2008 Sports Cars

One of the most head-turning sports cars for 2008 is Maserati's new GranTurismo coupe. Powered by a 405-horsepower, 4.2-liter V-8, Maserati says the GranTurismo can go from zero to 60 mph in 5.1 seconds on its way to a top speed of 177 mph.

Audi has redesigned versions of its TT coupe and roadster. They've even created a new supercar named the R8. The R8 has all-wheel drive and a 420-hp V-8. The run from zero to 62 mph takes 4.6 seconds and its top speed is 188 mph.

Sports cars come in more than just coupe and convertible body styles. The 2008 model year sees new sport sedans, hatchbacks and even a wagon. Volkswagen's R32 is a limited-edition two-door hatchback powered by a 250-hp V-6, while Lexus' IS-F sport sedan packs a 5.0-liter V-8 under its hood.

A few of the '08 cars are priced as follows:

2008 Mitsubishi Eclipse Spyder
MSRP Range: $26,699.00 - $29,599.00
Destination Charge: $625.00

2008 Mitsubishi Eclipse
MSRP Range: $20,999.00 - $24,499.00
Destination Charge: $625.00

2008 BMW 5-Series
MSRP Range: $44,300.00 - $58,500.00
Destination Charge: $775.00

2008 Audi RS 4
MSRP Range: $66,910.00 - $66,910.00
Destination Charge: $775.00

2008 Audi R8
MSRP Range: $118,000.00 - $118,000.00
Destination Charge: $1,000.00

2008 Audi TT
MSRP Range: $34,800.00 - $45,900.00
Destination Charge: $775.00

2008 Ford Mustang
MSRP Range: $19,250.00 - $30,665.00
Destination Charge: $745.00

2008 Saturn Sky
MSRP Range: $25,040.00 - $29,240.00
Destination Charge: $620.00

2008 Nissan Altima
MSRP Range: $20,570.00 - $24,970.00
Destination Charge: $625.00

And it still works. Better than melatonin, mile-high liaisons, or other familiar folk remedies, there's no surer cure for jet lag than redlining a Porsche on an unrestricted autobahn-as we're about to reaffirm in the 2008 911 GT2, the best Porsche ever unleashed on an undeserving everyman. (Don't even think about owning one if you can't handle full opposite lock or payments on an MSRP of $191,700.)

Driving the 530-horsepower two-seater at 180 mph doesn't cure our jet lag as much as expel it violently from the car, but heavy rain means reaching the GT2's top speed of 205 mph is out of the question. Even with double the previous GT2's downforce from the new Le Mans racer-inspired body and rear wing, and excellent grip from the 19-inch Pirellis, the GT2 is too much car for the conditions. We also keep Porsche's spectacularly efficient stability-management systems, suitably modified for the GT2's higher limits, on full alert, leaving it to others to find out what happens when the driver is let loose in the most powerful, fastest, and costliest 911 ever.

That part of the test is conducted on an unused airport's runways by Walter Rohrl, former rally champ and current Porsche test driver, who, in perilously slippery conditions, dispensed a pure dose of GT2.

"This car was ninety-percent done before I ever drove it," shouts Rohrl over the roar of the biturbo's new titanium exhaust, one of the strategies to lighten up a platform that began life in the same gene pool as the "standard" all-wheel-drive 911 Turbo. "It was that good, but the final 10 percent can be learned only by driving."

And what did he learn?

"This is the best 911 ever," he pronounces, left hand and right foot executing a perfect power slide. "Race car, street car, the best."

Much of Rohrl's opinion, and the GT2's final suspension tuning, was formulated on the Nurburgring's Nordschleife, where he set a time of 7:32, faster than the previous GT2's 7:46, the fastest for any production-series 911 and comparable with the Carrera GT. "It has the power and stability of a good race car, but it drives more easily," he continues, shifting down through the six-speed manual gearbox as quick as a cardshark flashes aces.

Key to the GT2's fleeter feet is 300 pounds of shed weight via composite front bucket seats, elimination of the rear seats, an aluminum rear-axle subframe, the plastic rear lid and wing, a composite intake manifold and lightweight front aluminum brake hats, which, along with standard ceramic composite brake rotors, means less weight at the nose, a valuable ingredient of the GT2's steering-quick, precise, and the best we've ever felt in a 911.