M t C o o t h a - A U S T R A L I A

R O C K A N D H A R D P L A C EW O R D S & P H O T O S L e e D e a n

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Sitting in the grey GT3 RS with red wheels and graphics; so much of this car is about what your senses tell you, at start up you know there is something extra here, there is the element that a lot of work has gone into making this car something very special. Step off the clutch and the massive rear tyres start to move - the mechanical sounds are all around the cabin, it’s like driving a transformer and you get the feeling the car knows more about driving than you.

Even at everyday speeds on everyday roads the car feels alive and agile, closely stacked gear ratios keep the revs high as you move through the gears. The aural delight as the engine note begins to build and change form under load, we find a few curves and get into it. The revs flare immediately with the razor sharp throttle response, the alcantara clad steering wheel feels perfect in the hand as

Today we have the automotive conundrum of choosing a favourite child, we have a 997 GenII 911 GT3 RS and the 997 Gen1 GT2, both massively capable, both dream cars for many people. How would you ever choose one, let’s try.

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you shift up the bolt action manual. The sound changes again and the beautifully metallic roar fills your face with a smile, you get the feeling the Metzger engine could possibly heal the world.

The feel of the pedals and direct nature of this car is thrilling, the yellow marker spins around the wheel as we negotiate a hair pin and come out the other side with 3 times as much pedal as necessary – the tyres erupt and climb the camber of the road moving uphill, there is the yellow marker again and that sound is intoxicating.

The good bits are a 12.2:1 compression ratio 3.8 litre Porsche motorsports naturally aspirated engine, dynamic engine mounts, titanium exhaust and wider track than the Gen I at both the front and the rear, wider front arches and a larger spoiler.

Weighing in at 1370kg it’s this figure that speaks volumes about the cars ability and it’s 7 seconds a lap quicker than the equivalent model GT3 around the Nürburgring in fact it held the lap record for road there. It has 336kW (450bhp) and 430Nm of torque.

It is really as fast and extreme on the road as anyone could ask for or is it?

Approaching the viper green GT2, clues are obvious from the outset that these cars came from the same mother. The soft feel of the Alcantara steering wheel nods its alignment with its aspirated future GT sister.

Let’s get to it, this car has one hell of a mental reputation lineage starting with Porsche making the 993 GT2 to go racing at LeMans; rear drive 993 with massive bolt on guards, 320kW (430hp) and about 1200kg made a

“the yellow marker spins around the wheel as we negotiate a hair pin and come out the other side with 3 times

as much pedal as necessary”

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notorious recipe for great fun and accidents. Next the 996 GT2 which rightly earned the nickname the widow maker due to its dynamics in the wet from the factory causing more accidents… But with a bit of chassis alteration the tendency to understeer can be adjusted and you are left with something very nice. So here we are sitting in the 997 GT2, if I’m honest one of my most favourite cars of all time.

The figures here are 390kW (530bhp) and a massive 680Nm pushing along its 1440kg weight.

Figures don’t mean much when you are in the carbon driver seat at speed, you know the numbers are big – a scene from The Empire Strikes Back flashes through my mind; C-3PO: “Sir, the possibility of successfully navigating an asteroid field is approximately three thousand, seven hundred and twenty to one.”

Han Solo: “Never tell me the odds!”

This really is an altogether different driving experience to the GT3 RS, they are from the same family but I’d be getting a new milkman. They are made for different things obviously, the GT2 is always hunting for room somewhere to wind it out to feel the shove that the engine is capable of, it yearns to be in a straight line and go, you develop a sports bike riders mentality. There are a few training wheel settings and when you turn off everything, the car does feel very alive and raw. You can have fun in the GT2 and for people who like to speak softly and carry a big stick this car is one of the biggest one can carry.

The sound is there but it’s muffled slightly, either that or I’m moving too fast to hear it properly. The ride, like much of the characteristics of the GT2 is a blend

tourer and bloody hard, the 380mm ceramic brakes are there to pull you up when you’ve over done it which happens often as you try to explore this machine, there

“The figures here are 390kW (530bhp) and a massive 680Nm

pushing along its 1440kg weight”

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needs to be an adjustment in your thinking to overcome the fact that the world is approaching at such a rate.

You can as we have done, have a lot of fun in the GT2 and its soft compound Michelin 325/30/ZR19 Pilot Sport Cups do a great job of keeping you on the road.

So which road do you go to get the most out of the GT2 I hear you ask, well they reside in territories far away, so why does the GT2 exist. It exists for the slightly unhinged and because it’s a storming car that makes life all the more brilliant.

The choice for today is purely individual and ridiculously unconventional on the roads, I’d choose the GT3RS with its gorgeous soundtrack and slightly lower achievable entertainment limit. In a perfect world I’d flair the revs and drown out the shouts of “you shouldn’t be driving such a valuable car” as the rear end squirms under power as I head for the first corner. Both these cars have their own flavour of magic and there is only the personal preference of insanity or more insanity between them.

Special Thanks go to Dave Beard & Brad Rankin for the use of these two very special Porsches.

“Both these cars have their own flavour of magic and there is only the personal preference of insanity

or more insanity between them”

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