Truth be told, Porsche did decent with its racing program for the 2015 FIA GTE season, but the German brand decided to sit out the 2016 season to prepare for 2017. Since we’ve last seen Porsche in GTE, the brand has been busy building its new GTE racer for the 2017 season. The new 911 RSR has been put through the paces on various tracks around the world, with a majority of the Porsche Works drivers getting behind the wheel at one time or another – a feat that’s quite rare in the development stage. But, it’s paying off well, and it looks like the new RSR is ready to take on the competition. It needed a break, though, so Porsche saw fit to show it off at the L.A. Auto Show, and boy does it look ready. With up to 510 horsepower on tap and, real driver assistance systems (a first,) and an improved body panel mounting, this racer will not only be ready to devour the competition and keep its driver safe, but can be serviced easily mid-race thanks new quick-release fasteners that are used for mounting a majority of the body panels.

On top of that, the Porsche gets an all-new body wrap. It still sports the traditional white, red, and black color scheme, but features the new factory design and, from a birds-eye point of view, showcases the silhouette of a Porsche emblem. Pretty cool, huh? In 2017, the new RSR will see some 140 hours of track time over 19 different outings in the FIA World Endurance Championship, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the well-respected IMSA Weathertech Championship. The new RSR has a lot of work ahead of it, but as you can see from the photos that we took at the L.A. Auto Show, it’s more than prepared.

With that said, let’s take a closer look at Porsche’s new racer before the 2017 season kicks off, and we’re too busy watching it fight on the track to pay attention to the finer details.

Continue reading to learn more about the Porsche 911 RSR.

Exterior

Up until now, the only thing we had seen of the new RSR were spy shots and a teaser image that showcased the front end of the car. Now that it has made its debut in L.A., however, we can get a good look at everything the little racer has to off. As expected, it still looks every bit like a 911, albeit a very extreme interpretation. And, that means there’s a lot of difference between this model and its road-going counterpart. Obviously, aerodynamics are huge, and that’s why the RSR has a rather uneventful front fascia. It’s wide and has a few body lines, but there are no corner intakes or excessive design. Instead, the air damn has been enlarged, and a massive front spoiler hangs very low to the ground. Moving further up, there’s the traditional Porsche, circular headlamps with yellow lenses. The hood has some stylish vents and a small triangular air pass-through right in the middle. As you can see, the black, red, and white coloration carries over in a new layout, but the Michelin, Porsche Design, Mobile1, and 911 logos are carry over in the same locations.

Moving over to the sides, the color scheme dips strongly down toward the side skirts, leaving the area from the fenders back primarily while. Square-ish side view mirrors hang from the door via an angled arm, while the side skirts are all about downforce with a large, step-like presence. That stamped-911 logo resonates from the door, while small white lines in the strip of gray accentuates the car’s aerodynamic prowess.

In the rear, there’s the massive black spoiler that displays the Porsche name as well as the Adidas logo. The rear fascia is primarily black with the traditional sponsor decals. The big news here is that massive rear diffuser that looks like it’s ready to chew up anything that comes to close. This massive diffuser is made possible because Porsche took the time to completely redesign everything about the racer from the suspension and body structure all the way down to the engine and transmission. The redesign of the engine and transmission was crucial in terms of putting such a large diffuser into service.

Interior

Usually, we don’t get too good of a look at the interior of race cars of this caliber, but we’ve got a pretty good shot. Needless to say, the new RSR as all about business inside. Gone are the niceties and convenience features in place of necessary race and safety equipment. As you can see from the interior shot above, that stock dash, for the most part, carries over into the RSR, but the instrument cluster and steering column is gone. Instead, a racing wheel has been installed that features a small display screen with data like lap times, turns, current gear selection, etc. There are a number of various buttons on each side and several knobs to the bottom. There’s also tachometer LED set up at the very top. There is a display screen sitting atop the center stack, but just below that is a host of switches and control knobs that perform various functions. As you can see, there’s plenty of carbon finger, and there is a racing seat that’s obviously equipped with a five-point racing harness. Of course, this car is meant for racing, not comfort or convenience, so the interior isn’t all that important anyway, is it?

Drivetrain

This is where things really get interesting. As I mentioned previously, just about every part of the RSR is an all-new development, and that includes the engine and transmission. Porsche focused on keeping the engine light and naturally aspirated. Depend on the side of the restrictor in place, the light-weight, 4.0-liter flat-six can deliver some 510 horsepower. Porsche didn’t disclose what kind of torque numbers are there to lay rubber on pavement, but you can bet that’s a pretty high number too. The sequential six-speed transmission is controlled via paddle shifters, ultimately delivering all of that power to the wheels. Those rear wheels, by the way, are 12.2-inches wide.

But, that isn’t all there is to talk about here. See, Porsche has integrated real driver assistance systems into the RSR, a first for any Porsche GT racer. Well, it’s really not much – it doesn’t have active cruise control, for instance – but it does have a radar-supported collision warning system called the Collision Avoid system. In short, it can detect faster LMP prototypes early enough to warn the driver so he can prepare to be overtaken. As Porsche puts it, they a detected early enough that “misunderstandings can be avoided.” There’s also a new roll cage, and the seat is mounted directly to the chassis while the pedals can be moved and adjusted to fit the driver. The latter actually increases safety as there is less of a chance of the seat itself moving should a major collision or accident occur.

Competition

Ferrari 488 GTE

The Ferrari 488 GTE was based on the 488 GTB and replaced the 458 for the 2016 season. In a sense, the 488 GTE was essentially the same as the road-worthy 488, but featured an extreme aerodynamic package, and an FIA approved interior. By that I mean that the dash and door trim was carried over from the road version, but outside of that, the car had a single seat, a roll cage, and various other required components for racing. As of the time of this writing, we still don’t know much about the drivetrain of the 488 GTE, but it’s sure to pose some stiff competition for Porsche’s new 911 RSR.

Read our full review on the Ferrari 488 GTE here.

Conclusion

I must say that I’m pretty impressed with the new 911 RSR. When Porsche decided to take the 2016 season off, I had a feeling it had something awesome up its sleeve. And, sure enough, we’re finally getting a look at that awesomeness. The fact that Porsche went so far as to redevelop things like the suspension, body structure, aerodynamics, engine, and transmission, is major for the 2017 season. It’s hard to say how the 2017 season will play out for Porsche, but it’s certainly showing up to the field ready to give 110 percent. Its first event will be at Daytona on January 28 and 29, so we don’t have that long to wait to actually see this baby in action. Until that happens, though, check out the full image gallery and don’t drool on your keyboard or phone too much. Let us know what you think about it in the comments section below.