Numbers game

Browse pages
Current page

1

Current page

2

Current page

3

Current page

4

Current page

5

Current page

6

Current page

7

Current page

8

Current page

9

Current page

10

Current page

11

Current page

12

Current page

13

Current page

14

Current page

15

Current page

16

Current page

17

Current page

18

Current page

19

Current page

20

Current page

21

Current page

22

Current page

23

Current page

24

Current page

25

Current page

26

Current page

27

Current page

28

Current page

29

Current page

30

Current page

31

Current page

32

Current page

33

Current page

34

Current page

35

Current page

36

Current page

37

Current page

38

Current page

39

Current page

40

Current page

41

Current page

42

Current page

43

Current page

44

Current page

45

Current page

46

Current page

47

Current page

48

Current page

49

Current page

50

Current page

51

Current page

52

Current page

53

Current page

54

Current page

55

Current page

56

Current page

57

Current page

58

Current page

59

Current page

60

Current page

61

Current page

62

Current page

63

Current page

64

Current page

65

Current page

66

Current page

67

Current page

68

Current page

69

Current page

70

Current page

71

Current page

72

Current page

73

Current page

74

Current page

75

Current page

76

Current page

77

Current page

78

Current page

79

Current page

80

Current page

81

Current page

82

Current page

83

Current page

84

Current page

85

Current page

86

Current page

87

Current page

88

Current page

89

Current page

90

Current page

91

Current page

92

Current page

93

Current page

94

Current page

95

Current page

96

Current page

97

Current page

98

Current page

99

Current page

100

Current page

101

Current page

102

Current page

103

Current page

104

Current page

105

Current page

106

Current page

107

Current page

108

Current page

109

Current page

110

Current page

111

Current page

112

Current page

113

Current page

114

Current page

115

Current page

116

Current page

117

Current page

118

Current page

119

Current page

120

Current page

121

Current page

122

Current page

123

Current page

124

Current page

125

Current page

126

Current page

127

Current page

128

Current page

129

Current page

130

Current page

131

Current page

132

Current page

133

Current page

134

Current page

135

Current page

136

Current page

137

Current page

138

Current page

139

Current page

140

Current page

141

Current page

142

Current page

143

Current page

144

Current page

145

Current page

146

Current page

147

Current page

148

Current page

149

Current page

150

Current page

151

Current page

152

Current page

153

Current page

154

Current page

155

Current page

156

Current page

157

Current page

158

Current page

159

Current page

160

Current page

161

Current page

162

Current page

163

Current page

164

Current page

165

Current page

166

Current page

167

Current page

168

Current page

169

Current page

170

Current page

171

Current page

172

Current page

173

Current page

174

Current page

175

Current page

176

Current page

177

Current page

178

Current page

179

Current page

180

Current page

181

Current page

182

Current page

183

Current page

184

Current page

185

Current page

186

Current page

187

Current page

188

Current page

189

Current page

190

Current page

191

Current page

192

Current page

193

Current page

194

Current page

195

Current page

196

Current page

197

Current page

198

Current page

199

Current page

200

Current page

201

Current page

202

Current page

203

Current page

204

Current page

205

Out of Porsche’s recent horde of GT models, this one is special

– PORSCHE 911 GT3 RS –

Do you get confused by the sheer number of Porsche GT models that are produced? In the last three years alone there’s been the previous GT3 RS, the 911R, a new GT3, a GT3 Touring, a GT2 RS and now this new GT3 RS. And the temptation therefore is to think of this GT3 RS as being like the last one, only more so. Tempting, understandable even, given how similar they look and appear to be specified, but – wrong. The truth is that every time Porsche makes a new RS, it feels the need to vary the formula, sometimes seemingly just to keep us on our toes.

The original 996-based GT3 RS was a very uncompromising machine, while those of the 997 era were far more accommodating and tolerant of what you might call ‘normal’ use. The last GT3 RS didn’t like that approach, so went for something far more track-orientated, which seemed a very hard-core solution, right up to the moment I met this latest GT3 RS on the Isle of Man and was made to think all over again.

This GT3 RS makes that one feel like a snoozing spaniel. It may have only another 20bhp from its 4-litre flat-six motor but some indication of the direction in which the wizards of Weissach have gone with this car is provided by the fact the front springs are now literally twice as stiff as those of its predecessor, those at the back raised by a comparatively trifling 40 per cent.

In fact, the best way to think of this car is not as a new GT3 RS per se, but what it really is, which is a normally aspirated GT2 RS; for it has far more in common with that utterly lunatic machine than the car that ostensibly sired it. The very fact this GT3 is quicker around the Nürburgring than the purpose- built mid-engined 918 Spyder despite a, wait for it, 374bhp power deficit tells you all you need to know.

No surprises, then, that I enjoyed driving it on the Isle of Man. But I’d have enjoyed it far more on a race track. Even out here where people are rare, cars rarer still and speed limits literally non-existent outside the towns and villages, it felt hemmed in. There was no question of really putting it through its paces – in the dry there was just too much grip, in the wet not nearly enough on the semi-slick Dunlop Sport Maxx Race 2 rubber the test car was running on.

The engine is rivalled only by the Lamborghini Huracan Performante’s V10 for the title of greatest normally aspirated motor in production, and at its 9000rpm red line is so loud in the car you might genuinely want to consider wearing ear plugs.

It was, in short, a mesmerising few hours in the car, but ones that left me begging for an environment that not even the greatest limit-free roads in the world could provide.

On the road, a standard GT3 is a better bet, and not just because, unlike the RS, you can buy one with a manual box. On the track? I don’t know, but I’ll consider it a personal failure if I’ve not answered that question before the year is out.