Porsche 911 Carrera T (992) review

To offset the weight increase of these items, the rear seats are deleted (don’t worry, you can put them back at no additionalcost), it has less sound deadening material, thinner glass and a lightweight battery. At 1470kg, it’s 10kg lighter than a Carrera S and only 20kg heavier than a GT3 RS. 

But I’d still have used a different letter. Porsche makes much of the fact that the car was inspired by the original 911T and the fact that in 1968 Vic Elford drove one to the first of its three victories on the Monte Carlo Rally. What’s less readily mentioned is that the first T was actually a poverty spec 911, designed to replace the four-cylinder 912. It had a detuned engine, a four-speed gearbox, no anti-roll bars and plain disc brakes because it wasn’t fast enough to warrant the ventilation used on other 911s. It was the 911 you bought because couldn’t afford the one you really wanted.

I digress. It turns out the combination of that engine and gearbox is quite infectious. You’ll be looking at the acceleration times and thinking ‘that’s not very fast’ and you’d be right. On paper it’s the slowest 911 of all. Indeed a 0-62mph time of 4.5sec is about what testers are getting from a Volkswagen Golf R these days. But of course that has the on-paper advantage of not only four-wheel drive, but a double-clutch gearbox too. A Carrera T with PDK knocks that time back to 4sec without a single additional horsepower. Not so slow after all.

Better still – and probably because this is the most modestly tuned 911 engine – it has the flattest torque curve, maintaining its peak from under 2000rpm all the way to 5000rpm. If I’d so chosen I could have done the entire run up and down the mountain in third and been scarcely slowed or inconvenienced at all. But there’s no point having manual gears if you’re not going to use them.

And every time I drive a new 911 with this seven-speed manual I think three things. First that the shift quality has improved again, second that it’s still nowhere near as sweet as the six-speed box used in Caymans, Boxsters and GT3s, and third that seven gears remains too many for my small brain. I get confused as to whether I’m in fifth or seventh. But keep slashing it between third and fourth, which is all I was required to do, and it’s terrific.

I will concede I’d expected to want more power, and if I’d had a Carrera S engine behind me, no doubt I’d have deployed it to the full. But I didn’t and I didn’t miss it. This flat-six is now so sharp and sonorous it comes with all the mid-range torque we want from turbo engines with none of the downsides, such as slack throttle response or a dull noise.

If anything however, the chassis is better. With a car this light and with this engine, you really don’t need any of the fancy-pants toys Porsche makes like active anti-roll bars or ceramic brake discs. The lowered sports suspension and the mechanical locking diff are more than enough. It corners flat and fast, the steering angling the car into the apex with fabulous fluency and a feel others just don’t seem able to replicate with rival electric racks. On a dry surface, traction is absurdly and usually insuperably good, so if it does anything, it’ll be to let the nose just nudge away from the apex under full throttle.

The only option I would choose, and it was fitted to the car I drove, is four-wheel steering, something else you cannot get on a standard Carrera. Because when you feel the front end start to slip and you just lift a little to counter it, instead of the car simply biting back into the corner – which would be fine – it instead swivels about its mid-point and flows back onto line instead, which is delicious. The apex to apex rhythm this naturally establishes on a road such as this is an absolute joy.

And yet it’s not one of those cars that eggs you up to and over the limit. While it is natural to want to slide a GT3 around, the T, which Porsche might argue is the next most sporting 911 in the range, is a car you enjoy with your fingertips, gently easing it from place to place, carrying speed, keeping it smooth and appreciating the faithfulness with which it responds. It is not a white-knuckle ride characterised by an armful of oppo and a mirror full of tyre smoke. It is far more cerebral experience, more a quiet smile than a belly laugh and none the worse for that.

So the question to me is not whether I’d pay the extra and buy a T over a Carrera, but whether I’d save a little and have one over a Carrera S. Remember the S has a considerable amount of additional power, three pedals as standard and the same big wheels and active damping too. It’s a really close call because really the only things of value a T has that an S lacks as standard are the locking diff and sports exhaust.  

But you may consider the visual differentiation – side logos, lots of trim and badging in dark ‘Agate’ grey, sports seats with SportTex upholstery and 911 logos embroidered on the head rests – sufficient too. Or you may just enjoy having a far rarer 911, and explaining what it is to people who understand what Carrera and Carrera S mean, but not Carrera T.

I’d probably have the T, but perhaps because I’m a bit strange. Because if I had one I know I wouldn’t sit there wishing I had S power. But if I had an S, I’d almost certainly sit there wishing I had GTS power. Like I said, strange. But the truth is that the T is nothing more or less than a 911 remix, featuring pre-existing assets to create a unique specification. If you like the sound of that, like me you’ll love the T.

If you don’t, there’s likely to be another somewhere in the range. Today as I write there are 26 911 models on the Porsche configurator before you’ve chosen a single option. If among all those coupés, cabriolets, Targas, Turbos and GT models you can’t find the one for you, you’d probably never have started looking for a 911 in the first place.