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Porsche was spotted testing a new 911 variant at the Nürburgring recently, and it raises more questions than answers. Although looking a lot like today’s GT3 RS model, the target of our spy shooter’s camera revealed a few key differences, including some additional camouflage on the rear fascia and a pair of fake-looking exhaust pipes in the center of the diffuser. The changes suggest turbocharging could be afoot, perhaps ushering in a new era of Porsche GT3s – until now, they’ve always been naturally aspirated. But the design tweaks could instead mark a return of the GT2, the mighty Turbo variant that gets enough power and lightweighting changes to make it as fast as possible on a track.

Some Very Similar Styling

Despite the somewhat extensive alterations made to the rest of the 992-generation Porsche 911 lineup for its mid-cycle facelift, the GT3 RS spotted circling Green Hell looks very familiar. The front fascia is all but identical to today’s race-ready sports car, as are the finned front fenders, cutaway wheel arches, sculpted doors, and aggressive ground effects. Even the vented decklid and towering swan-neck rear spoiler looks cribbed from the pre-facelift 911 GT3 RS.

CarBuzz / Valnet

But it’s at the rear that we notice the first clues that this is an updated model. Despite the rest of the car appearing mostly uncovered, the rear bumper wears some additional camouflage just above the license plate cutout, which could be hiding vents to cool a potentially turbocharged engine. If that’s the case, it would be the first GT3 product to receive such boosting. We presume the RS would still take motive force from a 4.0-liter flat-six engine, meaning the turbos could push its power output from 518 horsepower today to more than 600, with torque jumping from 342 pound-feet to at least 500 or so.

The Return Of The 911 GT2?

Then again, turbocharging isn’t a totally foreign concept to Porsche’s GT cars. It’s possible this mule is hiding the existence of the mighty 911 GT2 RS, which mates the 911 Turbo’s bombastic engine to the rear-drive, circuit-honed purity of the GT3 RS. Last offered in the 991 generation, the old GT2 made 690 hp and 553 lb-ft thanks to a turbocharged 3.8-liter flat-six, an increase of 91 hp over the “regular” 911 Turbo S. If that delta holds true, a 992-generation GT2 could produce as much as 731 horses, which would make it the most powerful street-legal 911 of all time. Although there are some detail changes on this model relative to other 911 GT3 RS mules we’ve seen, we still wonder if this isn’t a turbocharged GT-series flagship.

We hope that’s the path Porsche chooses to take with the model we spotted in Germany. The turbocharged GT2 RS is an absolute legend that makes all the power, but demands a steady hand so as to not overwhelm the rear-drive powertrain layout. But at the same time, we love the shrill, revvy shriek of the nat-asp GT3 RS and don’t want to see it go the way of the boosted snail. Hopefully, we’ll get to enjoy both models in their original, untainted form for a long time yet.

Source: SHProshots