And handling is something that the Porsche does slightly differently than most. With a rear-mounted engine, the handling characteristics of the 911 are unique. In real life, the car has a great track record, and in fact, in the game too.

Performance: 4/5

The Porsche is a great performing car. Overall, it is more than capable of setting fast and consistent lap times once you get the hang of it.

The engine, though different from most, is full of low and mid-range torque. The rear-engine that's mounted just above the rear axle puts out more than enough horsepower to outdrag other fast cars on the straights. Coming out of corners is where the car really picks up nicely. It often gives you a good run on straights, allowing you to slipstream drivers in front.

Corner speed is improved with the new aerodynamics, making it a good all-rounder regardless of your driving style. Stop-and-go or cornering with high corner speed? The choice is yours.

Handling: 3/5

Ah, the big question. A Porsche 911 is notoriously... lively. And although the 2023 911 GT3 R is a big improvement from the previous one, it's still a handful. The car suffers from massive oversteer. That's not too bad compared to understeering cars, but it means you have to alter your driving style to suit the car.

The 911 GT3 R actually excels in many aspects. It turns like no other car in the game. It's one of the few cars where you actually turn up the front anti-roll bar instead of down. From corner entry to corner exit, the car turns more than anything I've driven so far.

But that incredible turning superpower means that the 911 GT3 R oversteers in pretty much every area. Braking itself is fairly unstable, especially towards the tipping point of corner entry. The car clearly struggles with weight transfer, which you have to carefully balance with brake, throttle, and steering input.

If you're not careful, the car can easily push the rear out too much, causing you to oversteer into the turn. Correcting it mid-corner isn't easy either, as you'll find the car oversteers around the apex. Luckily, the car is super responsive. With good throttle control and fast steering inputs, you'll be able to adjust your racing line. But it's difficult to manage at first and takes some getting used to. Additionally, the 911's responsiveness means you can drift it fairly easily when things go wrong to avoid a total spin. For a car that's so hardcore, that forgiving edge is a lifesaver over the full race distance. Drifting it will cost you lap time and tire life, though.

After several laps of drifting, missed apexes, and overheating tires, you'll learn to understand it better. You'll find the oversteer isn't all that bad, especially when hitting the apex and lining up the car for the exit. The main downside of that lively rear is certainly corner entry and leading up to the apex. That's where the car is difficult to manage when you try driving it like you would any other car.

I found that handling is also heavily influenced by the track you're on. There are cars, (like the Audi R8 GT3 or Ferrari 296 GT3) in ACC that have a good overall balance and seem to flow at pretty much every racetrack. The Porsche won't have that, but it does have tracks it seems set up for. Take it to the Nürburgring and you'll be fighting the 911 from turn one. Take it to Spa and you'll find it nicely balanced, fast and capable. If anything the oversteers helps there. And on tracks with fast flowing corners like Spa, Paul Ricard or Brands Hatch the Porsche seems to come alive with it's high-speed stability too. 

Five steps on how to make the Porsche 911 GT3 R faster in ACC:

1. Lower the rear of the car to counter the oversteer going into corners.
2. Raise the rear wing to produce more downforce in fast corners.
3. Throw the brake bias towards the front for added braking stability.
4. Brake early and in a straight line to smoothen the weight transfer.
5. Smoothness is everything with a car this agile and nervous. A very progressive throttle input will go a long way with the 911 GT3 R. Set the TC to 4 or 5 depending on track and weather conditions.

Conclusion

One thing is certain: the Porsche isn't a car for novices. It takes time to get the hang of the agile characteristics of the car. Being sensible and gentle with it goes a long way in making it more stable. Smoothness and finesse are key to exploiting its full potential.

The Porsche 911 GT3 needs to be driven differently above all. Recalibrate your habits, and you'll do just fine to get the car on rails. There's a good reason why it's up with the other fastest cars on ACC. Just like with the McLaren 720S, all it takes is a little getting used to, and you'll love every second of it!

All image credit goes to: KUNOS Simulazioni