Porsche 911 GT3 RSR 

Finally, AUTOart's own version of the RSR is out!  Here are some thoughts on the beautiful Inter Racing Porsche...

The first thing you'll notice is the striking livery; quite possibly the nicest AUTOart's ever replicated.  It wouldn't surprise me if this car, alone, has more sponsors than all of the GT3 Cup cars combined!  The sponsors include:  Penthouse magazine, Airnergy solutions, Rial wheels, Gallade chemical distributors, Recaro seats, AP Racing brakes, Sport Auto magazine, BF Goodrich, Yokohama Advan tires, K & W Suspensions, H & R springs, Castrol and LMS Engineering.  Inter Racing, the name of the team, is proudly a part of the livery as well.  The best part of it all is that the livery is tampo-printed.  Zero decals here!

 

As for the shape, AUTOart did a pretty good job there as the car is properly wide for an RSR.  The stance is right and the shape spot-on.  Shutlines are as tight as ever, and whether you open the hood or the engine cover, they will stay open without any sort of aid.  Also, actual mesh can be found on the front bumper

Everything is honky dory until you begin to look closer.  The inevitable flaws emerged as I noticed the rear bumper gills were just painted-on, headlights seriously lacked detail, some of the mesh parts were simulated plastic, and the shocker, the wide-body wheel arches were plastic add-ons! Zoink!!

Going back to the headlights, just to clear any doubts, they are masked to look 'round' like the real thing's.  You see, the actual car, which is a heavily modified version of a GT3 R, was given the RSR treatment to help the team with any handling issues they may have had while competing (After all, wider is better!!).  Aside from that, Inter Racing also made the headlights look like those of a 997's.  This is why AUTOart masked them, so that it would give them that look, but sadly, the nature of the 996 headlights made them look more oval than anything.

Open the driver's door and you'll notice a few improvements over previous GT3 racers.  For instance, there is more wiring than before, more switches and readings, and the digital electronic dashboard is no longer a sticker.  On the down side, the seat belt's still feels rubbery and the buckles aren't photo-etch.  The properly-labeled Recaro driver seat is covered moderately in flock and looks the part, though, it feels somewhat plasticky.  The steering wheel received the same flock treatment and looks very convincing.

 

Under the hood, you won't find an engine, but you will find the fuel cell, some fluid containers and more wiring making this part of the car the most detailed (and usually my favorite).  The engine, which is on the rear, shows more improvement but could definitely use more detail and separate pieces, as opposed to one or two.  When it comes to replicating Porsche engines, it is almost always a hard task and usually a good excuse to cut corners simply because only so much can be seen.  In this case, however, we can say AUTOart is willing to redeem itself.

 

 

As always, the wheels and brakes are two very strong points for any modern AUTOart model and this RSR is no exception.  With that said, there is not much to report here.

 

The undercarriage on this Porsche is no work of art but you will appreciate seeing new items like Nurburgring-ready skid plates and tiny little screws found attaching the front lip, which is made out of this kind of rubbery plastic -- it's quite nice!

 

So to conclude, AUTOart didn't make a perfect Porsche (not that we expected one) but definitely a looker!  As I said earlier, this could very well be the nicest livery ever replicated making this model an instant highlight in anyone's collection on display.

As for quality and details, this model  is another sign of subtle improvement.  Perhaps the 997 RSR will be even better?  I think the bar was set relatively high by the Minichamps 996 RSR, and while the AUTOart alternative has a little bit of ways getting there, it's definitely a worthy competitor.

Let's wait and see what happens next.

That's all for now.  Thanks for reading!