For a company that specialises in more accessible sports cars, Porsche has grade A provenance in the supercar sector. The original ’70s 911 Turbo was a prescient car, proving that Zuffenhausen had the expertise to mix it with the big boys from Modena. And so it proved, as the 911 gave way to 959 and from there to the latter-day Carrera GT. Like Ferrari and McLaren, Porsche brings its track experience to bear in its supercars – with devastating results
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Make and model
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Year
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Price
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Engine
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0-60mph
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Top speed
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Porsche 911 Turbo
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1974
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£14,749
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2994cc flat six, 260bhp, 253lb ft
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6.0sec
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155mph
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For
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Virtually nothing is as quick down a wet road as the current
car
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Against
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Everything you’ve heard about the handling of early cars is an
understatement
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Verdict
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Is it a true supercar? Drive one and try to deny it
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What a transformation: the first 911 Turbos had terrifying handling, evil turbo-lag but only around 260bhp. Now power and grip are both vast and utterly consistent, but it’s taken 33 years of development.
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Make and model
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Year
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Price
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Engine
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0-60mph
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Top speed
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Porsche 959
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1987
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£145,000
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2850cc flat six, 450bhp, 369lb ft
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3.7sec
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197mph
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 |
For
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Electronics radically altered the supercar driving experience
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Against
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Could leave the driver feeling a little forgotten. Nick Faldo
had one
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Verdict
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For the first time, brains were as important as brawn
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Computers controlled the damping, the four-wheel drive and the 2.8-litre, 450bhp turbo six, and produced a scarcely believable 3.7-second 0-60 time. But modest Porsche left the 200mph boasting to Ferrari
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Make and model
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Year
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Price
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Engine
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0-60mph
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Top speed
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Porsche 996 GT1
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1996
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£350,000
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3220cc flat six, 544bhp, 442lb ft
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3.6sec
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192mph
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For
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This is no open-top Carrera GT poser, but a proper supercar
with Le Mans heritage
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Against
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Unforgiving and not exactly user-friendly
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Verdict
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The ultimate Porsche, but not necessarily the best
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Forget your 911s and Carrera GTs, because this was the ultimate race-develped Porsche. Built to satisfy GT1 regulations the street-legal versions featured sparse 993 interiors, steel brakes and tweaked suspension
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Make and model
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Year
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Price
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Engine
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0-60mph
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Top speed
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Porsche Carrera GT
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2002
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£273,000
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5700cc V10, 612bhp, 435lb ft
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3.9sec
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205mph
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For
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Bespoke, Le Mans-derived 612bhp V10 engine
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Against
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Slightly gawky, elasticated-Boxster styling
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Verdict
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Still good enough for loyalists to buy all 1270 at £317,000
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Much-anticipated clean-sheet super-Porsche took four years to go from concept to production but failed to ignite our imaginations when it finally arrived; was overshadowed by a spate of more dramatic new supercars
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Make and model
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Year
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Price
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Engine
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0-60mph
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Top speed
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Porsche GT2
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2007
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£131,070
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3600cc flat-six, 523bhp, 501lb ft
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3.7 sec
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204mph
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For
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The fastest, most brutal 911 ever
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Against
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Still sits uncomfortably between the GT3 and Turbo |
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Verdict
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No longer the ‘widow-maker’, but all the better for it |
Less grip, less refinement and more power than the Turbo. Even more extreme than bonkers original but GT’s solid ride and nuclear power delivery mean a GT3 RS is more exploitable on the road
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