PORSCHE 911 GT3 RS

It’s the perfect blend of speed, poise and precision: what better car than the GT3 RS to establish our benehmark lap

- RICHARD MEADEN

HAVING THE 992 GT3 RS AT CADWELL Park as our TCoty benchmark car brings our experience with the ultimate RS full circle.

For it was on track at Silverstone for the international media launch - that we had our first taste of what has proved to be a truly mind-expanding car.

There was no road driving at that launch event. The trackonly format sent an explicit yet unspoken message about the newest 911 RS. One that told of a car with limits so lofty that only a circuit environment would afford us the opportunity to explore its ultimate capabilities.

Though frustrating, Porsche's strategy was sound. Never had we seen a road car that employed so much technology and adjustability to maximise its on-track performance. Nor had we seen a 911 that embraced such an uncompromising approach to address the inherent aerodynamic limitations of its predecessors. The result was the biggest single generational change in more than two decades of continual development.

It elevated the GT3 recipe to an entirely new level and created an RS that looked and drove like no other.

It proved spectacular on track, but a question mark remained over whether this mind-bendingly capable and dynamically complex machine could hope to summon similar brilliance on challenging roads and in mixed weather conditions. When it subsequently triumphed against exceptional competition on even trickier roads in last year's evo Car of the Year, we knew we were in the presence of greatness.

So here we are again. Even in a paddock filled with trackfocused machinery the RS is outrageous. It makes your mouth go dry just looking at it. It's no less daunting in the driver's seat, the steering wheel loaded with a quartet of rotary controls, via which you access the full scope of the RS's Track Mode settings.