My Saturday mornings usually begin with my attending  a weekly car show located in Irvine, California called Cars&Coffee. Participants begin showing up as early as 5:30 am  (I usually try to arrive by 6 am) with the show lasting until 9-9:30 am.  Because of the popularity of this event, and to get a good parking spot for the display of ones car, you need to arrive early. Getting there late can result in either being directed to the overflow parking area, or even worse, not being able to find any parking and being turned away.

My worst fear however, was realized this past Saturday morning, as I overslept, and did not arrive at the show until 6:45. Fortunately, I was able to find a spot towards the back of the parking area, but well away from the row that I usually park in with my friends. Given the summer like weather that we experienced here in Southern California over the Thanksgiving weekend, Saturday morning delivered a very diverse collection of cars for viewing. Parked just across the row in front of me were the following three cars:  a Volcano Orange McLaren MP4-12C, a Matt Black Lamborghini Aventador, and a Red Lamborghini Gallardo. And further down the row at the end of the aisle were two more cars, both Ferrari’s; a red 458 Italia, and a black Enzo…

Of the many Porsches in attendance that morning, there was one in particular that caught my eye… a  black, 2011 GT3RS 4.0. This particular car represents one of only 600 produced for worldwide consumption by Porsche, and which according to reports sold out within 14 days.  So given the rarity of this particular model, seeing one in person was pretty amazing. However, I consider myself fortunate to count this as my second encounter with a GT3 RS 4.0, since my first sighting was of a white RS 4.0 model, that had been on display at the Porsche Rennsport Reunion IV event back in October (see photos below).

And so now I was face to face with my second  GT3 RS 4.0, and this time it was the evil twin.  This particular car, dressed in black right down to its centerlock wheels, was much more sinister looking than its white-painted sibling, shimmering in its flawless, reflective black mirror- like finish.

As part of Porsches weight savings endeavors with the RS 4.0, several very subtle measures were taken to reduce the vehicles overall weight. At the front of the car, the hood has been manufactured from carbon fiber (very similar to the hood found on the Porsche GT2RS). However in this case, to save additional weight Porsche paints the RS 4.0 ‘s carbon fiber hood to match the car, instead of finishing the hood using the clear resin coating found on the GT2RS ( which ironically turns out to be a heavier production process). Another weight savings effort is the use of a decal for the Porsche hood crest, instead of using the traditional metal Porsche hood emblem.

Moving to the back of the car, located beneath the massive rear wing, resides the 4.0 liter, 500 horsepower engine, able to propel the car from 0-60 in a neck snapping  3.9 seconds, driven through a six speed manual transmission.

The rear wing also holds several secrets to this cars enhanced performance; the rear wing end plates have been modified over those found on the 2011 3.8 liter GT3RS, and the angle of attack for the GT3 RS 4.0 rear wing has been increased to 9 degrees, instead of running the stock setting of  6.8 degrees as found on the 3.8 GT3RS, for even greater downforce.

And just as quickly as the RS 4.0 had arrived that morning, the owner returned, jumped in, fired it up and drove away. As I watched the car drive off, a couple of guys came over and asked me if I had seen the white GT3 RS 4.0 that was parked in the overflow area. I asked if they were serious, and they assured me that it was in fact another GT3 RS 4.0. Off I went in search of the White GT3 RS 4.0. Unfortunately I was too late, and the car was nowhere to be found. Oh well, only 598 to go. And there is always next weeks show…

(All photos by the author)