BACK TO BASICS

Words: Dan Trent Photography: Antony Fraser T for tremendous or taking the proverbial? We take a wintry drive in the ‘purist’ Carrera in an effort to find out

The pending denouement to the 991-era provides an interesting opportunity to take stock of where the 911 is at, where it’s been and where it’s headed in the future. And this car, the Carrera T, could be more important in the latter than first impressions may suggest.

To some it’s little more than a stickeredup, special edition Carrera designed to prop up sales of a model on the brink of replacement. Some will scoff at Porsche exploiting a tenuous heritage link to convince us paying a premium for a base 911 stripped of its radio and back seats somehow marks us out as true purists, ready to enjoy “driving for driving’s sake” as the bumph has it.

And hopes that the Carrera T might turn out to be one of those ‘secret’ specials, and a concession by Porsche that the mainstream 911 range had slipped a bit far down the GT end of the spectrum, seemed to have been dashed going by reactions from the launch. That this was held alongside the GT3 Touring was no accident, the Carrera T likewise held as proof that Porsche has been listening to criticisms and still builds cars for enthusiasts.

In the GT3 Touring’s case that was to neutralise frustration among those who missed out on an R, Andreas Preuninger’s assertion that Porsche is a carmaker and “not a hedge fund” symbolising awareness within the company that the traditional 911 fanbase may have been left behind in the hype. The Touring is a welcome addition but perception remains GT product remains out of reach to those who don’t have their local dealer principal on speed dial.

So to the T, the 911 supposedly for the everyman enthusiast. As you’re likely already aware it’s a Carrera with a little extra spring in its step, mainly thanks to lower gearing and some nominal weight-saving. The brochure attempts to rewrite history somewhat, claiming the original 1967 911 T inspiring it was “stripped down to the essentials” for those

wishing to “conquer the road” and not simply a detuned base model intended to hit a price point.

Thankfully in this instance the engine hasn’t been strangled and matches the base 991’s 370ps/365bhp, the addition of Sports PASM, the Ptv/limited-slip “differential package and other features previously reserved for the Carrera S help justify the near-£8000 premium over the Carrera on which it is based. Topped off with dark-painted 20-inch Carrera S wheels and stripes, the on-paper promise of an entry-level 911 with a little GT3 Touring spirit looked enticing.

But closer study of the details revealed that price was only £1759 shy of the Carrera S, which gets a lot of the same kit as standard and the uprated 420ps/414bhp power output. Under further scrutiny the two key selling points – reduced weight and more sprightly gearing – didn’t really hold up either. To get the full 20kg saving you’d need to accept a hole in the dash where your PCM would have gone and no seats in the back, most reviewers correctly identifying neither sacrifice was really worth the negligible weight saving. Yet by accepting the offer to option them back in for free you were kind of negating the whole point of the car.

And what about the reconfigured ratios? Turns out the 3.59:1 final drive fitted to the T is the same as that on the Carrera S and GTS. And not the hoped-for acceptance by Porsche that over-gearing for motorway refinement and emissions compliance has dulled response on more interesting roads. Worse, if you opt for PDK on the T you get the same 3.44:1 as the standard Carrera and a car that costs more and has identical performance but asks that you endure stiffer suspension and reduced sound deadening as proof of your manhood.

You’d therefore expect the conclusion to be “just buy a Carrera S and be done with it” then. And yet. Marginal gains can add up and it’s just possible the T is one of the better recent 911s.

True, it’s not quite the everyman 911 R we’d been sold in the original press releases. But Porsche knows more about its customers than noisy keyboard warriors think. While cars like that and the GT3

It’s just possible the T is one of the better recent 911s

Touring get credibility and column inches the real money is made on optioned up Carrera 4s and GTS models, whose buyers willingly stump up extra cash for PDK, rear-wheel steering, Sport Chrono, PDCC, extended leather trim and embossed headrests. Cars like the Carrera T won’t make Porsche much money. But they are important for keeping the faithful happy. And introducing a little traditional rawness back into the regular Carrera is an effective way of doing it.

Trundling out of Porsche GB’S Reading HQ and onto the M4 the hole in the centre console where you’d usually find the PCM unit is a bit of a shock, likewise the bare, carpeted rear cabin where the seats would be in a regular Carrera. Credit to whoever specced the car for testing the purist principles of reviewers, though, this example getting the manual transmission and as close to the maximum weight saving as you can achieve. If there is in fact a purist’s Porsche lurking in the publicity guff this Guards Red T will be the one to demonstrate it.

Thinner glass on the rear side windows and screen and pared back sound deadening mean tyre roar is the main soundtrack for the journey west and to the more interesting roads of South Wales, the previous week’s blizzards prompting the press garage to switch to winters but snow replaced by spray and constant rain. Aims of validating the T’s promise as being “for drivers, not collectors” by recreating the grimy appearance of the car shown in the brochure won’t be difficult.

With no music the only in-car entertainment available is to switch the standard, black-tipped Sports Exhaust (a £1844 option on the regular Carrera) to its louder setting. In the 911 way you don’t get much from that on the motorway but as the roads get twistier and there’s chance to rev the 3.0-litre six out a little more it’s a welcome addition.

There are plenty of strong opinions about the 991’s adoption of downsized,