Porsche has unveiled the lightweight 911 Carrera T which can now be ordered at a starting price of R2,080,000 in South Africa, with the first customer deliveries penned for after February 2023.
Slotting in between the base Carrera and the Carrera S, the T aims to offer a purist driving experience with sporty standard equipment, rear-wheel drive, and a manual gearbox.
Heightened performance
The new 911 T comes standard with a sports suspension system that lowers its ride height by 10mm compared to the S and a rear differential lock with torque vectoring for class-leading handling.
Drawing power from the same 3.0-litre, bi-turbo engine found in its siblings paired with a seven-speed manual shifter, tuned to generate 283kW and 450Nm, the new Carrera delivers a 0-100km/h time of 4.5 seconds and continues to a maximum of 291km/h.
Buyers can optionally get an eight-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission should they want to be a little less involved in the drive, and it can also be ordered with rear-axle steering which is usually only reserved for the pricier Carrera models.
No backseats
Being the lightest 911 with a 3.0-litre engine, the Carrera T sees the removal of the backseats alongside the fitment of a lightweight battery and glass resulting in a kerb weight of 1,470kg – 35kg under the base Carrera.
As part of its purist demeanour the Sports exhaust system and Sport Chrono package are standard on the T, too, the latter adding three selectable driving modes, launch control, dynamic transmission mounts, interior upgrades such as a dash-mounted stopwatch, and Sport response which releases maximum power for 20 seconds at the push of a button for ultimate acceleration and responsiveness.
To make it stand out as the athletic 911, it sees visual upgrades such as Dark Grey detailing, a grey top tint on the windscreen, model-exclusive door decals and rear badging, high-gloss black tailpipes, 20 and 21-inch Titanium Grey alloy wheels, and a selection of 13 exterior colours comprising four solid, four metallic, and five “special” hues.
For a unique interior look, the T further gets a GT sports steering wheel, four-way electronically-adjustable Sports seats, and matte or high-gloss black finishes.
Additional customisation is afforded in the form of 18-way electric seats, bucket seats with Race Tex inserts, extended leather trimmings, and Slate Grey or Lizard Green seatbelts, logos, and stitching.
Porsche 911 Carrera T
Keyword: Lightweight Porsche Carrera T unveiled – The purist 911