Innehållsförteckning för No. 241 från Total 911

The GT2 in both 996 and 997 form is a brilliant, mind-blowing 911, but there’s no question these cars still fly under the radar in comparison to their naturally aspirated GT3 sisters. Simply put, these turbocharged behemoths just aren’t talked about in the same breath as those nat-asp GT products, and never really have been. Delving into the marketplace, you’ll see GT2 values hovering just above that of their GT3 counterparts. However, the GT2 is a much rarer 911 – there are around double the amount of GT3s in existence, and that’s just from those comparative 996 and 997 eras. They share much in common, too: both the GT2 and GT3 deploy the iconic ‘Mezger’ flat six engine, both are lightweight, rear-drive specials, and both utilise a manual gearbox. “Driving…

We love a race car here at Spotted, and much as we like the functionality of a bare white shell with its straight-from-Weissach vibe, we’re also partial to bold and bright 911s. And is there a better combination of colour and model than the 964 in Rubystone? Or Ruby Star, if you prefer (we don’t). Race cars are compromised, though, by their track requirements, but this month’s car has all of the above covered, because this Rubystone 964 Carrera Cup car has been road registered. A quick recap. Porsche’s Carrera Cup was conceived in the late 1980s, and still runs to this day. Taking a production 911 and turning it into a racer, the first 964 Carerra Cup was unveiled in 1989. Spun off from the standard Carrera, the Cup…

HISTORY & TECH The RS moniker on Porsche dates from the 1950s, but the first Porsche RS that most think of is the celebrated Carrera 2.7 RS of 1972/3, built to qualify Porsche for Group 3 racing. Until the end of the air-cooled era, the RS remained the special race version, mildly tuned and lightened, and with reduced equipment and hardened suspension. The advent of water-cooling in 1997 dictated a different approach. Production limitations and homologation requirements ruled out lightening, and the stiffer-chassis 996.1 GT3 on which the RS models would be based was 50kg heavier than the Carrera. The 996 GT3 RS of 2003, the inspiration of the Motorsport department’s Andreas Preuninger, was an attempt to make a lighter, less-compromised GT3 track car and provide a homologation basis for…

Porsche Art I’m stood in my ill-fitting race suit, unusually calm given I’m just about to strap myself into the driver’s seat of the one-off Porsche 961. I’m in the paddock at Goodwood. The car’s very much the subject of my attention, but not the actual one in front of me. Instead, it’s the one on Stefan Marjoram’s iPad. He’s quietly and expertly sketching the 961 as the madness of the Goodwood Festival of Speed surrounds him. I’m transfixed; just like sitting beside a racing driver, watching an artist at work is something to really behold. I can drive, but I’m no driver. Likewise, I can draw, but I’m not an artist. There’s been a framed original artwork of a Porsche hanging on my wall since just after my 18th…

KALMAR Automotive debuts Adventure 996 The Danish specialist car company is making a splash with its first water-cooled ‘Adventure Range’ 911 – a 996 that gives the 992 Dakar an off-road run for its money KALMAR Automotive has revealed its first water-cooled ‘Adventure Range’ 911. Based on the 996, the RS-6 is KALMAR’s cut-price take on a 911 Dakar, fully equipped to tackle rough terrain while remaining an affordable and capable sports car. The RS-6 (RS being short for Rally Special in this instance) follows in the tracks of previous KALMAR adventure 911s. It’s been developed following years of experience gained through the brand’s driving experience arm, Beyond Adventure, where customers are let loose on frozen lakes, tricky mountain passes and arid deserts around the world. When guests fell in…

996 v 997 GT2 We’re a Porsche magazine, but permit me to go briefly off-brand. Being a spoiled motoring journalist, I spent the days leading up to this GT2 twin test driving a Ferrari Purosangue. The new £313,000 SUV is powered by a voracious 725hp V12, yet it also has active suspension controlled by 48-volt electric actuators, torque vectoring on the front axle, a rear e-differential, all-wheel steering, grip-predicted traction control, side-slip angle control and four-wheel drive. Swapping straight into a 996 GT2 is an abrupt wake-up call. Suddenly, there are no electronic driver aids – apart from ABS – no frills and no excuses. After quaffing a robust Italian red, it feels like knocking back a couple of Jägerbombs. Like many great 911s, the original GT2 was spawned from…

A drive in a Porsche 911 is always a memorable experience, but for your humble author, today is certain to be more so than others. I’ve been to Zuffenhausen countless times in years gone by but, as I roll my own 996 Carrera into Porscheplatz, this is the first time I’ve done so with butterflies in my stomach. My destination is the Porsche Museum, epicentre of the company’s history, lavishly presented to fans who flock here from all around the world. Today though, thanks to the team who curate this magnificent building and the gems inside it, I won’t merely be witnessing Porsche history… I’ll be driving it. Porsche’s one millionth 911 is waiting silently for me in the foyer underneath the Museum’s dramatic structure, the car’s Irish green paintwork…

At 600m altitude, the paddock at the Nürburgring catches the north wind and even in summer it can be unpleasantly cold, if not wet as well. Here at the 1,000km race held on 29 May, 1983, three friends have, for now, forgotten the cold. On the left is Klaus Bischof – one of Porsche’s most recognisable mechanics and later Museum curator. Klaus was recruited by Zuffenhausen in 1968 and, once the site at Weissach was established, moved there. At the beginning of the 1980s he was selected for Porsche’s onslaught on Group C with the 956. By 1983, under director Peter Falk, he was responsible for one works 956 and Norbert Singer the other. In the centre is Helmut Schmid who also joined Porsche in 1968 and by 1972, was…

Farewell to the 992 Dear Sir, I enjoyed the piece saying goodbye to the 992-generation with your four-way road trip in the Carrera T, Turbo S, Dakar and GT3 RS. Where do I sit with the 992? I’m not too sure. I like the models, but don’t necessarily love them. There’s too much tech, and the cars are massive in terms of footprint. You mention these four models as the pick of the bunch, but I’d possibly go for an entry-level Carrera. I owned one for a short time and, to my mind, the base model gives you absolutely everything you could so desire from a 911. Few options are needed to achieve this, which highlights the capabilities of the 992, and the genius of the oft-overlooked ‘less is more’…

It was one of Formula 1’s most successful partnerships. Between 1984 and 1987 a Weissach-designed 1.5 V6 turbo powered McLarens to two manufacturers’ titles and 25 Grand Prix victories in four years, endowing Niki Lauda to win his third World Championship and making Alain Prost champion in 1985 and 1986. When the TAG contract ended in 1987, Porsche was left with a small stock of the Typ 2623 engine. As was the company tradition, experience and materials were rarely wasted. Even as early as 1984, Porsche’s R&D department was looking for other ways in which this small but extraordinarily powerful turbo V6 could be used. One possibility was to replace the turbo jet in the helicopters of German aerospace manufacturer MBB, but the V6 proved no more economical than MBB’s…

An engineering consultancy turned sports car manufacturer, Porsche was always concerned that the driving environment of its cars reflected what Ferry expected owners would want from his cars. The buyers were keen drivers and often racers. They needed a reactive, agile sports car with controls that were to hand and responded exactly to whatever manoeuvre they required. Hence the pre-A 356’s quick, light steering and (by 1952) a competition-designed gearbox. Ahead of the driver by then was a dashboard with clear, informative instruments, and especially, a rev counter of larger diameter than the other dials placed directly in front of the driver. But if Porsche designed the car that would always be known by its Typ number (356) and built the engine, chassis and running gear, body manufacturer was undertaken…

Data file Full specs, ratings and market values of every Porsche 911 model from 1963 to 2024 can be found starting on page 84 Plus Showroom Looking for a new 911? The classifieds from our independent specialist partners are the first place where you should start your search Servicing & tuning Get the very best from your Porsche 911 with the help of our selected performance and maintenance specialists Porsche lifestyle Helping you make the right lifestyle choices to complement you and your 911. Don’t just drive Porsche – live the brand Insurance & finance Get your Porsche covered with the best insurance deals for road and track to ensure happy, safe motoring…