gunther werks pushes the 993 beyond its familiar outline
Gunther Werks has taken its interpretation of the Porsche 911 further into racing territory with the GXR-Evo, unveiled during Monterey Car Week as the company’s fastest naturally aspirated car yet. Only 15 will be built. The proportions still read immediately as a 993, though one detail changes the car almost completely from behind: the rear window is gone, replaced by an integrated shark-fin element that gives the roofline a much harder ending.
The rest of the body follows the same idea. Gunther Werks forms the exterior entirely from carbon fiber and brings the dry weight down to 2,386 pounds, shaving 210 pounds from its Coupe. Up front, a deeper splitter works with openings cut through the fenders to move air away from the front wheels. Around back, the enlarged wing takes over much of the visual weight, while carbon-fiber quarter windows channel air toward the engine. The familiar 911 shape survives, though its surfaces have become much more openly functional.
image © Gunther Werks
nearly 9,000 rpm, with a six-speed manual
Behind the rear axle of Gunther Werks’ GXR-Evo sits a naturally aspirated 4.0-liter flat-six developed with Rothsport Racing. It produces 455 horsepower and spins to nearly 9,000 rpm, a number that says plenty about what Gunther Werks wants this car to feel like. Power still travels through a six-speed manual gearbox.
That combination feels central to the GXR-Evo. The team notes that there are faster ways to build a modern performance car, yet they continue to work around an air-cooled engine, a clutch pedal, and a gear lever. Those familiar pieces sit inside a much lighter machine here, and are surrounded by aerodynamic surfaces that belong closer to a circuit than a Sunday drive. The car becomes interesting through that friction between an old mechanical vocabulary and a body shaped by contemporary race engineering.
image © Gunther Werks
the cabin gives up almost everything else
Inside, the transformation becomes even more direct. A carbon-Kevlar racing seat holds the driver inside an eight-point roll cage, with a six-point harness taking the place of a standard seatbelt. The instrument panel is replaced with a configurable Motec display, while an all-new quick-release steering wheel sits directly in front of it. Gunther Werks has even fitted a helmet cooling system for extended track sessions.
This makes the GXR-Evo feel like a road-legal racing tool over just another highly finished 911 restoration. There are race brakes and lightweight magnesium wheels underneath, but the bigger shift is experiential. Much of what normally separates a driver from the mechanics of the car has been stripped away. The seat, wheel and manual transmission become the main points of contact.
image © Gunther Werks
each owner gets the same car twice
The fifteen owners will also receive a second version of their GXR-Evo, this one built for the living room. Gunther Werks has worked with MYSIM on an individually commissioned racing simulator for every car, hand-welded from 6061-T6 aluminum and wrapped in carbon-fiber panels. Its steering wheel mirrors the one in the GXR-Evo, while the simulator itself is configured around the dynamics of each owner’s individual vehicle. It gives drivers somewhere to learn the car before heading onto the circuit, with the same controls waiting for them when they climb into the real thing.
The GXR-Evo sits close to the line between road legality and a dedicated race car, with nearly every part of the familiar air-cooled 911 silhouette rewritten around speed. designboom will be at The Quail to see the GXR-Evo in person, where its exposed carbon weave and unusual aerodynamic details should be especially good to study up close. We’ll report back from Monterey!
image © Gunther Werks
image © Gunther Werks