Porsche 911 GT3 RS 4.0 Review

Porsche built 600 GT3 RS 4.0s in 2011 as the finale of the 997 generation and, as it turned out, of the engine that had powered every GT3 since 1999. RM Sotheby's describes it as the last series-production 911 with the Mezger flat-six. It listed at 178,596 euros in Germany, and 141 were sold in the US. It arrived as the last word on a formula that was about to change, since the 991 GT3 that followed switched to a direct-injection engine and a PDK-only gearbox.

Porsche fitted the RSR's crankshaft, lengthening the stroke from 76.4 to 80.4 mm for 3,996 cc, the largest engine yet in a road-going 911, and it makes 500 PS at 8,250 rpm and 460 Nm at 5,750 rpm. It drives the rear wheels through a six-speed manual, the only gearbox offered. The chassis borrows from the GT2 RS, the bonnet and front wings are carbon, the rear windows are plastic, and dive planes on the nose balance the big rear wing.

At 1,360 kg with a full tank it is light for a 997, and Porsche quoted 3.9 seconds from 0 to 100 km/h, 310 km/h and a Nordschleife lap of 7 minutes 27 seconds. What it offers is a naturally aspirated flat-six at the end of its development, a manual gearbox and a chassis tuned for the circuit that still works on a real road.

The Mezger's dry-sump racing design gives it a reputation for durability, and the running costs are the ones any RS brings: track tyres, brakes, clutches and the fuel a 500 PS engine uses when it is driven as intended. The bucket seats and firm suspension make a long trip tiring, and the cabin is a 997's, functional rather than special. Values have gone far past the sticker. RM Sotheby's sold a car with fewer than 160 miles for $1,077,500 at Monterey in August 2025, a price for a delivery-mileage example rather than a driven one.

The RS 4.0 is the high point of the Mezger era and among the most complete driver's 911s ever sold: quick enough to lap the Nordschleife in 7:27, light and communicative on the road, and rare. That its prices now put it beyond most people who would drive it hard is the only real mark against it.