Juliana called the GT3 Touring before anyone else could reach for the keys, and by the top of the pass nobody was seriously arguing with her. This is what the car exists for, and the road made the point better than any spec sheet could.
The road that doesn’t let up
The Cime de la Bonette climbs to over 2,700 meters in the French Alps, one of the highest paved through-routes in Europe, and it earns that reputation through a relentless sequence of hairpins rather than any single dramatic moment — mile after mile where a car’s cornering ability matters more than its straight-line number. It’s the kind of road that exposes a car with genuinely good chassis engineering within the first few switchbacks, and flatters nothing that’s just fast in a straight line.
Three drivers, three very different answers to “what makes a great corner car.” Juliana takes the Porsche 911 GT3 Touring — no rear wing, none of the standard GT3’s visual drama, and an argument that the numbers underneath matter more than the spoiler on top. Ron claims the Lamborghini Huracán EVO Spider for the naturally aspirated V10 alone. The McLaren Artura goes to whoever’s running the test — the newest of the three, and the only hybrid.
The numbers, for anyone who wants them before the story — and a real caveat
| Porsche 911 GT3 Touring | Lamborghini Huracán EVO Spider | McLaren Artura | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seats | ~2 (rear-seat delete standard) | 2 | 2 |
| Engine | 4.0L NA flat-6 | 5.2L NA V10 | 3.0L V6 plug-in hybrid |
| Horsepower | ~525 hp | 640 hp | 700 hp |
| 0–100 km/h | ~3.9 sec | 3.1 sec | 3.0 sec |
| Top speed | ~318 km/h | 325 km/h | 330 km/h |
| Rental (per day) | ~€1,400 | ~€1,950 | ~€2,100 |
| Drivetrain | RWD | AWD | RWD |
This fleet’s own listing for the GT3 Touring has no horsepower, seat count, 0–100, or top-speed data attached at all — every GT3 Touring figure above is Porsche’s own published number for the car, hedged the same way as any other unverified spec. The bigger issue is availability, not numbers: the GT3 Touring is currently listed out of Milan and Rome only, while the Huracán EVO Spider and Artura are both French Riviera cars — the widest three-way city gap found in this series so far. This test is written as a hypothetical apex-hunting comparison; confirm actual city availability before booking any combination of these three.
First stint: the lower hairpins, where the Artura made its argument
The Artura went up first, and the hybrid system’s instant torque-fill through the lower switchbacks did something neither naturally aspirated engine could match — zero hesitation exiting a hairpin, the electric motor filling in exactly where a purely combustion V6 would still be finding boost. “It’s the easiest of the three to drive fast confidently,” the car’s narrator noted over the radio. “Whether that’s a compliment depends on what you came here for.”
Ron’s Huracán EVO Spider followed, and made its case in exactly the terms he cares about: a naturally aspirated V10 that answers the throttle instantly in both directions with no turbo lag and no electric assistance smoothing anything over, an engine note that climbs in real time with the tachometer through every one of the pass’s hairpins. “This is what a corner is supposed to sound like,” Ron said. “The Artura is faster. I don’t care.”
Second stint: the upper hairpins, and Juliana’s case closes it
The GT3 Touring came up last, into the pass’s tightest, most relentless upper section, and Juliana’s argument stopped being theoretical. No rear wing means no downforce cushion to hide behind — every input has to be right, and the chassis rewards precision in a way that felt, by her account, closer to a genuine track car than either rival. “This isn’t the fastest way up this mountain,” she said at the top. “It’s the most honest one. Every mistake shows up immediately, and every correct input pays off immediately. That’s the whole car.”
A bit of context on each car
The Porsche 911 GT3 Touring trades the standard GT3’s rear wing and rear-seat delete drama for a quieter, more understated version of the same track-focused engineering underneath — the car for someone who wants the capability without the visual statement.
The Lamborghini Huracán EVO Spider remains one of the last naturally aspirated V10s bookable in this fleet, AWD and open-top, increasingly a deliberate choice as the segment moves toward turbocharging and hybrids.
The McLaren Artura is McLaren’s first series-production hybrid — a genuinely different engineering approach from the other two, not simply a more powerful evolution of the same formula.
Practical considerations
The Cime de la Bonette is a seasonal high-alpine road, typically closed by snow outside the warmer months — confirm current conditions before planning a visit. As noted above, the three-city availability gap here is real and unresolved; treat this test as a comparison of the cars themselves rather than a bookable single-city itinerary until that changes.
Our call: the Porsche 911 GT3 Touring. On a road built entirely out of corners, Juliana’s pick wins clearly — the closest thing to a road-legal race car among the three, without the standard GT3’s showier wing. Choose the Lamborghini Huracán EVO Spider if a naturally aspirated V10 matters more than outright precision, or the McLaren Artura if you want the newest engineering and the easiest car to drive fast confidently.
All three are standalone rentals, each out of its own listed city — get in touch and we’ll help you sort out what’s actually bookable together before you commit to a route.