For fans of ludicrously-powerful Porsches on the hillclimb, Herbert Pregartner is likely a familiar name. The man has campaigned some of the wildest 911-based monsters on Austrian, German, and Swiss hillclimbs for decades now. With no intention of stopping, a small fortune reserved for racing, and a competitive nature, it seems he’s intent on pushing the limits of what’s sensible with his latest hillclimb monster.
Though it looked like this 900-horsepower Frankenporsche made for Pike’s Peak took the cake for wildest hillclimb creation in recent times, Pregartner’s newest GT2 RSR has it soundly beaten. This 997.2-based creation is his latest in a long line of GT2 hillclimbers, with each iteration sporting more and more power. Perhaps with a bit of tongue-in-cheek humor, the engine in this Porsche produces 911 horsepower—which is impressive enough, but it also propels a carbon kevlar-covered car weighing a scant 2,541 pounds. When the boost hits, it churns the asphalt underneath it and catapults toward the horizon.
Though a Porsche with that power-to-weight ratio is undoubtedly better suited to a wide circuit, Pregartner soars through narrow mountain passes with the sort of commitment you might expect from a seasoned professional with lots of money on the line, not a well-heeled amateur—albeit a very talented one. Perhaps the welded-in chromoly cell, or the brakes from an RSR, give him a little more confidence when brushing the barriers.
To harness the narrow powerband and punchy power delivery of the bespoke, 3.5-liter motor, Pregartner needs to rev the downsized mill to over 9,000 rpm. Yet, the peaky powerplant still looks somewhat controllable, if not a little abrupt, thanks to appropriate gearing and a six-speed sequential gearbox to keep it howling in its ideal rev range. KW coilovers and tires stretching 13″ across help, but with 630 lb-ft of torque on tap, something has to give from time to time. Thankfully, Pregartner has the quick hands needed to catch the recalcitrant rear when it does snap away violently, and the discipline to keep it in line—most of the time, anyway.