Porsche GT3 RS Has Gorilla Glass Windows

At least some automakers these days are really pushing lightweighting. Thanks to the inclusion of all kinds of safety systems and other features, cars have become bloated and porky. To find ways of trimming down weight for the 911 GT3 RS, Porsche turned to Gorilla Glass for the back and side windows.

It’s hard to believe nobody has done this before, but Porsche is the first. In motorsports, Makrolon has been popular, but it scratches easily and isn’t a great solution for a production car. Gorilla Glass, on the other hand, is used on quite a few smartphones and other electronics.

Of course, there are some disadvantages of putting Gorilla Glass on a car. The material is expensive, so it could only be used on more exotic vehicles. Gorilla Glass bends more than glass, so you can’t roll the window up at high speeds, since the stream of air makes it bulge out.

Porsche is thinking of other uses for thin-film glass, like curved touchscreen controls you can fully customize. In fact, you might be able to save preferences to My Porsche so no matter what Porsche you climb into, the controls are exactly the same from the get-go.