Porsche won’t admit it on record, but those in the know say that if you put slicks on a GT3 RS, it will be faster on some tracks than a Cup car. It’s that effective and focused. It doesn’t pretend or play dress-up, and it’s genuinely quick. All that while offering the sensations of what you might get from a race car without giving up any of the actual conveniences of a road-legal vehicle. So, to paraphrase, it looks like a race car until a race car pulls up.

There’s an attitude that permeates the whole machine. It’s not just a slightly bumped-up GT3; the RS looks feral. That cliché line about the rear wing being a picnic table could easily translate in real life if it weren’t sitting that high from the ground. If you were wondering, this 911 doesn’t share a single body panel with a standard Carrera. It also has actual door handles, not the pop-up flaps from a regular 911.

And then you get to drive it. You can carry so much speed into corners that you don’t feel like using much of the traction capabilities on corner exits. With the systems on, you push harder and harder still. The traction is silly, and the subtle intervention of the electronics when you eventually think, screw it, I’m going to mash the throttle and see what happens, is equally mesmerising. Even if you’re off the pace, it feels similarly fast.

At the same time, the calibration work is outstanding. This feels like a completely raw, organic driving experience. Under full load, this thing is scintillating. It accrues revs so fast and loves to work beyond 7,000 rpm. And all that by having a ride that’s, considering, very good when the dampers are in their softest setting, even with the fixed-back carbon buckets that our car comes with.

Let’s face it: for over two decades, Porsche has owned this niche – the massively fast, enjoyable track car that can also be driven on the street. And it still does. Bursting with character and ability, though, it’s the 992 RS that deserves the badge of one of the best 911s ever made. If you have even the slimmest chance of owning one, like our beautiful loaded-with-options one, do so.

View our Porsche 911 GT3 RS Weissach here