The Porsche 911 GT2 turned a racing requirement into the fastest 911
The first 911 GT2 existed so Porsche could go racing; only 57 road cars were built to satisfy the rulebook. By its last generation the GT2 RS had become the most powerful production 911 ever made, and briefly held the fastest production-car lap of the Nürburgring's daunting Nordschleife.
The recipe stayed constant from 1993 to 2019. Take the twin-turbo 911 Turbo, drop its all-wheel drive in favour of driving only the rear wheels, strip out interior weight, then add stronger brakes, stiffer suspension and more power. That made the GT2 lighter than the Turbo, and the fastest and most expensive model in the range. The original 993-based car wore widened plastic wings and a big rear wing with scoops to cool the engine.
With the next generation, Porsche abandoned the GT2 as a racer and concentrated on the naturally aspirated GT3 for endurance racing, so the GT2 became a road car first. Car and Driver found hardly any turbo lag, though the fixed wing made it slightly less slippery than the Turbo. The 997 version topped 200 miles per hour, and test driver Walter Röhrl lapped the Nordschleife in 7 minutes 32 seconds.
The first GT2 RS began around 2007 as a skunk-works project coded 727, after a Nordschleife time once set by the rival Nissan GT-R. Porsche claimed its car beat that target by nine seconds, and built only 500.
The final 991 GT2 RS was unveiled at a 2017 video games showcase as the cover car for Forza Motorsport 7. Making 700 metric horsepower through a seven-speed PDK gearbox, it lapped the Nordschleife in 6 minutes 47.3 seconds in September 2017. Four cars were lost when the cargo ship Grande America sank in 2019, and Porsche restarted production to replace them.
Source: Porsche 911 GT2
