February 2004 and 12 months into Boxster S ownership I was wondering whether I had bought the right car. Living in London and commuting to work on a motor bike meant my driving mainly consisted of shopping duties and occasional trips out of town. Too few good roads and too many speed cameras around London lead me to do a few track days, for which the Boxster S was a good tool - plenty of power, beautiful handling, good brakes and quite forgiving. It was also very comfortable there and back; for regular use, I couldn't fault its all round ability.

But I wanted a much bigger adrenaline hit. The Boxster was sold and the search began. Choosing the marque was relatively easy. I discounted the only non-Porsche contender, the Caterham R400 for being too exposed for long trips and a lack of storage space. Porsche has made a number of models over the years for this purpose - RS, Club Sport and more recently GT - with upgraded components, more power and weight-savings in readiness for racing.

Having previously spent four fantastic years in a 1987 3.2 Carrera SE my first instinct was to go for a 3.2 Club Sport of similar vintage, but it didn't offer enough additional performance over a standard 3.2 to warrant being nearly twice the price. After a few electrifying passenger laps around Goodwood in a 996 GT3, I thought my mind was made up. But, it would be a lot of car (and money) to hurtle around a track plus the running costs were working out noticeably higher than the other alternatives. My next favourite was the 993 RS and only the Guards Red paint stopped me from handing over a cheque. Last on my short list was the underdog 964 RS.

Though it had originally received mixed reviews, it had none of the 964 weaknesses and with so few gadgets provided, there was very little to go wrong. I had no issue with LHD - the cheapest route into RS ownership. Good examples were thin on the ground the Porsche Club GB was an invaluable source of information on where to find cars.

I actually found my car in a less than obvious place: advertised privately on Bloomberg and soon, I was on my way to view a 1992 964 RS Lightweight in black with a good service history with all of the important documentation, bought and imported from H&S in Germany in 2002 and with less than 44k km on the clock. The owner used the car very occasionally hence his decision to sell. So far so good.

Driving the car, three things struck me: an engine whose revs race to the red line, inch perfect steering that inspires confidence and even better brakes. This was exactly what I was looking for and if everything I had read and heard about the car was true it would be even better on track. I still wanted an inspection by a Porsche specialist and we agreed a figure based on a clean bill of health. Inspection and MOT went fine so I left the car with Jaz in Wembley for a thorough service and a few other items which all came in at a very reasonable £600. I opted for a classic car policy limited to 3k miles pa that provided comprehensive track day and agreed value cover for just over £500, half the cost of the Boxster S. On that first drive home I knew I'd made the right choice.

Nearly 2 years down the road and every drive still feels special, with two that really stand out in my memory. A fantastic drive though the Brecon Beacons and into mid Wales where the open roads and beautiful scenery left me smiling for several days. The other was a 5 day road trip into Europe including 2 days on track at the SPA GP circuit and a day at the 'Ring. It was on track where this car really came into its own, delivering giant-killing performance in the right hands and so much information to the driver that you could literally make the car dance. The 964 RS is ruthlessly transparent, rewarding and punishing in equal measure depending on the quality and consistency of driver inputs which has made it easy to determine when you're doing things right. I've invested in some driver training which has been one of the most rewarding aspects of driving this car.

Living with the car has been very easy. Contrary to some of the original press articles, I find the car very useable on the road and great fun to drive down a twisty A or B road. It is sensitive to poor road surfaces - a small price to pay for the level of feedback. The car has never missed a beat on road or track; running costs have been very reasonable and required very little outside routine servicing and consumables, a credit to the quality of Porsche engineering. Track days have been the biggest cost and get quite expensive once you allow for track fees, fuel and some wear but they are so much fun it would be rude not too. Fuel consumption ranges from over 30 mpg - which struck me as pretty good - to single figures on track. The car has probably appreciated a little since I bought it so I've been enjoying relatively cheap motoring - quite rare these days.

There are some downsides though: a slightly more compliant suspension would make it better on the road, especially for passengers; the full cage means access to the rear of the car is limited, so it's strictly a two seater. I guess you give up some of the everyday useable qualities that make a standard 911 such a good all rounder. Still, these are minor issues and overall it is one of the few cars that have exceeded my expectations. I feel like I have only scratched the surface of its performance so I'm eagerly awaiting my next track day. And as its sunny outside, I'm off for a quick fix now.