Bucket List Day: Porsche 911 GTS, Carrera and 718 GT4 RS on an F1 track

Picture this, you have a full-fledged F1 track at your disposal. On this track are most of the newest and shiniest machines that Porsche could muster from its global pool of cars. You are then let out on track to wring these cars out long enough and hard enough to leave for home fulfilled. The Porsche World Road Show is just this kind of bucket list event. The name may be a bit clinical, but the day you spend doing this will be something that many of you reading this probably dream of on the daily.

Driving the 911 GTS and Carrera on Track

We knew we needed a long, hard look at the new Porsche 911 GTS hybrid. It's a hybrid in the way only Porsche can do hybrids and, no surprises here, it works. It's a potent machine, with 541 PS and 690 Nm, and a 0 to 100 kmph time of 3.0 seconds. It's already quicker outright than the RS models. But it isn't the speed that stays with you.

Usually, when you hear things like an electric turbocharger or a gearbox-mounted e-motor, you think compromise and a disconnect from the car, especially in hard driving like here. But the 911 GTS turns this thought on its head. The electric assistance is in the background but ever present. It gives that large 3.6-litre flat-six the volume of a much bigger engine and a clean draw of power that any other boosted motor would find difficult to match.

This means a wallop of torque on demand everywhere, from powering out of a slow corner to chasing down another Porsche on the straights. The real achievement here is that this isn't clinical. You hear playful turbo whistles and that iconic deep shriek of a Porsche flat-six, which adds drama to this deep well of performance.

As much as the power unit is on point, Porsche seems to have gotten the balance of the GTS spot on to complement this. It will still wag its tail when you disturb the rear and still shimmy and dance around a high-speed bend. So you're always looking forward to seeing how the car reacts each time you go into a corner a bit differently. It's just the right kind of game you want to play on a high-speed circuit like Buddh. Amazingly, the GTS is sharp, precise and tied down, while feeling as playful as this. There's much less understeer than in the base Carrera. It turns in sharper and, while you can't quite keep up with the RSes of the world, you will keep them honest.

Needless to say, the magical Porsche ride helps on a bumpy surface like Buddh's. You stay stuck on. The GTS doesn't feel as disturbed as the Carrera and that steering feels just as direct and precise as you might want.

As for the base 911 Carrera, it feels like a more docile machine, as you would expect in this company. But make no mistake, this could well be the perfect place to start your sportscar journey. It still has 394 PS and 410 Nm, so it's a logical step up from a fast sedan. But you still have that distinct 911 driving character. So you find that it needs your attention towards the rear. There's still that close connection to what's happening around you and that flat-six soundtrack.

Yes, after the GTS, you find that sharp edge missing. So there is a touch more softness and a bit more managing of speed to keep the nose in check. But serious drivers will enjoy working around this or maybe even using these traits to go faster. Just like the GTS, the Carrera will dance when you tie it all together. It just needs a bit more prodding. It's the best way to drive a 911.

Launching the Taycan Turbo GT

As an enthusiast, you live for tying together the perfect section of corners around a track at a place like the Porsche Road Show. But when there is a Taycan Turbo GT prepped and ready for you to do the fastest 0 to 100 kmph run of your life, you wouldn't say no. Now, you hear numbers like 2.2 seconds being thrown around like it's nothing. But nothing prepares your mind or your body for what this feels like.

It seems like the Turbo GT is in on this act. You clamber into the typically low seating that these GT models have. There is a deep, mechanical, spacecraft-like whirr when it's at a standstill. Then the Taycan hunkers down. As with any other Porsche, launching is as easy as it gets. The caveat is the battery needs to be at the right temperature.

But let go, and it really does feel like the world has warped around you. The sheer force of 1,034 Nm and 1,240 Nm in overboost pins you into your seat. You'll sprain your neck if you aren't looking straight, and your eyesight seems to narrow and blur a bit. It's over in a flash, as you might expect. But not before your organs seem to move around in your body in ways you've never felt before, and the blood seems to rush from your face to the back of your head.

The Taycan GT can do this and brake in about 100 meters. It's no surprise that no one quite hit their marks. The physical assault that this has on you takes some getting used to. The car just picks up and keeps going as many times as you like. I don't think this will be a fun experience if you try it too many times. As something to check off your list, it's right up there.

Revisiting the 718 Cayman GT4 RS on Track

We've had some great times with the Cayman GT4 RS, where the sheer balance and agility of the thing on our favourite driving roads had us sold. But going back to this car, which I think is one of Porsche's all-time greats, on a track revealed another side of it that we couldn't fully experience the last time around.

It's shocking how forgiving something this focused and angry-looking can be. Coming to this from the GTS, you notice that edgy, mid-engined sense immediately. It turns sharper, feels more agile and has that tendency to rotate that mid-engined cars do so well. The effect is that you push harder than you think you can, where the GT4 RS seems to come alive even more. It dances around corners with an ease the regular 911s don't manage.

The grip that's on offer is just right. It's not heavy enough to dull the sensations coming from right behind you. It doesn't heave down the nose. But there's just enough to let you fling it into a turn at great speed, notice as the car settles under you and then let that glorious engine and PDK do the rest.

This 4.0-litre naturally aspirated motor may not be the most potent on paper, but it is as emphatic as engines get. It's responsive like engines no longer are, eating through to its 9,000 rpm redline every chance it gets. The great bit is that there is no let-up. The tune changes to every twitch of your foot, and you always seem to be on the money wherever you are in the powerband. And if you think a GT badge means it's going to be lumpy with its steering and crashy over bumps, it's not. It's just right, with enough give to stay in touch with the surface as much as possible.

Aside from these experiences, we also drove the electric Taycan Turbo and Macan Turbo. We did some off-roading with the Cayenne GTS and a slalom course with the Spyder RS. These would be things you'd pay top money for in any situation. But here, they felt like a break from the surge of adrenaline, excitement and joy we experienced through the day. I think that sums up the Porsche World Road Show well enough.