Peak sports car
Those final miles with that final gallon of fuel will be crushingly emotional. There will, no doubt, be a phase of crying at the side of the road. But before then comes another, crucial phase. This is the phase when I have to decide what the correct car would be – a decision more important than choosing the right name for my first child.
A manual gearbox, hydraulic steering and delivery to the French Alps on the back of Elon Musk’s new semi are must-haves. Using an electric Tesla truck for the DHL duties is all about saving as much fuel as possible for the main event: the naturally-aspirated engine. Shortlisted were AMG’s 6.2litre V8, after a memorable night in a Merc C63 Black Series on the Pacific Coast Highway, and the LFA’s V10 that I can still hear wailing on the Route Napoleon. But given carte blanche, the revered 4.0 RS 911 is my choice. The carbon bonnet and front wings came from that era’s 997 GT2 RS. With the subsequent switch to PDK it would become the last manual RS. But most important of all was the enlarged 3996cc flat-six. Effectively pinched from the 911 RSR racer, crankshaft and all, it was the final hurrah for the Mezger, an engine with real motorsport pedigree (including a outright win at Le Mans in ’98).
It does not disappoint. It idles unevenly, impatiently, but higher revs harmonise the six cylinders and hint at how this engine should be used. Go for it, and the response is instant, the performance still so strong, the hard-edged howl evocative of days (and nights) spent at Le Mans and the Nürburgring, watching 911s at full chat.
Then there’s the manual ’box. Shared across all 997 911 GT3s, it is stubborn, but I love it. Each gearchange, be it up or – with an accompanying blip – down, brings back memories of our Sports Car Giant Test at Cadwell Park in a gen-one GT3 RS, taking a gen-two GT3 across the Alps one winter, and a summer’s evening after leaving the o¢ce spent in a gen-two GT3 RS.
The 4.0 feels narrow, the view out beyond the grey revcounter just perfect. The nose bobbles, the hydraulic steering moves delicately between your fingertips, and the engine lets you know exactly where it is, three bewitching sensations Porsche has now all but dialled out of the 911.
What a car. What a fabulous car. ⊲
These are bewitching sensations Porsche has now all but dialled out of the 911