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<\/p>\n<\/div>The Porsche 911 GT2 RS, left, and GT3 RS are the fastest, most expensive models of the 911 breed.<\/p>\n
The Carousel\/Kink complex at Wisconsin\u2019s Road America is one of the most demanding sections of race track in the country. The 700-horsepower Porsche 911 GT2 RS rips through it like a locomotive on rails.<\/p>\n
With sticky, 13.5-inch Michelin rear tires clawing the pavement, I carry a neck-straining 1.5-g through the 180-degree Carousel turn and then explode into the left-right Kink as if shot from a cannon. A tap of the 16-inch brake rotors\u00a0through the Kink at 115 mph and the Porsche goes straight to the head of the 700 Club.<\/p>\n
You know the 700 Club. It\u2019s inhabited by rare machines that push the envelope of what\u2019s possible: 700-plus-horsepower cyborgs that define brands and make car enthusiasts\u2019 knees weak. They are cars few can afford, yet all covet. They dominate our screen savers and lure us to showrooms.<\/p>\n
They\u2019re an intimidating lot, from the muscle-bound Dodge Hellcat to the winged Corvette ZR1 to the futuristic McLaren 720S. But the best of them is so, well, familiar looking.<\/p>\n
The Porsche 911 has been around since 1963. Same conservative soap bar shape. Same blunt nose. Same rear-engine-dragging-out-back. You\u2019ve seen a million of \u2018em. They just get faster.<\/p>\n
The \u2018Vette has been around for even longer, and this rival odd-couple \u2014 one from Stuttgart the other Detroit, one white-collar the other blue-collar, one flat-6 the other V-8 \u2014 have\u00a0pushed each other. Think Borg vs. McEnroe. Lakers vs. Celtics. Each from different worlds, yet always peers.<\/p>\n
But with a bigger wallet, Porsche is the supercar standard.<\/p>\n
Just ask the pro racers sitting around the table between Road America test sessions. Talents like David Donahue and Robb Holland and Randy Pobst. Champions all. They have traveled the globe and driven the 700 Club\u2019s mightiest \u2014 Astons, Lamborghinis, McLarens, \u2018Vettes, Vipers, Astons.<\/p>\n
And yet they agree that the 911 is the benchmark. It\u2019s predictable. Easy to drive. Puts down the power without turning your hair white.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis car should be diabolical,\u201d says Pobst surveying the rear-engine German. \u201cBut it\u2019s not. I get high on these cars because they do exactly what you want.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was not ever thus. Hurley Haywood, Porsche legend with three LeMans wins to his credit and now a factory test driver, rolls his eyes at the thought of the first turbocharged Porsches. \u201cYou put your foot into it and then waited for the turbo to kick in,\u201d he remembers.<\/p>\n
The GT2 has no discernible turbo lag. None.\u00a0Armed with the same twin-turbo, 3.8-liter flat-6 as the 580-horsepower Turbo S, the GT2 RS cranks up the power to an insane 700.<\/p>\n
Drive it back-to-back with its stablemate the GT3 RS \u2014 armed with a normally-aspirated, 520-horse flat-6 \u2014 and the latter feels slow. I drove the Turbo S at Thunderhill Raceway three years ago and marveled at its athleticism for a 3,600-pound car.<\/p>\n
At the wheel of a lightweighted, 3,241-pound GT2 I could easily keep up with pro Donahue in a Turbo S at Road America. The GT2 adds a cape to mortal drivers.<\/p>\n
Credit years of engineering \u2014 and lots of steroids. Like the current Mustang GT350 and GT500, the 911 GT3 and GT2 are essentially the same car, but the GT2 gets the turbo (just as the 700-horse-plus GT500 gets the supercharger). They are an amazing weave of modern technology \u2014 rear-drive with rear-steer, gummy Michelin Sport Cup 2 R tires, multi-link suspensions, high rear wing, aluminum chassis, 7-speed, dual-clutch gearbox \u2014 that work together to make the perfect athlete.<\/p>\n
The GT2 RS obliterated Car and Driver\u2019s Lightning Lap record at Virginia International Raceway held by the mid-engine, carbon-fiber, $700K\u00a0Ford GT supercar. By four seconds.<\/p>\n
Donahue lapped Road America in the same time \u2014 2 minutes, 15 seconds \u2014 as the lap record for my sports racer class (which\u00a0weigh a mere 1,000 pounds). You could buy two $290,000 GT2s for the price of one Ford GT and have change left over. And you could buy two Corvette ZR1s for the price of a single GT2 RS and still afford a Chevy Equinox for the family.<\/p>\n
The front-engine Corvette is an incredible bargain, but it is a handful compared to the 911.<\/p>\n
Exiting the uphill Canada Corner at the end of the 140-mph back straight at Road America, I put 700 ponies to the ground and the rear end barely moves. The GT2 rushes corners so quickly that I pray for brakes \u2014 prayers are answered with massive, 16-inch rotors as big as Captain America\u2019s shield.<\/p>\n
The GT2 wears the crown, but I prefer the normally-aspirated GT3.<\/p>\n
There is no better soundtrack on the planet. With similar-size\u00a0flat-6 sans turbos, the GT3 gets its power by howling to 9,000 RPM (the forced-induction GT2\u2019s redline is 7,200 RPM). That\u2019s similar to my ol\u2019 1969 Porsche 908 flat-8 race car \u2014 the most glorious engine I\u2019ve driven.<\/p>\n
Wide open at throttle, the GT3 is a visceral thrill ride. Exiting Turn 3 onto a long straightaway, the car fires off 100\/millisecond upshifts like a semi-automatic rifle \u2014 2nd gear at 9000 RPM \u2014\u00a0BWAAAUUGGH!<\/em>\u00a0\u2014 3rd gear \u2014\u00a0BWAAAUUGGH!<\/em>\u00a0\u2014 4th …<\/p>\n It lacks the punch of the turbo GT2, but 346 pound-feet of torque will do. And the sound puts my reflexes on knife edge for better driving. Pummeled by the noise and stiff ride, I\u2019m wearier after a GT3 session.<\/p>\n That doesn\u2019t translate so well to daily commuting. A St. Louis pal leased a GT3 and brought it back, his teeth and ear drums rattling. He traded for a 911 Targa. Halo mission accomplished \u2014 the GT3 got him to the dealership, and into another car.<\/p>\n Corvette follows a similar model, but at a lower price. On paper the ZR1 \u2014\u00a0ancient push-rod front engine, leaf rear springs \u2014 shouldn\u2019t be able to come within a country mile of the German rocket, but it\u2019s right there. Pobst lapped Road Atlanta in the ZR1 and GT3 at identical times \u2014 the GT2 was up the road another 1.5 seconds.<\/p>\n Paying an extra $150K\u00a0is a lot for 1.5 seconds.<\/p>\n Buyers walk out of the showroom in a standard $70K\u00a0\u00a0‘Vette every bit as posh inside as the $100K\u00a0911. Still, Corvette is chasing the GT2 with a mid-engine Corvette later this year.<\/p>\n The \u2018Vette will be upgraded to a full coil-over suspension, and a rumored hybrid pairing a twin-turbo, overhead-cam\u00a0V-8 with an electric motor up front. 700 Club? We might have to talk about a special, 1,000-horse wing.<\/p>\n Right on cue, we get a new 911 this year, too. The standard is an ever-moving target.<\/p>\n