The plethora of fighting games generally offers two choices: a lightweight streak of lightning who can pepper the opponent with punches, kicks and flying moves that leave them breathless or a lead-footed leviathan who can rip out the opponent's heart with one punch. TechArt's GT Street S is definitely the latter.
This car started out as a GT2, and is all about the engine. Engorged turbos and aluminum induction pipes join forces with a new airbox and stainless-steel exhaust. Not only does this produce an epic 646 bhp at 5900 rpm, it also kicks out 626 lb-ft (870Nm) of torque.
Following on public roads in the relative luxury of TechArt's Cayenne it looked plain intimidating. This car snaps to the side with each gearchange as the racing clutch hits the bite point and the 11x19-in. five-spoke Formula lightweight rear wheels scrabble for grip. But when the ContiSport Contact 315/25 ZRs hook up it catapults down the road as if shot from a cannon and keeps going all the way to 225 mph.
Forget the 0-to-60-mph time of 3.7 sec., it's the in-gear acceleration that is truly awesome. I felt like a passenger as I gave this car its head on the airfield test track and struggled to hold on to the wheel. It hits 187.5 mph (300 kph) in 22.9 sec., and the punch in the back feels like a bomb has gone off in the back seats-tossing the driver down the road like so much broken shrapnel.
TechArt spent a great deal of time shedding weight and the end result is a 3,000-lb sledgehammer. This one-off was designed to hurtle round Hockenheim at maximum velocity: It didn't have to be practical. So a carbon-fiber hood, door skins and seats with a light leather covering are just the start.
Shutting the door revealed a hollow noise, as the speakers, trim and other speed-inhibiting rubbish were thrown out. The stereo face-unit had to stay, in deference to one of the car's many sponsors, but the rest has gone.
This weight savings meant the car was louder than a freight train on the inside, and hotter than a sauna due to heat soak. The sun was blazing and, having kept the windows closed to relive TechArt's chosen driver Frank Schmikler's experience at Hockenheim, when he stormed to second in the GT class on a similarly sunny day, I came out a pound or two lighter and moist for all the wrong reasons.
While it's lighter than the standard GT2, and has a rollcage, the handling is difficult at best. TechArt used Bilstein shock absorbers and Eibach springs together with the company's own rollbars, bearings and a brace for the front strut towers. But it had to stop all those horses spinning the car out at every corner on track and the end result is dialed-in understeer.
Pumping the accelerator and dumping the clutch at slow speeds should have had the tail wagging like an excited puppy's, but it didn't. Instead the Porsche simply scrubbed sideways and failed to make the turn. "You need to get it started with the handbrake," explained Ralph Niese, which still doesn't really make sense for a rear-driver of this magnitude.
And that understeer then turns into snap oversteer, so I either slid past my turning point like an out-of-control snowplow or spun like a top. This car is so sensitive at the limit it would take days, not a couple of hours, to master.
"It's a little dangerous on the roads," said Ralph, after completing three perfect circles with the tail at a 45-degree angle and making my driving look like some kind Greek tragedy.
He would only opt for the engine conversion and not go for the full-on race-style suspension if he had the EUR250,000 it takes to become part of the elite GT Street S owners' club. This particular car is on sale for EUR265,000, if you're crazy enough.
Having left the spectacular turns to Ralph, I concentrated on swift progress round the painted course, and still had problems. It turns in crisply, but on the exit it hunts for the line like a lost bloodhound. Blisteringly quick it may be, but you have to wait for a straight line to truly unleash the GT Street S.
It sticks far better to high-speed turns, thanks to a wind-tunnel tuned aerodynamic kit that includes the new front splitter, rear wing, side-skirts and those gorgeous gaping air intakes on the flanks. And the brakes could burst your eyeballs, as the GT Street S is fitted with Porsche's all-conquering PCCB ceramic units.
It's a monumental experience, no doubt about it, but a fast and fun machine is a careful balance between straightline performance and handling. In this instance brute force has bludgeoned the finesse out of the finished product, but given the chance to land a solid straightline punch it will still demolish anything in its path.