Category: Exotic Sports 
Price Range: £61,744 to £128,307
Sensational poise and precision, aural delight, staggering performance and sensible price.
Low front splitter, expensive options, overt looks too much for some.
The most athletic, sharpest, lightweight 911 is undoubtedly the best - and it now comes with fewer compromises.
You can thank motorsport's rule makers for the 911 GT3. Porsche builds this car to satisfy homologation regulations that require all race cars to be available as production models. So the GT3 is quite a specialised 911: lighter, lower and featuring an engine that can trace its roots back to Porsche's Le Mans GT1 challenger.
Revisions over its acclaimed predecessor include a raise in engine capacity, a new cylinder head, enhanced traction and stability systems, lightweight single nut alloy wheels and larger brakes. Aerodynamic tweaks increase its downforce markedly - not noticeable on the M1 perhaps, but useful at Silverstone.
Those changes make it a bit more powerful at 429bhp, more flexible with extra mid-range torque and a bit faster too - 0-62mph taking just 4.1 seconds and 193mph possible if you've an autobahn handy. It's also a touch more economical, though 22.4mpg on the official combined cycle and 298g/km of CO2 aren't going to impress your bicycle-riding, vegetarian friends at a dinner party.
It's a comparative bargain: nothing else can offer the performance, pedigree and poise of the GT3 for anything approaching its £81,914 price tag. A Ferrari 430 Scuderia or Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera will cost you at least double that.
Latest Readers' Drives About the Porsche 911
wrote on 05 07 2006