Truism number one: The Porsche 911 is a delicious confection of driving pleasure. Also true: Every 911 that emerges from the Porsche patisserie has multiple tasty layers of history baked in. Consider this: The 911’s teardrop shape was first shown in 1963. Its rear-engine layout is descended from the first Porsches, which were produced in 1948 based on the mechanicals of the Volkswagen Beetle. The 911’s flat-six engine also evolved from the flat-four in the People’s Car, which first appeared in the 1930s. And this Carrera T? It’s been treated to an extra dollop of Porsche history, hidden in plain sight.
Strap into the T’s driver’s seat, punch the start button on the left side of the dash, and drop your right hand onto the shifter of the six-speed manual transmission. There it is: The T’s standard wooden shift knob, a golf-ball-size snippet of Porsche racing history that also signals something about the car that surrounds it—a KISS focus on the essentials of driver involvement: simplicity, light weight, and a shift-it-yourself transmission.
For Sale Near You
See all results for 2025 Porsche 911 for sale near t2g 2h6
Porsche says that it first screwed a wooden knob onto the shift levers of two competition models that the factory ran in the 1970 World Sportscar Championship series, the 908/03 Spyder and the 917. In a ruthless quest to reduce the weight of the cars in pursuit of better handling, the race-team engineers discovered that a mahogany shift knob saved 66 grams—2.3 ounces—over an aluminum piece, so on it went. And yes, Porsche won the WSC championship in 1970 and again in 1971.
The knob atop the T’s stubby shifter is walnut rather than mahogany, but it nonetheless pays homage to those long-ago wins, which included the 24 Hours of Le Mans. In addition to stirring up some sweet nostalgia, the T’s shifter stirs a six-speed manual transmission that’s the sole gearbox available. This is the only 911 variant other than the GT3 that allows you the pleasure of pressing a clutch and pulling a lever in order to swap gears. The manual is a core piece of a cohesive package aimed at making the base 911 Carrera even tastier to drive.
Simplicity is a relative term in a car as advanced as the 911, but Porsche did pare down the standard equipment to the essentials in its pursuit of the nth degree of driver satisfaction. The T comes only with rear drive—no heavy hybrid battery or all-wheel-drive system here. However, the standard equipment includes the Sport Chrono package and Porsche’s adaptive dampers, which lower the car by 0.4 inch. There’s a steering-wheel control knob for selecting driving modes, rear-wheel steering, a honking sport exhaust, a front splitter from the 911 GTS, and 20-inch front and 21-inch rear wheels—up an inch from the base Carrera’s—shod with 245/35ZR-20 front and 305/30ZR-21 rear Pirelli P Zero PZ4 summer rubber. All of those chassis components, Porsche says, are specifically retuned for the T.
In a nod to the lightweight mentality that helped those 1970s Porsche race cars notch big wins, the T’s poundage is trimmed back by thinner glass, less sound deadening, and the elimination of the 911’s tiny rear seats, which can be added back at no charge. The manual gearbox also adds lightness compared with the base 911’s standard eight-speed dual-clutch automatic, as do the optional deeply pocketed carbon-fiber-reinforced bucket seats that were in our test car.
At 3355 pounds, our Ice Grey Metallic 911 T coupe weighed in 117 pounds lighter than a current-generation base Carrera we recently tested. The T’s exact weight savings can’t be pinpointed, though, due to the two cars’ differing equipment levels, but Porsche claims the T is 26 pounds lighter when identically equipped. That makes it the lightest 911 in the lineup aside from the track-ready GT3 and GT3 RS. (A 911 Carrera T convertible is also available, though Porsche says it weighs about 190 pounds more than the coupe.)
Minimum avoirdupois is an especially good thing when you’re working with the least power in the 911 lineup. The T shares the base Carrera’s twin-turbo 3.0-liter flat-six, which metes out 388 horsepower and 331 pound-feet of torque. While those numbers are hardly awe-inspiring in today’s hypersteroidal-horsepower era, they’re enough to move the T with serious authority. It rips to 60 mph in 3.7 seconds—as quick as a 668-hp Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing with the six-speed manual—and through the quarter-mile in 12.0 seconds at 118 mph. Though slightly heavier, the automatic-equipped base Carrera hurls itself to 60 in 3.1 seconds and hits the end of the quarter in 11.4 seconds at 121 mph, thanks to its aggressive launch-control starts and quicker-than-a-human shifts.
What the numbers can’t convey is that out on the street, the T feels just as quick as, if not quicker than, the base Carrera. The light, precise action of the shift linkage and easy-to-modulate clutch encourage lots of gear rowing, and that tends to keep the engine out of its lazy, low-rpm lugging zone. In the lower gears, even from modest rpm, the twin-turbo six responds to a flex of your right foot with a ready lunge and a sinister growl.
As it approaches the 7500-rpm redline, it’s a lion roaring in your ear. That’s no illusion; at full throttle, there’s a 90-decibel din in the cabin, which could be an OSHA violation if driving a 911 T were considered work. It most certainly is not. Between the frenzied engine noise and the right-now acceleration, the 911 T feels so quick, so responsive, that you wonder why anyone would need more power than this.
The T does quiet down to a still-loud 77-decibel, 37-sone thrum at a steady 70 mph. You may want to bring noise-canceling headphones for long trips. At least you’ll find the ride acceptably comfortable, calmer than in most other 911 models, though the low-profile tires thwack the pavement seams and tar strips on interstate drives.
Then again, it’s shorter jaunts where the T justifies its reason for being, like when inhaling pavement on a road that wriggles like a scared snake. Or scorching around your favorite cloverleaf. The steering communicates with a bullhorn, building effort progressively as the front tires work harder. Lean into a sweeping on-ramp with the stability control off, and you can feel both ends of the car digging in, tearing at the road. There’s 1.07 g’s of grip available, which made us glad for the support of the optional carbon-fiber-reinforced racing-style seats, even though their tall, rock-hard bolsters can make climbing in and out a literal pain in the butt. There’s enough cornering prowess on tap to make it borderline crazy to attempt to exploit all the T’s handling on the road. Complemented by easily modulated brakes that haul it down from 70 mph in 143 feet and from 100 mph in 282, the T should be as much of a joy to hustle on the racetrack as it is on the road.
This being a Porsche, there is a host of optional toppings you can sprinkle on to this already tasty sportster. Among other things, our test car was equipped with the aforementioned bucket seats ($6120), a front-axle lift system ($3090), LED Matrix Design headlights ($2620), a Bose surround-sound system ($1650), the Gentian Blue interior color ($3140), lane-change assist ($910), and Ice Grey Metallic paint ($860), bringing the grand total to $162,515.
➡️ Skip the lot. Let Car and Driver help you find your next car.
The good news is that you could skip virtually all of those extras without diminishing the T’s soul-satisfying driving experience one iota. For the 911 Carrera T’s $140,795 base price, you’ll get a focused, purposeful sports car with everything on it you want and nothing you don’t need, a car that nails its mission of maximum driver satisfaction and is sweetened with a connection to Porsche’s past racing glory—something you’ll be reminded of every time you shift.
Specifications
Specifications
2025 Porsche 911 Carrera T
Vehicle Type: rear-engine, rear-wheel-drive, 2-passenger, 2-door coupe
PRICE
Base/As Tested: $140,795/$162,515
Options: full bucket seats with rear-seat delete, $6120; Carrera T Interior package in Gentian Blue, $3140; front-axle lift system, $3090; HD-Matrix Design LED headlights in black, $2620; Carrera T Exterior package in Gentian Blue, $2210; Bose surround-sound audio system, $1650; lane-change assist, $910; 360-degree camera system, $890; Ice Grey Metallic paint, $860; 22.1-gallon extended-range fuel tank, $230
ENGINE
twin-turbocharged and intercooled DOHC 24-valve flat-6, aluminum block and heads, direct fuel injection
Displacement: 182 in3, 2981 cm3
Power: 388 hp @ 6500 rpm
Torque: 331 lb-ft @ 2000 rpm
TRANSMISSION
6-speed manual
CHASSIS
Suspension, F/R: struts/multilink
Brakes, F/R: 13.8-in vented, cross-drilled disc/13.8-in vented, cross-drilled disc
Tires: Pirelli P Zero PZ4
F: 245/35ZR-20 (91Y) NA1
R: 305/30ZR-21 (100Y) NA1
DIMENSIONS
Wheelbase: 96.5 in
Length: 178.8 in
Width: 72.9 in
Height: 50.9 in
Front Trunk Volume: 5 ft3
Curb Weight: 3355 lb
C/D TEST RESULTS
60 mph: 3.7 sec
100 mph: 8.6 sec
1/4-Mile: 12.0 sec @ 118 mph
130 mph: 14.6 sec
150 mph: 21.2 sec
Results above omit 1-ft rollout of 0.4 sec.
Rolling Start, 5–60 mph: 4.7 sec
Top Gear, 30–50 mph: 8.6 sec
Top Gear, 50–70 mph: 6.1 sec
Top Speed (mfr claim): 183 mph
Braking, 70–0 mph: 143 ft
Braking, 100–0 mph: 282 ft
Roadholding, 300-ft Skidpad: 1.07 g
Interior Sound
Idle: 51 dBA/7 sone
Full Throttle: 90 dBA
70-mph Cruising: 77 dBA/37 sone
C/D FUEL ECONOMY
Observed: 19 mpg
75-mph Highway Driving: 29 mpg
75-mph Highway Range: 640 mi
EPA FUEL ECONOMY
Combined/City/Highway: 20/17/25 mpg
Rich Ceppos has evaluated automobiles and automotive technology during a career that has encompassed 10 years at General Motors, two stints at Car and Driver totaling 20 years, and thousands of miles logged in racing cars. He was in music school when he realized what he really wanted to do in life and, somehow, it’s worked out. In between his two C/D postings he served as executive editor of Automobile Magazine; was an executive vice president at Campbell Marketing & Communications; worked in GM’s product-development area; and became publisher of Autoweek. He has raced continuously since college, held SCCA and IMSA pro racing licenses, and has competed in the 24 Hours of Daytona. He currently ministers to a 1999 Miata, and he appreciates that none of his younger colleagues have yet uttered “Okay, Boomer” when he tells one of his stories about the crazy old days at C/D.
Nguồn: Chi tiết
- Chưa có bình luận nào.
