Porsche 911 GT2 - Oh, my!

Yes, it’s another 911, this time the remarkable Porsche 911 GT2.

Following close on the heels of Ferrari with the F430 Scuderia comes Porsche with the 911 GT2, a car very much in the same vein - a road-legal track version of an already unbelievable piece of machinery.

I have always struggled with the Ferrari/Porsche dilemma. On one hand you have a piece of art in the Ferrari which, however much things have moved on, is not really an everyday car. On the other you have Porsche, which makes cars that are quite simply staggering in their engineering and usability. It’s like deciding whether you are turned on by Van Gogh (or ‘Van Go’ for our American friends - I’m sorry, but every time a hear that it sounds like an instruction to a delivery driver with poor English!) or Brunel. To be honest, they both rock my boat, as do Porsche and Ferrari.

There seems to be very little doubt that the new GT2 is the ultimate version of the 911 - ever. I am expecting to get my hands on one very soon (lucky boy!) so we’ll be doing a proper road test as soon as possible. But the drool-inducing information we’ve got already leaves me in no doubt that this is one awesome machine.

The GT2 is a Turbo plus. Stripped of the 4wd (it is a real rear-wheel drive car) and putting out 530bhp, the GT2 does the 0-62mph sprint in 3.7 seconds (right up there with the Scuderia). Top speed breaks the magic 200mph barrier, making this the fastest 911 ever. And, due to a number of very clever tweaks, this car is even more planted at the limits than the Turbo. Just like previous versions, the GT2 has a fair bit of weight stripping going on, and base weight drops by around 300lbs over the base Turbo. But the completely stripped-out version isn’t the only option - you can now have the leather seats and other bits to make life that bit more comfortable. About time, say I. This complete ‘naked’ fetish Porsche and Ferrari seem to have with these cars is all about headlines. The difference it makes is so tiny you can’t really notice. The F40 was probably the worst for this (it didn’t even have proper windows for goodness sake) and much as I love driving ultimate performance vehicles, I do like a few home comforts. And let’s be honest, all that weight stripping goes out of the window as soon as you have a passenger. And if you’re a fat-boy like me (16st - but I am 6′ 3″, so not a complete bloater!) you end up with a car weighing more than the standard, especially in comparison to having Frankie Dettori at the wheel! So yes, the weight drops make good headlines, but a few comforts are better!

With a new nose, rear wing and huge 325 section tyres, there is no missing this car. It looks so damned aggressive and purposeful it makes your mouth water! So here’s looking forward to the road test - watch this space!