Porsche has always made high-performance cars and, lately, SUVs. Porsches have always been relatively expensive too, with the most affordable Boxster costing around $50,000 and your basic 911 model about 10 grand more.
Aside from having all the right hardware to be the stuff of adolescent dreams (and a host of middle-aged ones as well), the Carrera GT succeeds where most supercars fail miserably: It's easy to drive. Once you learn how to modulate the soup-bowl-size clutch and avoid stalling the engine, the GT is perfectly happy to trundle along in traffic without bucking or overheating. (It's sort of like taking Madonna to a PTA meeting.) But when you have an opportunity to pull out onto an open stretch of road, you discover that acceleration at any speed in any gear is beyond what most mortals have ever experienced. Traction control is standard to prevent wheelspin. The well-balanced chassis doesn't require stability management, so none is fitted. Braking is astonishing, hauling the GT down from its 206-mph top speed hard enough to make your contact lenses pop out. There are no options, except the opportunity to delete the sound system, navigation system and a/c, just in case you feel the need to shave off a few pounds when you head to the racetrack.--Mike Allen