Porsche was originally due to reveal its new 911 GT3 RS this summer but decided to delay its arrival following the discovery of a fault with the 3.8-liter flat-six engine in the 911 GT3 that the 911 GT3 RS was to share, albeit in uprated form. Now it’s being reported that the new 911 GT3 RS may benefit from a unique turbocharged version of the engine.

Though no 911 GT3 RS models in the past have been turbocharged, at least from the factory, Autocar is reporting that Porsche is considering the move in order to increase output without placing too much strain on the engine. Porsche engineers are said to be concerned about reliably extracting more power from the engine and see turbocharging as a safer method than other means, such as increasing the redline or adjusting the cams or valves or compression ratio.

The 911 GT3 already develops a healthy 475 horsepower from the 3.8-liter engine, but the 911 GT3 RS was expected to see the output rise past 500 horses.

The purists may hate the thought of the 911 GT3 RS adopting a turbocharged engine, but the move towards smaller, turbocharged engines in the super sports car segment is clear. And considering the car was also expected to adopt the 911 GT3’s dual-clutch PDK transmission and four-wheel-steering system, adding a turbocharger to that list doesn’t seem so out of the ordinary anymore.

Of more concern is the possibility that there won’t be another generation of the 911 GT2 and 911 GT2 RS should Porsche add a turbocharger to its new 911 GT3 RS, as the two cars would be very similar in philosophy. It’s been reported that the 911 GT2 may not be renewed because the latest 911 Turbo models are already close to matching the performance of the previous 911 GT2 and simply adding more power would make an already demanding car even more difficult to master.

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