The third option allows to run flat out without bumping into noise limits, and is said not to have any impact on performance. The second is only bearable if you stay above 3000 rpm all the time – barely viable on open roads – or with roof and doors open in order to avoid resonance. The exhaust note gains in purity even if it does not have the character of old air cooled engines or the puffy metallic rasp of a 996 Carrera. Crossing back the bay over Dumbarton bridge with my new plumbing installed, pelicans drifting in the breeze, flat 6 singing howling, a great vibe that could have ended with an unfriendly chat with a CHP officer. With the valves always open, the car is a total tease, begging to be revved. Another track day became quickly a matter of a survival for my driving license.

Hence Llihrednut (video). Don’t googlemap it, it’s nothing else but Thunderhill run clockwise. A wacky but ingenious idea to make a new track out of a known one. The resulting feeling is strange as the sequence of turns is familiar and predictable, but all breaking and turn in points have to be learned again. I struggled a bit with the gearbox going into turn 11 and turn 5, downshifting neatly into second while breaking and changing direction is really not easy. That’s where paddle shifters make a ton of sense, a dilemma between efficiency and the challenge of getting things right, lap after lap. Three sessions only (the first one got red flagged because of very serious accident) were a bit short to find my marks on this ‘new’ track.

In the wear and tear department, the OEM PZero Corsa System Pirellis proved very convincing. They don’t offer the ultimate grip of semi-slicks, but they are progressive at the limit, withstand temperature well and remain drivable in wet conditions. Tough to follow light cars on soft tires in twisty bits and switching over to Toyo 888s crossed my mind, but the PZeros remain a reasonable choice, forcing me to hone my skills rather than gain instantly a few seconds per lap through grippier tires. After nearly 4000 miles, tread wear is even and they will still happily do another track day. I measured gas mileage at 18.3mpg, worse than the stubborn 19.1 indicated by the on board computer, with extremes ranging from 25.7 in law abiding freeway cruising to 7.9 on track. The front lip will have to be considered as disposable, so frequent are its encounters with the ground. Every gas station ramp, even accessing my garage in a careful diagonal results in frequent scraping.

Interior has not been free of squeaks since I drove the car off the lot, one in the rear right quarter is really annoying and my dealer’s attempt to fix it proved as helpful as a pair of fins for a mountain climb. The front suspension often greets my first movement with a loud klonk, but wannabe race cars are supposed to do that, I am told. So is the brief and scary rattle that occurs sometimes when turning the engine on from cold: cam chain tensioners waiting for hold pressure. My clutch trends to shatter annoyingly when warmed up by stop and go traffic, as irritating as the firmness of the clutch pedal in such conditions. Gearbox is precise, but I could not do without some of the unnecessary firmness which did not go away after break in. I could also complain about yet another Porsche steering wheel that pinches my thumbs, tiring on long distances, but quickly forgotten when you are in business.

No reliability concern to report (yet), and one would not expect any less from Porsche. Unfortunately, the 997 GT3 model is still afflicted by the daunting RMS (Rear Main Seal) problem like its 996 predecessors. No hint of a leak under my car, but some start to drip after a few hundred miles. Oil consumption has been negligible and the car is scheduled for its first oil change.