Renowned as one of the most fearsome Porsches to ever hit the market, the 996 GT2 has a bit of a dark aura surrounding it. Few people dare to drive them quickly, and those that do need to have their wits about them if they want to keep out of the ditch. Snappy doesn’t really describe the car’s nature, since they’re actually quite vicious. Chris Harris once said, ?t=1m7s”>”There are probably more 996-sized holes in hedges in the UK than there are any other type.” Yet, there are some brave souls who manage to tame the beast.

Porsche, worried about the 996 GT2’s oversteer issues, dialed in plenty of understeer to try and restrain it, but to no avail. The problem with pushing through understeer with power alone is that it forces the car into a snap-oversteer situation. In other words, if those turbos spool while the front tires are sliding, calm cornering becomes a fully-on-the-lockstops sort of moment. One man narrowly escaped a brush with death when a hint of understeer turned into a tank-slapper, and only by the skin of his teeth.

From the footage above, this knife-edged handling is obvious from the first few seconds. However, that lurid slide also demonstrates the car’s willingness to play beyond the limit, provided the driver can harness the torque and has hands quick enough to catch the snappy rear.

It’s also worth nothing that, when going for a tidy lap, how critical it is to have the GT2 in a relatively straight line before those turbos unleash their full force—some 476 horsepower depending on the year. The full brunt of the force-fed motor is enough to overwhelm the 325-section rear tires, perhaps most clearly seen at 1:47, and though the rear-engine layout allows the driver to accelerate cleanly with a hint of wheelspin, getting the direction change made early enough to capitalize on the turbos and the traction is what will get the lap time.

Within those spiky edges of grip, the GT2 does have a sweet spot in which it applies all its thrust neatly enough to be harnessed. Though all 470 lb-ft of torque arrive at 3,500 rpm, it can be controlled with a progressive application of the throttle and a hint of corrective lock. Since the GT2 grows more neutral at speed, it can be driven through the fastest corners so that it just hangs on the front axle; the driver having to use all their sensitivity to keep it from understeering much, while the rear end rotates neatly in the intended direction.

That’s precisely where the GT2 might redeem itself in the worrisome drivers’ eyes. The steering is so laden with detail that it encourages the driver to test the limit of grip. Though it exhibits some real attitude, it’s communicative and almost confidence-inspiring. Well, if someone can wrestle successfully with this car, they’re bound to feel pretty pleased with their driving ability, anyways.

The brakes are impressive, the torque is monstrous, and the involvement is up there with anything. From the factory, it was a car with a flawed setup, but it’s so tactile and rewarding that even its shortcomings can be overlooked—provided the driver has the ability to deal with them.