BEST FOR LAST; The GT3 is the ultimate driver's 911.(Auto File)(Product/Service Evaluation)

Six years have passed since Porsche launched its 996 series 911 to a chorus of purist discontent. Some labeled the new water-cooled engine an abomination, others condemned the car as too soft, too big and-perhaps worst of all-too easy to drive. Gone, the Porsche-philes cried, was the satisfaction gleaned from mastering the nuances of a sports car unlike any other. Oh, the edge was still there, hiding somewhere beneath the new-yet-tamer bodywork. But no longer was it poised to cut you with each mid-corner throttle lift.

With Porsche's second-generation GT3 (the first was a Europe-only special built between June 1999 and December 2000), even the most stubborn of purists should concede the old, hang- on-for-dear-life feeling is back-and then some.

From the moment you strap in, the GT3 feels like no other 911. Clutch pedal action is the heaviest of the 996 family, and shifts through the six-speed gearbox feature shorter ratios than the Turbo and GT2. A prod of the electronic throttle, though, is the ultimate giveaway that this is no mere Carrera.

Porsche engineers lightened the 3.6-liter flat six's pistons and valvetrain and revised intake and exhaust cam profiles. The result is a thumping 380 hp at 7400 rpm and 284 lb-ft of torque at 5000 rpm, as well as an 8200-rpm redline and Carrera Cup racer-like exhaust note. "There is nothing purer and more visceral available today,'' one owner told us. "Performance is comparable to the Turbo, but with a much more linear and rewarding powerband.''

Our yellow test car posted a 0-to-60 run of 4.18 seconds, more than one tenth of a second quicker than Porsche claims. That time places it near the top of our all-time list, where the four quicker cars were also Porsches: 996 series 911 Turbo (3.94 seconds), 993 series 911 Turbo (3.86), GT2 (3.67) and Carrera GT (3.5).

Our best quarter-mile came in at 12.49 seconds at 113.3 mph, close to the 996 Turbo's 12.37 seconds at 112.8 mph.

The GT3's full-blast poise is even more impressive. We've driven it on Italian two-lane mountain roads and around the road course at California Speedway and found it to be remarkably stable (and ...