911 Still the Backbone of Porsche

Wolfgang Durheimer has the job most young German auto engineers dream of: He's head of R&D at Porsche, responsible for all new products from the storied sports-car maker. Young, energetic, confident, Durheimer has been responsible for some of the best Porsches ever, including the Cayman coupe, the 911 GT3, and the new 911 GT2 that blew us away last month.
I mentioned how impressed we were with the new GT2, a 911 that in the past has never been as crisp or coherent as the naturally aspirated GT3. Durheimer quickly listed why the car is better -- revised front-axle geometry, improved turbos, standard carbon-ceramic brakes, aluminum doors, and a dozen other details -- then lets slip one more staggering statistic: The new GT2 has lapped the legendary Nurburgring Nordschliefe in the same time as the ultra-exotic, ultra-expensive, V-10 powered, carbon-fiber-bodied Carerra GT.