The all-you-can-eat buffet. Any item costing $0.99. Daft Punk’s helmets. The Porsche 911 Carrera T. All of these are gimmicks. But you know what? Occasionally I do want to eat my body weight in shrimp, I like saving money, Daft Punk rules, and the 911 Carrera T is just about all the 911 I’ll ever need. There are good gimmicks and there are bad gimmicks. The premise of the stripper-but-with-all-the-good-parts 911 Carrera T is perhaps the best gimmick of all.
I say all this with love because I’d take a 911 over just about any sports car most of the time. This is my bias. I’ve driven old 911s. I’ve driven new 911s. I’ve driven meticulously cared-for 911s and I’ve driven well-worn daily drivers. They’re all good. I didn’t buy a 911 when they were undervalued and now everyone’s figured out they drive better than they look so there’s no unscrambling that 996 headlight. I don’t think 911s are overvalued now, they’re just fairly valued, which may forever keep them out of my price range. I guess I’ll buy a Panamera.
What makes the 911 Carrera T a gimmick is that this is just another trim level of mostly stuff you can/could get on other trim levels of Carrera, with a couple of smart additions, repackaged as something very new and very important. In Porsche’s own words, which could also double as a Trojan ad, the Carrera T is “a commitment to purism. A conscious release. For increased driving pleasure.” All 911s are for pure driving joy, but the 911 Carrera T is the most purely pure 911 for purity of pure driving. It’s just a little silly and that silliness is only compounded by the fact that it 100% works on me. And it probably works on you, too. I’m a Carrera T man. It’s basically my personality now.
My pal Matt Miller, an Autopian member and Bloomberg anchor, had me on his show a couple of months ago to talk about the rich pink 911 T press car he was driving. I was so jealous. Matt sits above me in the press car hierarchy and I realized immediately that I needed to get my hands on that car, so I begged Porsche to let me borrow it.
It was all booked up, but if the snow held off I could maybe have it at the end of its visit to New York. Mercifully, it stayed warm enough for me to take it for a week.
The Basics
Price: $136,280 as-tested
Engine: 3.0-liter twin-turbo boxer 6
Transmission: Seven-speed manual
Drivetrain: Rear-engine, rear-wheel drive
Horsepower: 379 horsepower @ 6,500 RPM
Torque: 331 lb-ft @ 1,900 RPM
Fuel Economy: 17 MPG city, 25 MPG highway, 20 MPG combined
Body Style: 911
Curb Weight: 3,254 pounds.
Why Does The Porsche 911 T Exist?
The Porsche 911 Carrera T (or just 911 T) is the antidote to all of these tests where an electric truck shows up at a dragstrip. (see below). It is the “slowest” Porsche 911. It’s got the least powerful 911 engine, at just 379 horsepower and 331 lb-ft of torque. When you mate that least-powerful 3.0-liter twin-turbo to Porsche’s exquisite 7-speed manual it’s even slower, clocking a 0-60 mph time of just 4.5 seconds.
It’s no surprise then, that when Tesla decided to drag race their Cybertruck against a new 911 it seems to have picked the Porsche 911 T with the stick-shift. Based on the numbers, most 911s would pick off a Cybertruck in a 1/4-mile, but the truck is impressively fast.
This drag race, too, was a gimmick. An effective one, yet also a revealing one. I haven’t driven the Cybertruck yet, but I’ve driven a few Teslas and plenty of fast electric cars, and the 911 T is better dynamically than all the fast EVs I’ve driven. In certain contexts, a Lucid or a Cybertruck or a Polestar might be faster, sure, if you find yourself in a race. I rarely find myself racing electric cars, or any cars for that matter, but I do often find myself driving for enjoyment.
America’s fascination with 0-6o mph times predates electric cars so you can’t blame EVs for how tiresome this has gotten. It’s just that the quirk of almost instantaneous torque and cleverly programmable traction you find in an electric car means that EVs have a huge and impressive advantage. Good for them. It’s always fun to stomp on the skinny pedal and outrun people.
To me, though, that’s not my favorite part of driving.
I don’t wish to be crude here, but in some ways, this fascination with 0-60 times is like bragging that you can climax in just 10 seconds. Or you can polish off a whole lobster before most people can put on their bib. Or that you managed to get to the gift shop in The Louvre before your friends made it to the Giotto.
If an EV like the Cybertruck is the ultimate vehicle for those who take pleasure in the finishing, the 911 T is the ultimate vehicle for those who take pleasure in the doing.
That’s the reason why the 911 Carrera T exists. It’s the 911 for people who favor the qualifiable over the quantifiable. It’s not good in spite of its relative slowness, it’s good because of that slowness.
There’s also a slightly more cynical perspective on why it exists, but more on that later.
What Is A Porsche 911 Carrera T?
The 911 T technically is slotted between the 911 Carrera and the 911 Carrera S, but it borrows parts and spirit from the bigger and faster GTS, which sits above all of them.
What does that mean, exactly?
Most importantly, the base 911 Carrera and Carrera 4 are no longer available with a manual transmission, so this is the cheapest way to get a new manual 911 that doesn’t end in a police chase. There’s the same twin-turbo flat-six out back as in the Carrera, but the half-second stick-shift penalty means this is a sportier model that’s slower in this one dimension.
The 911 T isn’t about short bursts of speed, it’s about feel and there are a number of upgrades to make the car more of an experience. Porsche gives this Carrera the full-Ozempic and ditches the rear seats, gets a lighter battery, abandons some sound deadening, and gets thinner window glass. All of this theoretically adds up to 100 pounds of savings.
More than just lightening the car, most of these changes make it easier and more pleasurable to enjoy the sound of the motor, the clacking of the gears, and the chirp of tires. After a few hours on the highway cruising in 7th these charms may wear slightly thin, but as Bruce Springsteen sang: That’s the price you pay, oh the price you pay.
(Side note: If the 911 Carrera T were a Springsteen Album would it be “The River”? No, absolutely not. It would be “Nebraska.” I refuse to explain why).
In addition to the things Porsche takes out of the car, the things they put back in also warrant mention — thing like Porsche Active Suspension Management (PASM), Sport Chrono, sport exhaust, and a mechanical limited-slip differential. Up front are 245-section Pirelli P Zeros on 20-inch wheels, out back the wheels are 21 inches with a much wider 305-section tire.
Sport Chrono, if you don’t know, adds the cool little clock in the center of the dash for charting lap times. More importantly, it brings with it the mode selector dial, PSM Sport mode, rev-match shifting, and magnetorheological driveline mounts that stiffing to keep, uh, the driveline in place as you’re pushing the car (I assume if you can feel the engine mounts stiffen you have reached the mythical 10/10ths, my friend). [Ed Note: I always found if odd that a package named Sport Chrono that references adding a little clock comes with a ton of mechanical hardware that improves handling. -DT].
All of this comes at a theoretical starting price of $118,050 starting price (after delivery fees, as tested), which makes the Carrera T about $2,200 more expensive than a base Carrera and a few grand less than the Carrera S. Since getting the car, the base price of the Carrera T seems to have gone up, but the price differentials seem roughly the same.
This particular car added $3,270 for the Ruby Star Neo paint (do it), $4,530 for the leather interior with the checkered Sport-Tex seat centers (skip, base cloth is best), $230 for the extended range fuel tank (sure), $280 for the heated GT Sport steering wheel (it is a great steering wheel), $2,770 for the front-axle lift system (definitely), $1,060 for Lane Change Assist (nope), $3,270 LED-Matrix Design Headlights (if you’re Jason), $2,820 for adaptive sport seats (not for me). The grand total is $136,280 delivered, but for about $133k I think you can get the perfect one.
It’s a Porsche. Picking out your options is like half the fun of getting one.
What’s It Like On The Outside?
It’s a 911. It looks like a 911. This one is pink.
Either you like the look of the 911 or you’re crazy, I don’t think there’s a lot in between.
If we’re getting picky, the Carrera T would look better in the Fuchs-evocative Carrera Exclusive Design wheels as I don’t like the titanium grey Carrera S wheels that come with the car.
I think the 992 generation is an improvement over the 991 for the sole reason that Porsche got rid of the weird frowny turn signals and better resolved the rear of the car with the parallel red lights on the rear lid.
Compared to the base 911 Carrera you can differentiate the T at a quick glance because of its contrasting trim on the upper and lower mirrors, high gloss black taillights, and Agate Grey trim strips on the rear lid grille. Just kidding! You can tell because it says “Carrera T” on the side, though those little details are nice.
What’s It Like On The Inside?
The 911 is so nice. Philosophically, I have a hard time justifying spending $140k on a new car when there are so many old cars that could be had for the price. Then I sit in a brand new 911 and I understand it.
After a lot of recent trips in cars that are just flat touchscreens and acres of restrained Swedish whatever it’s so satisfying to have a real gauge cluster with a real gauge. There are buttons. So many buttons. And switches. After so much minimalism it’s like being in the cockpit of the 747.
The seats! So good. Every surface feels right. The steering wheel has buttons, but only the buttons you need. It has that little drive mode selector at the bottom. Oh that’s so fun to turn. Too much fun to turn. I’m surprised I didn’t wear all the little diamond-pattern plastic texture off of it.
Should every car be the 911? Yeah. Every car that doesn’t need cupholders, at least, because there’s one big one right in the middle of the center console where your elbow belongs and then the little vestigial one that pops out in the passenger seat that, in this generation, almost works.
Just don’t drink. It’s better for you that way. The less drinking the less stopping, and the less stopping the more driving.
How The Carrera T Drives
Auto journalists love to toss around the term “analog” to describe a driving experience, though I’m skeptical any modern car is truly analog. Can a car with a system like PASM, which uses sensors to determine when to stiffen the dampers on the fly, truly be an analog car?
An MG MGB is analog.
These days, though, every car is actively trying to be digital. The connection to the road is getting more tenuous by the day (the Cybertruck, for instance, is fully drive-by-wire with no physical connection between the steering wheel and the tires).
In the context of modern cars the 911 T may not be truly analog, but it is visceral. The lack of sound dampening and the existence of a manual transmission already make every interaction between the car and the road feel like something is actually happening.
Not everyone wants that. Believe it or not, I know a few normal people. Civilians. They want to be isolated from the road. To them, being able to use your nose and your hands and your ears to drive seems exhausting.
It’s not. It’s thrilling.
I intended to bring the car to Lime Rock Park but the bad timing of an illness meant I ended up having to take the car to a favorite and hidden stretch of road on the other side of the river that contains an unusually high density of camber changes and elevation for this part of the world.
There I performed amateur phrenology on the road with those big, sticky Pirelli P Zero tires. Moments like these are why this car exists. The car stays so planted and so composed as I push closer and closer to the car’s limit without ever making me feel like I lose track of that limit.
Steering is crisp and shifts are sublime. This is an all-time great manual. I got into my BMW after this and, again, not to be crude, but shifting it felt like making love to a bowl of butterscotch pudding after clicking through gears in the 911.
To lodge one complaint: It feels like the footwell has gotten smaller since the 991 and 997, putting the dead pedal a little closer to the clutch than I’d like and otherwise making the pedals feel uncomfortably close. You get used to it, but it’s not a good change.
Backroads aren’t the only place to have fun in this particular 911. Jumping onto the interstate from a cloverleaf-style onramp with my father-in-law in the passenger seat I demonstrated how oversteer works, surprising my father-in-law.
It’s to the credit of the car, more than the driver, that oversteer was quite gradual and predictable and I got to look the hero. Trying to do a static burnout was harder as Porsche doesn’t let you rev beyond about 3,500 with the clutch in so… uh, maybe don’t try that.
Around town, the 911 Carrera T isn’t truly any less refined than its more expensive brethren. The noise is barely an issue and, if you check the box marked “front-axle lift” you can get an extra 40 mm of ground clearance up front on demand. This is an excellent feature.
As is the paint. My daughter loved it. My neighbors loved it. Everyone loved it. Get a fun color. Don’t get a white 911 T. Get a green one. Or a blue one.
If you need any more 911 than this you’re either faster or richer than I am, or maybe both.
Does The Car Fulfill Its Purpose?
Hell yeah. The 911 Carrera T is exactly what’s promised, which is a slightly more enjoyable 911 for slightly less than what it would cost if you just took a Carrera and tried to get all of these options.
It’s also, somewhat cynically, a car that’s more valuable than a Carrera with all of those options or, even, a faster and more expensive 911 Carrera S.
Any automaker with sense is jealous of Ferrari’s profit margins and Ferrari’s margins rely on people willing to pay/buy whatever to keep getting Ferraris. To make people do this, Ferrari maintains a somewhat contrived scarcity of its products.
Porsche is a slightly more democratic operation, especially if you want a Macan, but any new Porsche 911 variant somehow contains value outside of its actual, printed value, and so the mere creation of another 911 T adds another thing for Porsche people to latch onto emotionally and financially.
This may explain why someone paid above sticker this summer for a low-mileage 911 Carrera T on Cars And Bids.
And, yes, I know there was a 911 T that proceeded this. The first old 911 I ever drove was actually an imported 911 T and I loved that car, but it existed at a time when there wasn’t a Macan T, a Boxster T, and a king-of-trim-mountain 911 GT3 Touring.
Ultimately, the 911 Carrera T is a gimmick. It’s a ploy. It’s mostly a repackaging of stuff you can get (or should be able to get) on its other cars and some trim pieces. Who cares? It’s awesome. I will acknowledge that it’s a gimmick and yet, at the same time, it almost makes me like it more. It just works. And why does it work?
To quote the great Roger Sterling from the show Mad Men:
“I’ll tell you what brilliance in advertising is: 99 Cents. Somebody thought of that.”
A tip of my hat to the person who thought of Carrera T, because that’s a kind of brilliance, too.
I’ll never forget the day I learned that the sport chrono clock was a package and that every modern Porsche didn’t just come with the clock. My whole life was shattered!
Today was that day for me.
It’s such a terrible name for that bundle of options.
379 hp is plenty-maybe even too much already. Only 911 I’ve been lucky enough to drive was a 2008 997 C4S (355 hp) and took it on one of my favorite twisty backroads that I frequently drove in my e30 and the 911 wasn’t even breathing hard. Not complaining but I really cannot see why the average enthusiast needs more speed and capability than what that car or this one offer.
Some people want the amp because it goes to eleven.
Ha, far too many honestly but then I’m pretty moderate in general lol. I don’t even begrudge some people wanting to go to eleven, what bugs me is that it now feels like all the amps go to eleven-which would be fine except it always seems to come at the expense of one thru six.
Carrera T, Boxster T, Macan T, seems like Porsche is all about the big Ts these days.
One area where they are equal is the D-Bag factor. I see anyone driving either one of these cars, I automatically think you’re a D-Bag.
Not me. Diehard P-car people can be a little weird, but I never got dbag vibes from them. I often go a to a Porsche club C&C event, obviously lots of Porsche’s but they let anyone join the fun and show off their ride, and they’re all cool people.
I see a lot of Porches around where I live, and my impression is that they are mostly the yacht club set who bought them to look “sporty”, and not actual auto enthusiasts.
Unless they bought the T, that’s how you can spot the enthusiasts.
In my experience, that’s true of Cayenne and Macan drivers. 911 and Cayman (particularly) drivers are usually real enthusiasts.
I hope anyone buying a 911 in that color gets vanity plates that say “Pepto” on them.
With that said, I kind of like the color. I’d never buy it myself, as they have some fantastic blues and greens that are my jam, but I would appreciate someone else getting that pink over white, black, or grey.
Why do I want Sports Chrono? It’s just a clock. Oh, it’s all the good stuff, and a clock. I understand why my Porsche driving friends bang on about it now.
I have questions:
How is the gear stick sprung across the gate? Does it sit in the 3-4 plane? If so what stops you getting 5th and 7th mixed up? Also given that I use 5th gear maybe once a year (I’m either accelerating in a lower gear or cruising in 6th), what is the point of having another gear to skip? Does it make more sense when you’re driving?
I’ve not driven a 911 newer than a 997, but is the speedo still infuriatingly marked up 0, 25 (not a speed limit in the UK), 50 (a niche speed limit), 75 (again not a speed limit). Every car I’ve had has managed to find the decal budget to label the speedo in increments of 10. Sure, there’s a digital speedo too, but is that any reason to sell me an analogue gauge that’s useless?
Speaking of analogue things, specifically analogue sports cars with about 400bhp: how does this compare feel-wise with a Lotus Emira? I can’t afford either, but it’s nice to get them ranked in my head in case I get a lottery win or something.
A lot of good questions. You can only shift into the 7th from 5th or 6th gear, so that’s not annoying in practice. Most of the time you’re in 2-4, when you get to the highway once you climb to 5th, practically, I just shifted over to 7th.
The analog gauge looks so good! I like it better, even if it’s more vestigial at this point.
I haven’t driven the Emira yet, but it feels like a faster, more stable Lotus Evora. I love the Evora, though, it’s just… less of a car.
Thanks for explaining the gearbox thing, I just couldn’t get my head round it.
It makes sense. It probably makes more sense if you get to drive at autobahn speeds rather than accelerate to 70/80mph then cruise.
I love this color so much and of course as one of our resident Parsh fanboys naturally I love the Carrera T and the Ts in general. It’s the bonkers GT3, GT4, Turbo, Turbo S, etc variants that get all the attention but the T and GTS trims are almost always where the real joy is at.
I love the idea of a stripped version that’s nothing but the essentials with some of the added performance stuff from higher trims. The Ts have almost always felt like gentleman/woman’s choice to me. It’s a classic if you know you know situation. Normies will look at it and say “oh cool a PORSH” but enthusiasts know you’re classy and they’re good track cars to boot.
The GTS trim rules for similar reasons but has MO POWA BABY! While I get tired of the “sweet spot” cliche getting overused I think it’s appropriate for T and GTS Porches. They have what you need and nothing that you don’t. My cousin who has more money than he knows what to do with custom ordered a 911 GTS convertible and it’s one of the nicest cars I’ve ever been around. TBD if he’ll ever let me drive it, but a man can dream.
I just wish I could afford one lol. I could probably sell the wife on a reasonably spec’d Macan or certified Cayenne in the next few years but I’m one of those insufferable pricks who would have trouble accepting anything without a flat 6 as a true Parsh….
Hi Matt,
I know you can’t, but I’m going to ask anyway….
PLEASE, next time you get a good car, PLEASE hit me up. Please make your final destination someplace in CT. I’ll buy you lunch! I’d absolutely love to join you for one of these test drives. I’ll stay completely quiet (yeah right). I won’t cry when you drop me off 10 miles from my car. It’d be neat to meet you sometime. I live in Waterbury, and am very willing to drive a reasonable distance to hang.
Sincerely,
Parsko
PS – I’ve never even had a chance to ride in a Parsh. My FIL had one, but never threw me the keys, then sold it. SHIT, he never threw my wife the keys, either. With that said, I’d even join you on a minivan review. SHIT, I’d even join you on a review of a Nissan.
Lol, ok, but it might be when I have a minivan!
Approved.
Pretty amazing how Tesla cherry-picked everything they wanted to race with their UselessTruck, and then races them all in Tesla-land. As if there was ever any doubt of the outcome of any of those races: Hummer, Rivian, Porsche, Raptor — and most journos ate it up, hook, line and sinker. I believe Autopian was the first to call the Porsche v. Tesla race a gimmick.
To be fair, any other automaker would do the same.
I totally dig while you like this car. Here’s a great idea for Porsche: build a truly minimal 911. Get rid of all the foo-foo electronics, keep the AC, radio, and, of course, manual transmission, and have the thing sell for just a tick under 100 K. Profit!
Sadly, they’ve grown too fat and rich, to ever entertain anything like this, which is a shame.
Maybe I’m missing something here, but what you are suggesting sounds an awful lot like a base 911. And if you’re looking for something leaner, the Cayman.
Guilty as charged, your honor. But wouldn’t it be cool for a stripper 911 to be somehow very special in performance and driving experience, in addition to being lower cost?
At one point, several years ago, I was messing around on Photoshop and ended up adding a golf front end and wheels onto an Audi R8, continuing the line of thought created by the R8 as the budget Lamborghini. What if there was an even more budget Lamborghini? Since then the idea of a car, that is essentially what you are describing, has always intrigued me. What if the majority of the purchase price of a car was put towards engine and chassis, and we compromised on: Bodywork, interior, infotainment, driver-aids, wheels, even headlights and tail lights? Would it be received well? Would people buy it? Or would it be tainted by its econobox-ness and poorly reviewed? I think the closest we got was probably a C6 ZR-1 or Z06.
Hideous color. Please. stop.
It looks like it ran into a tanker truck that was transporting Pepto-Bismol ヽ(ﾟДﾟ)ﾉ
I hate the colour, I’d have mine in grey.
But it’s nice that the tiny minority of people who like mad colours get a choice.
Good point.
I have a friend who sells cars. He describes yellow cars as “90-day yellow” because that’s how long a yellow car will sit in the lot before anyone looks at it.
…and it’s CUTER!!!
Look at that good parsh. Just look at it.
Greatly written article that sums up my same position on modern driver’s cars (or “driver’s cars” as the case more often is)—it’s about the feel and that is what’s lacking most of the time and IDC how unusably, academically fast something is, that is not a substitute. For reasons I don’t understand as they’re great cars with a great history, I’m just not a Porsche guy, but this would be the one for me. I actively don’t want something super fast so I can enjoy full throttle banging through some gears on occasion without being a sociopath or ending up arrested and this one sounds about perfect. I even like how they updated the old 2.7 RS Carrera script while calling back to it. Holy, Athena, that price, though! I’ll stick with the GR86.
Electric cars have made 0-60 mph times irrelevant. There are so many things that can do 0-60 in under 4 seconds that it has completely lost its luster. I too am more impressed by a car that can do the other things well.
My $35,000 crossover can hit 60 in the high 4s on a good day, which is as fast as many sports cars 10 years ago. A freaking Mazda CX90 that seats up to 8 is essentially as fast as a GTI in Turbo S form. The dual motor Volvo EX30 supposedly does it in the mid 3s.
0-60 doesn’t mean shit anymore. I’m much, much more impressed by cars that are eager dance partners, because they’re getting harder and harder to find.
Specially since EV tires don’t last long, 0-60 is not important if you are eating tires like crazy. Cars are heavier, tires are low resistance by default. I have 16K miles on mine and I don’t think they are going to pass the 20K miles mark.
Average is $1600 for a new set for Polestar 2. I dont drive like crazy neither.
How long did/do they last? Asking b/c my sister just got a P2.
I love the huge window up top, and it’s incredibly quiet with good textures inside, but it feels very isolating. I’m lucky in that I mostly just drive my cars for fun, so I want to be able to hear the tire noise. OTOH, when my bil took me out to show it off, I was quite impressed at how damn well that mass handles not just curves, but bumpy pavement: that active suspension is multiple levels above my 25yo M Roadster’s (which is by far the best handling thing I’ve ever been able to afford: stupid fun)
I get it’s a Porsche, and a very nice car and stuff. But 136k for one of these bad bois feels like allloot. I have reason to believe this thing will probably gain in value. But it feels kinda underwhelming for a new house in Lincoln, Nebraska money. With 136k, you can get some wild used cars. Give them to some dude named Johnny and like 50k. Then go fast enough for the state troopers to break out the helicopter. The friendly Highway Patrolman will be drooling over your FD RX7 for example. Or just buy a used GT-R. Then use the rest of the money in Atlantic City and keep that place open all night.
I see this and I WANT it. But I can’t afford it, so I’ve got my MR2 Spyder instead. It’s about 1000 lbs lighter, which counts for a lot. But the idea of a fair amount more refinement, enough more cargo space to make a real difference, and significantly more power is tempting. Is it worth 16x the price? Hard to say.
For now I think I’ll stick with my current plan which fits my budget better- tiny, cheap sports car and a performance EV. For now the EV isn’t really performance but it’s still fun to be able to light up the front wheels on command. Maybe someday the sports car can be a Lotus or Cayman, and the EV can have RWD or AWD and 2-3x more HP.
Matt, it sounds like you need to up your E39 shifter game. The ZF 320z in that car is a fantastic transmission, only hampered by a lame stock shifter and tall, rubbery knob. ZHP knob + E60 545i shifter + new shifter bushings will have you falling in love with your car all over again.
Indeed, and when I have transmission work to do I’ll probably do that.
Don’t know that shifter, but a major improvement I’ve made to any manual is a less isolated knob. I like $2 2″ diameter wood knobs from the furniture hardware aisle of one of the big box home improvement stores. It’s like the popular, more expensive aluminum or nylon ones, but lighter, nicer to touch, and doesn’t freeze/burn in extreme weather. Even on sportier cars with decent stock knobs, it transforms the shift feel.
Typo somewhere, looks like. (combined typically lands somewhere between city and highway numbers.)
fat-fingered, thank you.
That is a cool color. We need more cars in cool colors 🙂
Apparently they have cars with cool colors in Iran.
This is the kind of car our kids won’t believe we were able to buy new.
I’m looking forward to the hopefully-upcoming Tales From The Slack in which the gang reveals the editorial process that gave this piece three different headlines over the course of 90 minutes.
My favorite was the headline about it being a gimmick, but I can see why they may have wanted to change that.
It’s so odd to change the headline. The internet doesn’t forget. The url literally says “The 2023 Porsche 911 T is a gimmick.”
lol, do you want me to ruin it for you or do you want to wait from TFTS?
Don’t ruin it for us! I can wait! 🙂
Oh, beautiful. Well said, Matt.
Drive a slow car fast.
Take road trips instead of flying
Buy a 911 T
Good review! The market needs more cars with this ethos. Maybe not this price…
In my magical dream-land that I retreat to in my head when The Real World gets too terrible to contemplate any longer, Ford comes to its senses and brings out a Mustang version of this car, with analog gauges, manual transmission, naturally aspirated engine, and a regular mechanical parking brake. Then Chevy would see the light and greenlight the next gen Camaro built along the same lines. Then Dodge would come out of nowhere with a lithe little Barracuda to compete with the other two…
What a weird motor. Twin turbo 3.0 and only 331 lbs-ft? I mean, it’s obvious they tuned for a flat curve that feels more naturally aspirated, but it’s so strange in a world of super torque turbo engines to have this purest sports car so…restrained. In a world where +$599 gets you a Ford Maverick tune good for 327 lbs-ft from a 2 liter with a factory kit, 331 lbs-ft from a twin turbo Porsche seems odd.
They also need to leave room for the S and GTS calibrations of the same motor.
A lot of it is artificial sandbagging to protect the sales of the more expensive cars in the lineup. Especially now that almost every 911 has a turbo engine, they’re all capable of crazy power figures, but then nobody would buy the “TURBO” models. Fortunately this is easily fixed with a flash tune (idk about warranty though).
You mean b/c maybe everything that dies some day comes back?