The Porsche 911 GT3 RS has emerged victorious in Autocar’s annual Britain’s Best Driver’s Car comparison for 2010.
All seven of Autocar's judges placed Porsche's latest lightweight special at the top of their list, beating off stiff competition from nine other brilliant driver's cars launched during the past year, as well as last year's winner, the Lotus Evora.
See all the cars in action at Autocar's Britain's Best Driver's Car 2010 contest
The three-day test took place at the recently re-opened Donington Park circuit in Leicestershire, as well as some of Britain’s best B-roads that surround Castle Donington.
The 911 GT3 RS took victory ahead of the Noble M600 and, surprisingly, the Ferrari 458 Italia. The Ferrari may have been the quickest around Donington, but its quick steering and transition from understeer to oversteer wasn’t to all of the judges’ tastes.
The Evora finished in fourth place ahead of the Renaultsport Megane 250 Cup, Lotus Elise, Mercedes SLS AMG, Audi RS5, Jaguar XJ Supersport, VW Scirocco and Alpina B5 S.
Video: Watch how the judges reached their verdict
Editor-at-large Steve Sutcliffe described the 911 GT3 RS as “very possibly the best road car any of us has ever driven around a circuit”.
Chief road tester Matt Prior said of the Porsche: “It’s the most frenetic on-road experience here but, when you’re in the mood, absolutely one of the finest.”
For the full story, see the 13 October edition of Autocar magazine, on sale today.
Steve Sutcliffe blog: Why the GT3 RS wonRichard Bremner blog: The class of 1985 rememberedColin Goodwin blog: Are cars getting too fast to be fun?
Read the full story on Britian's Best Driver's Car 2009, where the Lotus Evora emerged victorious
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Re: 911 GT3 RS is UK's Best Driver's Car
Surely they're two great cars; the Ferrari is faster, more expensive, more glam etc but the 911 demands that bit more from the driver; and perhaps that's what they were testing. There's still a few drivers that like being challenged; though I suspect they're a diminishing minority.
Incidentally, according to the testers, comments about the RS being too raw for everyday driving are ill-informed. Also, does anyone really take AutoExpress' tabloid opinions seriously in areas that matter to driving enthusiasts?
Chris Harris' 2 clips show the cars are both brilliant and it's down to what attributes are more important to you; there are no losers here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74daMAXQ-Co&feature=fvw
Given Ferrari's recent decision to drop manual shifts altogether from all their cars, it's no harm that an old-school car topped the heap on this occasion. God knows what VW's suits will do to future 911s. As someone remarked on this next thread, the reason why manuals and interactive cars are on the way out is down to "the majority of their customers cannot be bothered with the troublesome business of actually driving the car..."
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=764489
Re: 911 GT3 RS is UK's Best Driver's Car
Just joking. I have to admit that I've never driven a 458 and the new GT3 RS.
But I've driven a few cars on a track, some of them quite fast (http://img30.imageshack.us/img30/1184/varanonomura2804100249.jpg this is the AF Corse 430 Challenge in Varano a few weeks ago, me driving, of course), were they Porsches (I owned a couple), Ferraris or 500 Abarth. I spoke to a few guys who drove the 458 and the GT3 (not the RS), and they told me there is a huge gap, both on and off track.
Re: 911 GT3 RS is UK's Best Driver's Car