GENERATION GAME
Ten years after the seventh-generation 911 landed, we revisit the end-of-line 991 Carrera T and introduce it to an early example of the 997 Carrera…
Satisfying girth. Words more appropriate for a top-shelf magazine of a different nature, perhaps, but as I reacquaint myself with the 2018 Racing Yellow 991 Carrera T I was lucky enough to spend a week or so bombing around in when the car was new, I’m reminded how perfect the feel of its adjustable 360mm leather-trimmed GT sports steering wheel is. Steering wheel design seems to be something Porsche struggled with for many decades — I can’t be alone in thinking pretty much every one of the manufacturer’s production steering wheels have been a weak point of the host vehicle’s aesthetic from the mid-1970s all the way up to the arrival of the 991 exactly ten years ago, but here, in the sparse-for-modern911-standards cockpit of the Carrera T, there’s nothing to complain about. The design was further refined for the 992 (and is a must-have £194 option on the current 911’s accompanying Individual Equipment list), but in the Carrera T, free of in-car entertainment control switches and PDK flappy paddles — yes, this not-so-mellow yellow narrow-body is equipped with a seven-speed manual gearbox — it’s easy to win the age-old argument less is more.
This is the theme Porsche wanted to promote with the 991 Carrera T (the T standing for Touring). It’s essentially a Carrera, but with luxury equipment stripped out, promoting something of a GT vibe. There’s “minimal” sound
deadening, thinner glass, Gt3-style door pulls, manually adjustable fabrictrimmed front pews, no rear seats, no air-conditioning and no audio equipment, all in the interests of reducing weight, though primarily for the benefit of Porsche’s marketing materials, rather than the development of a tangibly quicker Carrera. When the Carrera T was introduced at the back end of 2017, buyers could have some of the ‘missing’ toys reinstated as a no-cost option (most customers thought a sat-nav and aircon might be useful), evidenced by the presence of Porsche Communication Management (PCM) and super-icy aircon in my test car, which also benefits from LED headlights in black (including the excellent Porsche Dynamic Light System), parking sensors, reversing camera, cruise control, speed limit dash display, automatically dimming mirrors and aluminium pedals. The
THE SENSATION IS GLORIOUS, AND IT TAKES NO TIME AT ALL TO HEAR THE THREE-LITRE SIX-BANGER ROARING FROM BEHIND
biggest difference to standard Carrera T specification, however, is the addition of rear axle steering — there’s that GT vibe again — and Porsche Ceramic Composite Brakes (PCCB), which are so effective, you only need to look at them and you’re flung through the windscreen at full pelt.
At this point, it’s easy to wonder why you’d buy a Carrera T commanding more money than a standard Carrera, especially if adding extras at significant cost — when new, the base price of a 991 Carrera T was £85,576, but my test car’s add-ons bumped that figure up to seventeen quid less than a hundred grand. You do get Porsche Active Suspension Management (PASM) with a 20mm drop in ride height, the sublime Sport Chrono package, S-spec final drive, Porsche Torque Vectoring (PTV) with mechanically locking rear differential, a brap-pop-bang sports exhaust with specially designed and centrally positioned tailpipes painted
gloss black, twenty-inch Carrera S wheels painted Titanium grey, elastic bands for tyres and a short shifter (when opting for a manual transmission), though. The engine is the same twin-turbocharged three-litre unit found in the Carrera, chucking out 365bhp and 332lb-ft torque. With the rear axle steering doing its thing, however, the T feels far more responsive at speed, something I was pleased to rediscover when carving up the twisty, deserted backroads of the Norfolk countryside during my latest spell in charge of this custard-coloured coupe.
When firing up the Carrera T, I’m reminded of my first impression of the car beyond its stunning looks: the noise. Thin glass, the raspy exhaust, reduced sound insulation material and the lack of rear seats fills the cabin with much more engine din than the Carrera this 911 is based on. The sensation is glorious, and it takes no time at all to hear the threelitre six-banger roaring from behind, the pace instant, the revs rapid. There’s a claimed 182mph to play with, and the standard sprint to 62mph is managed in just 4.5 seconds (4.2 if you’re in a PDK car), though even with all the fancy bits removed, the Carrera T weighs only five kilos less than the standard Carrera. Any benefit on normal roads is almost certainly imagined. Moreover, it’s completely non-existent if you’re in a car with reinstated deletions — the sense of travelling in a quicker 911 is an illusion likely generated by the effect of all that Gt-inspired trim.
FLIP OF THE COIN
I’ve spoken to many Porsche enthusiasts who, when comparing with a 991 Carrera, don’t get the Carrera T proposition. Playing devil’s advocate, I’d suggest looking at this interesting 991 from a different angle: compare the extra thirty grand (minimum) it would have cost to hop into a then new GT3 and, perhaps, the Carrera T makes more sense. Maybe. There is, however, another contributing factor to the confusion expressed by those who have yet to experience seat time in a Carrera T. To explain, I need to take you on a journey back in time to
the early 1960s. Porsche was getting ready to discontinue the 356, leaving the significantly more expensive 911 as the manufacturer’s sole offering. Concerned about narrowing the brand’s appeal, factory bosses decided to introduce a four-cylinder, luxury-free version of the 911 at a competitive price point. Thus, the 912 was conceived as Porsche’s entry-level offering. 911 styling, high quality construction and model-matching reliability ensured the six-cylinder Porsche’s little brother was a big hit, outselling the flagship model by significant margin during its first few years of production. With the layman seeing both 911 and 912 as essentially two flavours of the same model, though, it made sense for Porsche to introduce a hierarchy to the 911 range, a move which saw a variety of different letters attached to the end of those iconic three digits. It was also a decision which marked the beginning of the end for the 912’s time on assembly lines.
POWER STRUGGLE
Of the various 911s to be introduced towards the end of the decade, the 160bhp S is arguably the most famous, but at the bottom of the pecking order – below the L, the new name for the standard 911 – was the T. Those keen to rewrite history will happily describe the 911 T as stripped-back in the interests of delivering a more focused attack of the asphalt, but the truth of the matter is that in 1967, the 911 T was essentially a replacement for the outgoing 912, introduced before the conclusion of 914 development work in partnership with Volkswagen. The T was a model relieved of creature comforts and performance equipment, but far from Porsche wanting to deliver a rawer, more hardcore driving experience, the rationale for the T’s lack of desirable specification was simply to reduce manufacturing costs (and therefore enable 911 ownership at lower purchase price) on what remains the least powerful 911 ever produced.
The 911 T’s two-litre flat-six featured low-compression cast iron pistons in place of aluminium components. The unit’s crankshaft was redesigned, the camshafts were updated to produce less lift and the twin Weber carburettors