Porsche and Nürburgring seem to go hand-in-hand. The ultimate customer race cars and the ultimate test of man and machine. Where many companies have proving grounds to help develop their sports cars and sport sedans, the Germans are blessed with the Nordschleife. Porsche has always said that it races to improve its street cars, and it shows. And taking a new Porsche to the Ring is like a right of passage. Increasingly, though, the Green Hell is being used by many non-German companies to see how their product stands up against the competition. It's actually turned into something of a fad, with companies like GM insisting on letting the world know that everything from Saturns to Cadillacs have had their handling tuned at the famous track. That in no way takes away from the reputation of the track itself, which continues on as a great testbed for new vehicles of a sporting bent.

And when a new Porsche takes to the Ring, it gets some attention. How does it stack up against other Porsches? Other sports cars? Past special Porsches? Race cars even. As our favorite current Porsche, it's nice to see the new 997-based GT3 gets its crack at the track. Piloted by DMAX's D Motor presenter Tim Schrick, you can really get a feel for how well this car has been tuned. The YouTube video of the ride follows the jump. In German with no subtitles, the message still comes through loud and clear. This is one impressive Porsche, and therefore one great sports car.

[Source: YouTube]