1973 Porsche 911 RS

Just after midnight, in February 1973, there was a battle being waged on a Daytona Beach, Florida race track.

All of the heavy-hitters from Lola, Mirage and Matra had fallen by the wayside. The two cars trading places were not factory entries, they were two very separate and independent teams: one, a Sunoco blue Penske car driven by Mark Donohue; the other, a red, white, and blue liveried Brumos car driven by Peter Gregg. Both were the new Carrera RSR, the race-prepared version of the brand new Carrera RS. With no team orders to get in their way, the drivers pushed each other hard, trading first and second place.

Before sunrise, a cylinder went on Donohue’s car. This left Gregg with a commanding lead over the other entrants. Daytona was to be a test of the new engine. The Penske car survived for 14 hours. Test engines had never lasted more than 18 hours on a test bench. But the Brumos Porsche of Gregg and Hurley Haywood would take the checkered flag for the 24-hour overall win. The first by a 911 in an international endurance race.

On a technicality, the cars were running as prototypes, but they were true GT cars.

Porsche had to build 500 cars to satisfy the Group 4 homologation rules, but they also wanted to be able to sell them. However, the name 2.7S wasn’t very exciting, so they brought back the Carrera name, but Porsche felt it needed more. Thus the letters RS were added for “Rennsport.” They needn’t have worried as in the end, 1,580 Carrera RS examples left Zuffenhausen.

One of the more noticeable details of the RS is the “Bürzel” or Duck-tail, created by engineer Tilman Brodbeck in 1970. After much testing, Porsche found the Duck-tail to help with high-speed stability by adding more downforce on the rear of the car.

Porsche also took pounds off the weight of the car by ridding it of sound-deadening material, insulation, undercoating, carpets, and rear seats. They also utilized fiberglass and thinner safety glass.

The RS was now lighter, but needed more guts, so the engine was punched out from 2.5 to 2.7 liters. The RS was now eligible to run in the FIA 3-liter group.

The RS borrowed technology from its prototype brother, the 917. Nikasil coating was used on the aluminum cylinders. This new coating was as thick as the previous and popular chrome coating but was much tougher. This allowed Porsche to bore the cylinders out to 90-mm, up from 84-mm. They also discovered it delivered a higher and more consistent power output. Giving the RS an increase of 20 bhp up from the standard 911S to 210. That made the road-going lightweight RS the fastest production car in Germany at that time, with a top speed of 150 mph.

Sitting in the RS, you are looking at the same dash as any other 911 of the period, the same five-gauge layout, but with the clock blocked out and a tach that red lines closer to 8000, instead of 7500 RPM. This car oozes raw energy. It is the distillation of motorsport. The RS is a very elemental machine. When you start it up, you feel it right down to your soul.

The engine makes a sound modern sports cars can only dream about. The steering is effortless and the handling is smooth and lightning quick. It tracks straight, enabling you to direct it with pinpoint accuracy. The 915 gearbox forces the driver to be very precise with the shifts, but it rewards you with wonderful sounds as you take it through the gears. And it’s fast… fast like tearing-down-the-Mulsanne-Straight fast. When you come to a turn, it’s even more fun because you get to downshift and listen to the banshee cry of the motor as it helps to scrub off speed.

The RS does not possess computers, stability control, or ABS. BFD. If you understand and respect this machine, you don’t need them or want them. This is a true driver’s machine, it does everything you want it to do and nothing you don’t want. It is the perfect storm of driving pleasure, and you would be hard pressed to find its equal.

It is a rare and sexy beast.

SPECIFICATIONS

Length	4277 mm / 168.4 in
Width	1610 mm / 63.4 in
Height	1320 mm / 52 in
Wheelbase	2271 mm / 89.4 in
Front track	1374 mm / 54.1 in
Rear track	1354 mm / 53.3 in
Cylinders alignment	Boxer 6
Displacement	2.7 liter
Bore	84 mm / 3.31 in
Stroke	70.4 mm / 2.77 in
Compression ratio	8.5 : 1
Horsepower net	210 HP @6500rpm
Torque net	154 ft-lb @5200