Evo contributor and world-class driver, Richard Meaden, shows us just how to extract every iota of oomph from a tangerine orange 2.7 RS in this display of driving brilliance. Not only is this car the beginning of the RS lineup, but it’s a narrow-tired, lightweight, and powerful track-oriented car with all the idiosyncrasies these cars are known for.
At a mere 2,425 pounds, the 2.7 RS is a svelte machine and that, among other things, contributes to the very acute sensation of the engine sitting between the rear haunches and quietly running the show. Meaden notes, “it’s not something that makes your palms sweat straight away, just makes you scratch your head a little bit, and try and interpret what the car’s responses mean; which ones you have to listen to, which ones you can ignore, which ones you need to try and drive around.”
That, essentially, is why these cars are so involving: they make the driver and their technique the determinants of the overall performance. It’s a hackneyed term, but the 2.7 RS really is a driver’s car. It’s limited by the front axle, and it needs a real prod on corner entry to work well.
How comfortable you are with oversteer, how willing and capable you are to use that weight to your advantage, and how gutsy you are on entry determines both yours and the Porsche’s success through a given corner. Meaden throws the 911 in with a jab of the steering, off throttle, and coaxes the rear around to negate any infuriating understeer and slide neatly through the corner.
It seems that the only real challenge Meaden had was carrying enough speed into the corner—getting the Porsche to pivot perfectly through the middle of the corner requires enough momentum, perfect timing, and a generous helping of guts.
