And it doesn't run out of steam until it passes through the 212 mph barrier. With taller gearing, it will do 240 mph, but the 996 GT2 RS is set up for punching out of the corners as well as top-end speed. It also runs on just one bar of boost, so the engine won't dump its oil with boring regularity. Wound up to the skies, as less scrupulous tuners tend to do, you'd need salt flats to find its limit.
Many tuners produce headline-grabbing figures but undriveable cars. Discerning drivers are increasingly beating a path to Karabegovic's door. Of all the Porsche tweakers, RUF and Edo Competition stand apart, and Karabegovic has time on his side. He even bets potential customers 10,000 euro ($12,533) that his conversions will beat rival tuners' fanciful claims on the track. He's not afraid of losing. At speed, that aeroplane wing on the deck plants the rear and a perfectly flat floor helps suck the car to the ground. Karabegovic has even gone to the lengths of developing tiny wing mirrors that he swears are worth 3.1 mph on the long straights, but suggest it makes the car look like a teddy bear and prepare to get punched in the face.
The GT2 RS sits 40mm lower than the standard Porsche, with the capacity to go as low as 75mm, right to the deck, for marble-smooth tarmac. As you'd expect from a low-slung machine braced by a 115-pound roll cage, it doesn't slop around too much.
Inevitably, the brakes are just as impressive. Edo fitted a Brembo ceramic kit with four-channel ABS. Epic 15-inch discs sit on the front with 13.8-inch rears, and the calipers from the GT3 RS have found their way under the Cargraphic-supplied wheels. Stand on them, and this lightweight Porsche will stop on a dime even without a great deal of heat. They're noisy, like the rest of the car, but they're sharp as a surgical blade.
And the Nrburgring is a renowned brake killer. Most road cars fade before one flying lap is up and discs have been known to warp after two. These brakes not only remain competitive over the whole lap, they also run week in and week out without excessive wear.
Raw speed is simply not enough at the 'Ring, though, a 14-mile handling test par excellence that draws every manufacturer at some point in the development cycle. Going fast here takes a lightweight car, 2756 pounds in this case, and a forgiving, tailor-made suspension from KW.
The Nordschleife has no margin for error and does not forgive minor transgressions. A board-stiff car would eventually come to rest in a wall; substantial and rapid suspension travel is just as important as roadholding skills in the corners.
So the Porsche soaks up the drain covers, painted lines and divots in the road. The roll-caged body registers every ripple, but the perfectly damped wheels maintain constant contact with the ground and continue to push the car forward. A limited-slip diff lets this car hang out at implausible angles at outrageous speeds without firing into the weeds. It has done 2000 laps of the old 'Ring, around 30,000 miles on the ragged edge without an accident and only spanner and fluid checks. That takes more than good driving.
What else is there left to do on this car? "Well I would like to fit lighter one-piece wheels and central locking nuts, that would save maybe 44 pounds, but then it would not be street legal," explains Karabegovic. "Apart from that, there is nothing. Until the 997 version comes along, this is the ultimate GT2." So now he's going to work on a number of top supercars for wealthy clients and has invited us back to drive them.
You know what? Rich folk aren't that bad after all.