Mat Watson: can I take a corner faster than a pro driver?

I’ve come all the way out to Monza circuit in Italy to answer an age-old question – what’s better, man or machine?

You see, I’ve got my hands on two rather special Porsches, along with one common-or-garden racing driver. First, I want to see how fast racing driver Sam can take the fearsome Parabolica corner at Monza circuit, in a standard Porsche 911 GT3 RS.

Then, I’ll see how close I can get to his speed – or if I can beat it – in another GT3 RS. The difference? Mine’s been modified by Manthey Racing.

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Manthey Racing kit – what is it?

Manthey Racing was set up in 1996 as a race team to compete in the Porsche Supercup. In 1997 it modified its first car – the Porsche 993 RSR MR – before modifying its first road-legal model in 1999.

Since 2011, Porsche has owned 51% of the company, so working closely to make the best modified cars is easier. Manthey will now sell you specialised racing kits for a variety of 911 and Cayman models, and I’ll be testing out its kit for the 992.1-generation Porsche 911 GT3 RS.

You get a huge front splitter to help scoop up air, extra aero tweaks to funnel air down the side of the vehicle, an extra panel underneath to smooth things out, and some really cool-looking aero wheel covers at the back.

It’s not designed to make the car faster, weirdly – instead, it’s meant to make the already fearsome performance more accessible. By boosting downforce by 20%, grip is improved, and so a regular guy like me can use more of the car’s power, more of the time.

This should help close the gap between me and racing driver Sam on the track – but can it enable me to beat Sam’s speed, and is it worth the £100,000 upgrade cost? Watch the video to find out.

Car change? Carwow!

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