Porsche 911 Carrera S Cabriolet - The Mystic of the 9

But we are made of sterner stuff - hot weather be damned - and with a Porsche as our set of wheels for a few days, nobody was complaining.

So here we were - at the Autodrome - putting the Cabriolet S thru its paces, which by the way, with every lap brought more grins on our faces.

Getting into the car and the first thing one notices is the improved seating. The seat angle allows for a clean, clear view of the road ahead, while providing more legroom. A tilting and telescoping steering wheel is a welcome feature, especially for drivers who are vertically inclined.

The instrumentation exudes typical Porsche perfection, with the gauges well placed and easy to read, offering plenty of information without really intruding on the senses. Sports cars are said to have cosy cabins and the 911 is no Maybach but, and that's important, she fits around you like a well-worn shoe.

The comfortable sports seats grip you in all the right places (just remember the rear seats are best for toddlers only), the dozen-speakers-plus Bose stereo is rocking and the central display tells you more than what you would ever want to know.

Plus our car was fitted with the Sports Chrono package that allows the driver to set various parameters (revs, throttle response etc) to suit his driving style and mood. There's also a chronometer to the dash that will allow us to time our laps of the Club circuit at the Autodrome, which in all the excitement, we do not use.

A quarter turn of the left-side-mounted ignition switch brings the 3.8-litre flat six to life. With the 355 bhp motor warmed and ready to run, we let out the brake and begin our adventure. All sense of responsibility flies out of the window and we floor it. Hard. And it takes our breath away. Literally, she drives the wind out of me as we pinned to the seat utterly stupefied at the speed at which everything whizzes by. Within a matter of a few seconds the Porsche has shot to twice the legal speed limit on UAE roads.

And add to the performance aspect the fact that this car actually looks impossibly stunning, considering that it is but an evolution of a design that began the 911 mystique 40 years back - amazing and heart-achingly stunning and so very much a 911. It is an iconic shape that still gets young boys and grown men wet their pants and yet set the template for sports car design.

Well, whatever, but this is the most fun you could ever have with your clothes on. Actually this is the most fun you could ever have, period.