Porsche 911 991 RSR 4.2

Official photos: 2019 July 6
Premiere: 2019 July 6, Goodwood Festival of Speed, England
First race: 2019 September 1, FIA WEC race at Silverstone, England

Engine: 4.2 B6 normally aspirated, 378 kW (depends on air restrictor)
Gearbox: Sequential, 6-speed with 3-disc carbon clutch, magnesium casing
Weight: 1245 kg/2745 lb by regulations

In August 2018, the first prototype was rolled out to the test track in Weissach. In March 2019, a 30 hour and 6000+ km (3700+ miles) test was carried out at the Le Castellet track. The homologation was received on July 1, 2019 and the world premiere took place on July 6, 2019 at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in Great Britain.

Porsche Motorsport said 95% of the car was new. The only components that were kept unchanged from the predecessor were the headlights, brake system, clutch, driver’s seat and parts of the suspension.

This was the fourth version of the 991 RSR - the first two came with the rear engine, then the first mid-engine version was launched (all 4.0-litre) and finally the mid-engined RSR 4.2 with the largest 911 engine ever made. The increase in the engine capacity is a question mark as on production models the capacities are decreased and turbochargers are used. The 991 RSR 4.2 didn't have anything in common with the production cars anymore, so how could the marketing department or the production cars benefit from Porsche's GT racing programme? It isn't less strange that the car was still based on the 991, while the 992 was long in production. In comparison to the predecessor, there's no change in terms of power-to-weight ratio as the power and the weight are the same as before (regulated by FIA).

Porsche 911 991 RSR 4.2 prototype — The RSR 4.2 has side exhaust. This test car has a strange extension to the exhaust pipe. © Porsche

Porsche 911 991 RSR 4.2 prototype side exhaust — What is this!? Interesting things do happen in Weissach every day and in so many cases they are unexplainable to the strangers.© Porsche

Porsche 911 991 RSR 4.2 prototype and development team — RSR 4.2 development team in Weissach© Porsche

Porsche 911 991 RSR 4.2 front lid — Note how the left and right mirrors are positioned compared to eachother (it used to be the same on the earlier street cars - the position of the mirror was different on each door)© Porsche

Porsche 911 991 RSR 4.2 front spoiler — © Porsche

Porsche 911 991 RSR 4.2 front spoiler grille — © Porsche

Porsche 911 991 RSR 4.2 front wheel well — Racing cars naturally come with the 18" wheels as they are the best for performance - they fit brakes big enough and at the same time they are not too heavy. For street cars customers demand 19", 20" and 21" wheels without knowing that their hunt for beauty decreases the performance of their cars. The front wheels on the RSR are 12.5" wide with 300 mm Michelin tyres and rears 13" wide with 310 mm tyres.© Porsche

Porsche 911 991 RSR 4.2 in wind tunnel — Wind tunnel test© Porsche

Porsche 911 991 RSR 4.2 top view — © Porsche

Porsche 911 991 RSR 4.2 roof hatch — © Porsche

Porsche 911 991 RSR 4.2 side intake — © Porsche

Porsche 911 991 RSR 4.2 rear spoiler — © Porsche

Porsche 911 991 RSR 4.2 rear view — Body width at the rear is 80.7"/2050 mm (front 80.4"/2042 mm)© Porsche

Porsche 911 991 RSR 4.2 in wind tunnel, rear view — In the wind tunnel© Porsche

Porsche 911 991 RSR 4.2 diffusor — Thanks to the repositioning of the exhaust pipes in to the sides of the car, a new diffusor could be created© Porsche

Porsche 911 991 RSR 4.2 side exhaust and AP Racing rear brake — The brake discs have the diameter of 390 mm at front and 355 mm at the rear and are made of steel (compare them to the larger ceramic brakes you can order for the heavy street cars)© Porsche

Porsche 911 991 RSR 4.2 cockpit — Mounted seat and adjustable pedalry© Porsche

Porsche 911 991 RSR 4.2 steering wheel — © Porsche

Porsche 911 991 RSR 4.2 steering wheel display — © Porsche

Porsche 911 991 RSR 4.2 centre console — © Porsche

Porsche 911 991 RSR 4.2 CAD model — Side exhaust is unique to the 4.2-litre RSR© Porsche

Porsche 911 991 RSR 4.2 engineer Jerome Moore — Jerome Moore, Technical Project Leader© Porsche

Porsche 911 991 RSR 4.2 engineer Olivier Leibel — Olivier Leibel, Aero Team Leader© Porsche

Porsche 911 991 RSR 4.2 engineer Pascal Zurlinden — Pascal Zurlinden, Head of GT Factory Motorsport© Porsche

Porsche factory team will initially use the 911 RSR 4.2 at the FIA World Endurance Championship races and from 2020 also at the IMSA races. For customer teams, the 991 RSR 4.2 will become available from the 2020/2021 FIA WEC season. Considering the 992-generation 911 was premiered already in 2018, the 991 business in 2019 and 2020 is a bit confusing - but, a 911 is a 911!

Continue to Porsche motorsport moments

Anniversaries: Oct, 29 – 81st birthday of Hans-Peter Porsche (1940); Nov, 15 – 46th birthday of the 924 (1975); Nov, 19 – 13th birthday of the Boxster 987.2 (2008); Nov, 19 – 13th birthday of the Cayman 987.2 (2008); Nov, 26 – 58th birthday of the 904 (1963)