There were two glaring omissions from the last generation of Porsche’s 911 GT3 RS. One: a manual gearbox. Two: a big sticker to show everyone you owned the hardest, fastest naturally-aspirated track-orientated 911. This new Gen 2 991 GT3 RS has fixed one of those things.

Before the purists get all excited about the new variant following in the footsteps of its standard GT3 brother and reverting back to the ol’ three pedals and a gear lever, the new RS remains a strict PDK only car. But there’s now a sticker set as standard. And who doesn’t love stickers?

As you can see, it’s very much a soft facelift to see the RS out until the brand-brand new 911 comes along later this year. Considering the old car was staring down the barrel of perfection, it’s not like much needed to be done anyway.

Still, Porsche’s motorsport arm – the obsessives who fight for every tenth of a second – have squeezed the engine just that little bit more. Power from the sensational 4.0-litre, naturally aspirated flat-six engine is now up from 500hp to 520hp thanks to a raised rev limit of 9,000rpm.

As we know from the GT3, a 9,000rpm rev limit is pretty much perfection.Thanks to that extra poke and new specialist tyres, a tenth has been shaved off the GT3 RS’s 0-100km/h time - now 3.8secs – though the top speed stays at 312km/h.

There’s a new bumper and a few aerodynamic tweaks to aid grip, which – considering the old one had 80 per cent of the downforce of a GT3 Cup racing car – means it should be mighty through the corners. You also get racy solid ball joints on each suspension arm, plus new lightweight wheels: 20s at the front, 21s at the back.

Like all GT3 RS models, you get plenty of expensive lightweight goodies such as carbon body panels, plastic windows, a new lightweight engine lid and a magnesium roof (just to save 1.1kg high up on the car). Inside, you still have the full carbon bucket seats from the 918, door handles made in a textiles class and a liberal attitude to sound insulation.

For the more committed apex enthusiasts among you, we’d recommend selecting the ‘Clubsport package’ box for no extra cost. As on all of Porsche’s GT cars, said pack equips your RS with some scaffolding in the back just in case you put it on its roof, a fire extinguisher, and prep for a battery disconnect switch and a six-point harness. Serious stuff.

We’ll see the new 911 GT3 RS for the first time at the Geneva Motor Show next month. We’re told the first deliveries will begin early this summer; perfect for those sunny Touristenfahrten sessions, then.

STORY Rowan Horncastle