Hullo everyone, me again…
GT4 RS
Having now owned the car for a few months and been able to put in a couple of thousand miles, I don’t really get what all the fuss is abo…who am I kidding, it’s absolutely incredible.
Annual trip up north at end of April really allowed me to acclimatise myself with the car across a number of uses. Whilst more comfortable than Lotus on a long haul, the run up M6 is still quite intense as the car never really relaxes and always feels “on”. Much of this is to do with the gearing, as a cruise is between 3.5k-4k rpm. I can see why it may be a bit much for some, but coming from the Exige it’s more than manageable.
Once into the fun stuff however, that feeling of edge pays some serious dividends. It’s just so precise and I’d go as far to say as I prefer the steering to the Exige. The front end sniffs out cambers less (probably thanks to absence of double wishbones) meaning calmer inputs with considerably less effort are the order of the day. Wrists rather than shoulders so to speak. The front end resolutely refuses to understeer even at silly entry speeds and mechanical grip is tremendous.
Admittedly it is quite stiff, particularly at the rear, but once you’re conscious of that it is very rarely is an issue. It’s also quite a bit more adjustable mid-corner and is entirely unflustered by change of steering, throttle application or even mid-corner gear changes. In short, it’s a total weapon.
This brings me to the main event, the engine and gearbox, both of which are frankly outrageous. Both up and downshifts are utterly whipcrack, whilst the engine is a jewel. I’ll never, ever tire of the crescendo approaching 9k.
Being my first Porsche, I didn’t have a particularly extensive frame of reference to other GT cars in the range (past and present), having only driven a couple briefly. I thought all GT products would be quite similar in their application by and large. However, I was fortunate to have a back-to-back shot in a 992.2 GT3 which quickly put paid to that notion. It really highlighted how much of a headbanger the 4RS is.
GT3 was much calmer and felt more sophisticated, but it lost quite a bit of character as a result, in my view at least. Nothing between them pace wise. Brakes on both are superb, but to my tastes I preferred the brake feel in mine. It feels rock solid straight from the top of the pedal, whereas there was ever slightly more pedal travel in the GT3 before getting into the meat of the braking power. RWS on GT3 is pretty cool though.
One highlight of the trip up north was having a pro-photographer who’s joined us a few times before and was kind enough to do some tracking shots. One of the most stressful driving experiences of my life, being inches from the bumper of a Macan whilst someone is hanging out the boot gesticulating at you wildly to get closer still or to move left a bit, no wait more to right, closer, no wait back to the left again etc. Results were definitely worthwhile however.
In addition and I think I’ve mentioned before, but in all the cars I’ve owned I’ve never had one that’s garnered so much positive attention from others. Pedestrians will wave and give the thumbs up or gawp. Other road users will up beside you and motion you to drop a few cogs and gun it.
In short, I absolutely love it and I’m glad I took the plunge.
