Mark Riccioni’s Porsche GT3 RS Advan GT Wheels

Acclaimed photographer Mark Riccioni has worked with TG for a great many years. When he is not behind the camera, he is buying unsuitable cars. Here, he lays bare his addiction.

Opening a Top Gear Garage update by complaining about the expense of an extremely costly car really ought to come with the soundtrack of a miniature violin. Particularly when the problems in question were entirely foreseeable and are nobody’s responsibility but mine.

Roughly four years ago, I traded a 991 GT3 for a 991 GT3 RS. Over the following few months, I then proudly announced that I had doubled its overall mileage, repeating the usual line that cars are meant to be driven and wondering why anybody would preserve the mileage for the benefit of the next owner.

Since 2024, though, I have managed scarcely more than a thousand miles annually. I could produce a lengthy list of excuses, naturally, but the truth is that I have been hopeless at finding chances to use it. Now that our household includes two young children, a roll-caged two-seat sports car is not especially useful either. The particularly cruel part of leaving a GT3 RS unused is that it has continued to cost precisely as much as it would have done had I been driving it.

Porsche GT3 RS tyre troubles

When I considered taking it to Germany for our recent greatest-ever 911 shoot, I found that both rear tyres had become unusable. Tread depth was not the issue: after sitting still for extended spells, they had begun to crack and lose their colour. The passenger-side rear tyre was also dropping one to two psi every few weeks.

The final flourish was the ‘interim service’ alert that appeared last week. It is not due on mileage grounds for another 8,000 miles, but the service schedule is governed by time as well as distance. Porsche has therefore advised having it done, at a price of £1,916.30. In effect, every mile covered since its previous service has cost almost £1.

Rather than let that tiny violin acquire a tiny orchestra to accompany it, I chose to turn the bad news into something positive in the only manner I understand: making wholly needless modifications that bring yet more expense and inconvenience.

Advan GT wheels and Michelin Cup 2 tyres

Look upon them: a flamboyant set of JDM-spec Advan GT wheels, which in fact arrived back in September 2025. The Mark Riccioni of years gone by would have immediately pestered tyre fitters for £25 part-worn tyres whenever fresh wheels appeared, such was my lack of patience. Fortunately, I have matured a little. Not by much, admittedly, but sufficiently to realise that part-worn Ling Corp Ditchfinder 3000s are not what Porsche had in mind for a GT3 RS.

Settling on the appropriate replacement tyres did, however, send me into a deep dive through Porsche forums and 911 owners’ groups. Every one of them left me feeling as though I should abandon Porsche ownership immediately. Yet the Advan GT wheels match the OE dimensions of 20x9.5in and 21x12.5in, so retaining the OE tyre sizes seemed utterly obvious. It would also remove any risk of destroying the arches and turning a costly upgrade into an even costlier one.

On this occasion, the sensible choice was the right one too: a fresh set of Michelin Cup 2 tyres, measuring 265/35/20 at the front and 325/30/21 at the rear. They are the newest N2 compound, which has replaced the N0 and N1 compounds; the latter had previously been fitted to the RS. The people at Protyre.co.uk made matters simpler still. Not only do they hold Cup 2 tyres in RS sizes, but they also have the equipment required to fit them on site. RS wheels are enormous, and their low-profile, XL-rated sidewalls leave very little working space or clearance, making them difficult to mount. Add TPMS sensors to the equation and the task becomes trickier again.

Fitting the GT3 RS wheels at home

With hindsight, I should probably have asked Protyre to fit them as well. For some inexplicable reason, though, I decided it would be more entertaining to tackle the job by myself on the driveway afterwards. That proved somewhat awkward, first because I needed a torque wrench capable of 600Nm and then, after finding one, because I needed another person to press the brakes while the nuts were loosened and tightened. The necessary force will rotate the front wheels even when the car is not raised.

Still, after nearly eight months of excuses, they are at last installed, looking suitably honourable and even more flamboyant. Annoyingly, I cannot drive the car just yet: I need to wait until my wife returns from work before the wheels can be fully torqued up. Balls.