compare the driving experiences of these two machines, I have to admit that the GT3 RS is the ultimate race car for the road – and has been for some time. The current generation simply takes it up a notch – well, many notches... The previous-gen GT3 RS – the 991 – was also epic, but it did eventually succumb to the laws of physics, like most things in the Universe. But not the current-gen GT3. It’s completely audacious, in the way it looks and in the way it feels from behind the wheel. The speeds you can carry, even in comparison to the GT4, are simply astounding.

The engine revs like nothing else I’ve experienced – so much so that I hit the rev limiter three times over the course of three laps. The gearshifts are instant – and the magnesium paddles only serve to cement this race-car-for-the-road illusion. The wider track and longer wheelbase compared to the GT4 mean that the front end of the GT3 is even sharper and the chassis is far more stable – the whole machine, in fact, is more composed. You would think that this would take away from the rawness of the driving experience – and you’d be right, it’s not nearly as raw – but in actual fact it adds to the overall experience, as this is simply the fastest way around a racetrack this side of a 911 RSR race car.

The speeds are astounding, but the breath of capabilities of this car are so incredibly wide – and it’s so easy to push to the limit (there’s that trait again…) – that this is a car that you’ll never get bored of, because no matter how much you push it, there’ll always be those few more tenths of a second that you can squeeze out of it, either by playing with its multitude of settings or by (needless to say) becoming a better driver. And that’s what the GT3 will push you to do – become a better driver. Of course, it’ll also flatter you in the process. What more can you ask for in a track tool?

For me, these few laps at the BIC – back-to-back in these incredible machines – is something that I’ll always be grateful to Porsche for, and it’s just served to reinforce the fact that the GT3 RS is the ultimate driver’s car on the planet. It would take absolute top billing in that dream garage – bar none. Enough said!