991.2 Carrera v Carrera T: how does the T improve on the base car?
Lighter, more focused and simple. We like the sound of that here at Total 911, particularly when it comes to cars. We first heard about the Carrera T some months ago and, frankly, we could barely contain our excitement. On first details, it sounded exactly like the Carrera should be, even if the ‘T’ moniker seems a little bit contrived. The specification sounds more like a Clubsport, the T’s Touring badge wrapped up in the contradictions of the car’s lighter, more focussed specification. Still, it fits with the Touring ethos of the GT3 at the other extreme, Porsche’s naming strategy somewhat haphazard presently.
Nomenclature be damned though. The Carrera T’s specification makes for interesting reading. The changes, in typically Porsche fashion, are moderate in isolation, though add them up and they’re convincing enough to make for a differing whole. Like the GTS above the S, then, the Carrera T is a box-ticking exercise in specification that enhances and improves, while cleverly adding a few unique elements that mark it out as distinct.
Porsche’s message with it is ‘Less is more’ and that it’s all about the driving. Certainly its specification addresses concern in some quarters that the 911 leans more towards the GT spectrum in 991.2 guise than ever before. Using the Carrera as its basis, the 3.0-litre turbocharged flat-six develops the same 370hp as the entry-level 911. There’s less weight, the quoted unladen weight being 1,425kg, Porsche saying that’s 20kg less than a similarly specified Carrera.
There is some smoke and mirrors going on here though, the Carrera T’s specification has the Miami Blue car here listed at that 1,425kg, while the specification for the silver Carrera Coupe we’ve brought along to test against it reads 1,430kg. There’s 5kg in it here, then, and even that’s open to debate, as the Carrera T comes equipped here with a PCM module. It does without rear seats though, has the reduced sound deadening too, while the windows from the driver and passenger side ones back are lightweight glass – it, like the rear seat and PCM delete a no-cost option to have as standard.
Spend an hour or two on the configurator, as I have, and you’ll find all the slight differences, specifying a standard Carrera, as much as is possible to the specification of a standard Carrera T will see it surpass the Carrera T’s price tag. Throw in the Carrera T’s unique ‘lightweight’ bits and pieces and it all makes a bit more sense, the German-plated car weighing in at £89,994. That is a creep of £4,368 over its £85,576 list price – thank paint and a few other non-essential niceties like the Carrera T interior pack that adds contrasting silver stitching and door straps, but even then the closest I could get the Carrera specification saw it rise to around £89,000 in comparison.
The car silver Carrera here is close enough, being £84,891, visually, externally it takes a keen-eyed spotter to notice the differences. Twenty-inch wheels are standard, while there’s a painted grey finish to the rear engine slats.
For the full feature, pick up your copy of Total 911 issue 163 in shops now or get it delivered via via myfavouritemagazines.co.uk.
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