Well isn’t this a nice Sunday evening surprise. I’m sitting at my computer, catching up on emails and getting ready to cook dinner, when lo and behold Porsche pops in to say “Look at this, it’s the lightest new 911 you can buy right now!” Meet the 2018 Porsche 911 Carrera T.
The T stands for Touring, and this model is a step up from the base Carrera that puts the emphasis on being light. Lightweight glass, door loops instead of handles, less sound insulation and other tweaks mean a curb weight of 1,425kg — the lightest in the 911 range, Porsche says.
(By comparison, a base Carrera comes in at 1,430kg, a Carrera S is 1,440kg, and a Carrera GTS is 1,450kg. It’s also more than 45kg lighter than a 4S.)
Power is rated at 275kW and 460Nm of torque from the 3.0-litre twin-turbo flat six. The T gets a variety of nice tweaks from across the range, including Sport-Tex seats, a rear seat delete option, a new interior package, grey mirror covers, and the 20-inch wheels off the Carrera S.
You can have it with a manual or PDK, and it does zero to 100km/h in 4.3 seconds with the stick or four seconds flat with the paddle-shifters.
Overall it sounds like an interesting and driver-focused addition to the 911 range, although said range is increasingly crowded and occasionally confusing these days. We should make a chart or something. But the T seems like a win. I think there are far worse ways to blow a stack of cash on a car than this guy.
