2021 review: is the Porsche 991 Carrera T misunderstood?
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- Опубліковано 28 бер 2020
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When Porsche first revealed the 911 (991) Carrera T just before Christmas 2017, it's fair to say the new model garnered a mixed reaction. While we loved the concept of a lightweight, basic 911, its 20kg weight saving was viewed as paltry - Porsche could certainly have taken the 'add lightness' mantra much further.
By the time the Carrera T reached dealerships, a host of questionable options applied to some cars (PDK and a panoramic glass roof in a lightweight special, anyone? They are out there!) further muddied the water somewhat, and dealers have since confided in me that they find the Carrera T hard to sell. The reason? The public just doesn't understand the car, so I'm told.
With that in mind, I decided to revisit the Carrera T, just over two years on from launch, to find out if time has - and will - be kind to what we've since found out will be the last ever narrow-bodied Porsche 911.
Have a watch and let me know your thoughts on the 991 Carrera T: are we looking at a future classic Porsche 911?
I own a Carrara T, it’s definitely been misunderstood. It’s my 10th 911. I’ve driven the 992 and was disappointed by how far away it feels from what I think a 911 should be. Couldn’t agree more about the dials. The T is more than the sum of its parts.
Agreed! I think some dodgy option choices out there hasn't helped with people misunderstanding its purpose, but get a good driver's spec T and you've a fantastic 911. I also think it's a good model to have as your 'only' 911 (for those of us not fortunate enough to own multiple models).
Is that a Carrara white T? 🙂
That Nine Eleven Guy yes! PDK, sun roof, adaptive cruise and a plethora of leather options are best avoided. It all detracts from the purity of the T, which is all about driver engagement and flogging it along country roads. If you want a posh comfy Bentley-ish tech laden luxo barge to doodle around town in, get an over specced GTS Targa.
Frank Nutt The 992 must feel as it looks, a “panamera coupe”
@@samuelsantiagoramirez1058 i think that this name has stuck for the 992 and is used more and more often
T is for... touring. That is all that needs to be understood about this car.
Have a T and I absolutely love it. Drove through the Swiss French Austrian and Italian Alps, on the German autobahn and in traffic of Paris, Milan and Antwerp. Every second is a joy. Love my PDK and my rear seats are always folded down. Open the roof entirely and lower the windows a few cm and you have all the racing sounds plus the feeling like driving with a convertible
So much hate for the 7 speed. If you think that a 400 horsepower car is going to have a Honda shifter...forget it. I find 7th is excellent on long trips. I get 34 mpg on the highway.
Nice revisit of the 911 T and very cool touch that many of your videos are right around 9:11 long
Carrera T is a great driver's car. Full stop.
Great review! 👍👍
Great video, you got exactly to the point. I own Carrera T , slightly modify it to go a bit faster, overall great car and very unique
Great video and comments. I own a Carrera T, and a big part of my decision to get one was based on your Monaco drive video. I must have watched that over a dozen times!
I absolutely love my T, (GT silver, Manual and that gorgeous T-interior with red stitching and seatbelts) and agree with you: it will be a classic someday!
This is so cool! I'm glad the T is continuing to resonate with you. That's a future classic in your garage.
How are you getting on with the manual box? Is it as bad as they all say? Can't imagine it is.
great review of the T and i couldn't agree more with your views. And reading thru the comments was enjoyable too.
Just came back across this vid. Thanks for the redux. T owner from spec, which I was lucky enough to be able to do and avoid some of the dealer bloat. I'm biased, of course, but I absolutely love this car. The pandemic has certainly affected the car market and these, particularly in MT and limited options, are holding value quite nicely once again. I believe they will continue to do so moving forward for all of the reasons discussed here. All that said, it is just an ego thing for me, as I want the car to be appreciated by others as much as I do. I do not plan on moving it on any time soon. For what it is, this car is pretty much perfect in the real world. Well done! SS
Great video. Had a 991.2 convertible which I replaced with a 992 4s convertible. The latter is gone, didn't like it. Now I'm a happy owner of a T. After "doctor" visit it produces 460hp and benches 650 nm of torque, which makes it the perfect daily "GT3" for country roads imho.
Love your reviews. Great insight! I have a T, with no options it is 100lbs lighter than your test car and honestly, I have driven RWS and no RWS and the T does not need it, IMO. You need to drive them back to back, but the car feels very agile without it and drives a bit more old school. Not sure what Porsche did, but it feels so small and light. What made me go with the T - I liked the 'less is more' concept and after the reveal of the 992, suddenly the T felt like a throwback, so I echo your thoughts on T vs 992.
The T is my first Porsche so I may be a bit biased, but I love everything the car has to offer. It’s my daily driver and does everything I’d ever need it to do. Never had an issue with needing more space, gas mileage is good (when I’m driving it at a reasonable speed), and the cool factor is always there. For me, it’s a bit underpowered but nothing a small tune can’t fix in the near future.
Just discovered your channel as I'm hoping to change my 996 Turbo convertible for something newer. Fallen for the T even though I haven't driven one yet (for obvious reasons). Thanks for the review, it confirms what I'm thinking. Spec-wise, it's unique, especially if you include the bucket seats and the rear steer. Weight-wise, the bucket seats must make a difference as well - I read that they might be 10kg a seat lighter? That would take the weight saving to 40kg - not too bad. Can't wait to try one, hopefully soon. 911 my first love in cars so you have a new subscriber. Thanks!
Thanks for the kind words, Simon! Not sure on seat weights but you're right, it's all about finding the right spec as overall mass can differ drastically. Hope you soon find the right example for you!
I wish i never had to sell mine, All the best Lee, great Video.
Hope you're good Tony!
@@9WERKSTV Hi all good, We need to meet up for a coffee once this is all over!!
Thanks for a great video. I first got interested in the Carrera T after watching your video from 2 years ago. I just thought it was way overpriced...especially here in South Africa, but that remains true for all imported sports cars I'm afraid. Two years on however, even very low mileage models....one's with just a few thousand kilometers have dropped by the same 30% as in the UK....& in some cases more than that. I'm now considering it as a replacement for my 981 Cayman gts....which I believe to be a fantastic car. Pre owned Carrera T's are around the same price as 718 gts models...& while it may be significantly more powerful than the 981 gts, it does not have the same appeal for me. This is why I think the Carrera T may be the better option. Of course, one could wait for the 718 4.0 gts, but that would no doubt be very expensive when launched. I'd really appreciate your take on the matter. Many thanks.
‘Last ever narrow body Porsche 911’ ! Humm, as a owner of one, I liked that! $$$. But joke aside, what really did it for me for choosing the Carrera T over other models was a combination of factors. I’m not going to be hypocritical: if I had the extra money, I would have bought the 911 Carrera S. BUT, with all the optional specs I wanted, the S would much over my budget. So I found the Carrera T. Altough it has the base Carrera engine, I specified mine with all the good bits I wanted ( including PDK. I have other manual sport car to drive) and could not have if I bought the std Carrera model ( like torque vectoring). Everything at a price I could afford. The narrow (and sexy) body fits that car perfectly. Well, about the engine. It’s not a crazy fast car, altough some dyno tests I saw are showing not 370hp, but a little over 400hp. Then again, I could not attend a track day with it yet and in the streets and roads coupled with the PDK, the power is very adequate. My plan is to enjoy and learn the car beahavior as is and then jump to a stage 2 tune, wicht is good to get over 450hp at the engine. I couldn’t ask for more. I’m very pleased with the Carrera T and now I know it’s a future classic too. 👍🏻👍🏻
Aftermarket mods do wonders for the 996‘s shift feel. Could the same be true for the 991?
So funny you mentioned the 7 speed. I told my other Porsche friend about how much better the 6 speed is over the 7. I test drove a GT 4 back to back to a 911 T. I’ve driven a total of 3 GT4s and also 991S with the 7. After feeling the 6, there is no going back to the 7.
I completely agree. Great car. Gearbox didnt do it for me :(
Bril, thank you very much and i agree with you only 100%, anything wide, heavy and digital cannot be Porsche. Ferry made something a long time ago of true perfection and the company can afford to create a 'classic' forever because numerically it cannot upset their emissions obligations and more importantly, the punters who love 'old school' sports cars will keep paying - I for one adore narrow lightweight agile creatures which really winds up the missus!
as far as i remember correctly what you say about the weight saving of the T is not correct. It is 20 kg lighter than a Carrera with the same specifications - leaving ot the PCM and the AC makes it even lighter. What i liked most was the fact, that you got specifikations, normally not available for the basic Carrera. Undoubtfully the base engine was pure delight. Adding the possibilty for the lightweight glass and getting rid of the rear seats made every EUR worth it!
I couldn’t agree more Lee 👍🏻
I’m in the camp that “less-is-more”, however, depreciation has not been kind to the T. Time will tell though if the prediction of a classic “clubsport” is in its future. Though I wouldn’t bet on it...
Let’s talk more about that Daytona?! Now that is destined to be a classic.
Yes!!! Absolutely correct on the ethos of a 911 T. Everyone kept comparing it to a GT3 touring years ago which served to blunt its purpose as a true street 911 with emotion. Great review. The RS glass and decreased sound insulation really serves to evoke that visceral response from sound and clarity rather than weight savings. The T was never really about weight savings for me which is why I opted for the metal sunroof...hitting hill country backroads with the sun and wind in a Carrera T is really an amazing experience...especially if you are topping that off with BBQ and wine :)
I have one. My First Porsche.
I'm not an expert, and have no comparison base. But I loved my 7 speed manual, short, buttery and precise. So everytime you complain about It I ask myself, is It bad???
Saw several times all your T vídeos.
Best!
Thanks for your input, Frederico! Enjoy the car.
@@9WERKSTV the t is also my first and only Porsche. love it,
I recently just picked up my lightly used T for about $34k US off sticker price. I love it - manual, carbon buckets, rear seat delete, and not much else. It's a great all around car and I hope to keep for a long time.
Wanna ask?
*sell
How does this compare to a recent Evora?
I drove & considered the T a year ago (along with a 2016 NA GTS manual), and for the pricing (in 2019), I ended up buying a 997.2 GT3. Prices comparable, the scalpel of the GT3 won out for my B road street driving style.
Great choice to have, that!
You have chosen... wisely
Hi could you advise where you filmed this as must drive this in my 911 thanks Andy
Hartside Pass, Cumbria. Cracking road.
My T is coming up on 20K miles and is a bit of a work in progress. I (amongst many others) felt PAG hadn't quite finished the weight loss program and embarked on my own. Out went the rear seats(replaced by a lightweight package shelf), rear seat belts, steel lug bolts(replaced by Titanium) and factory battery(replaced by LiPO4 one). Hoping to encourage a fabricator to build a Ducktail rear spoiler to replace engine lid and rear wing(and associated mechanism). Final goal is to get the car below 1360 kg. Has already be re-logoed to "911 GTL".
Can you not use the duck tail from the 991 sport design package? My Carrera S has one.
Good video. I also own a Carrera T and absolutely love it. But forget about the 7-speed criticism... the 7 speed owners are happy with their gearboxes - many 6 speed owners of GT3s etc are not...
What GT3 owner is unhappy with their manual 6 speed …. Are you high ??
Interesting. Never driven one but had a 991.2 GTS manual with buckets which was a rare spec and the gearbox was terrible. It’s hated 2nd gear
Why hasn't it got a table on the back?
Another great video Lee. The reason for the intro was to show what is missing in the 992, understood; but in my humble opinion, it would be better if you were to put that kind of stuff to the upcoming videos as well for the sake of the turning up the production value a notch in the videos... with all due respect. By the way, I would like to hear how would you compare that 7 speed manual to the 996's manual please? Cheers!
Appreciate the feedback! I always try to make the very best video I can. Some come out better than others, with time always being my limiting factor. If I can move production up a notch every time then I will absolutely do that! Re: the manual Q, I'd rather a good 996 shift to be honest. However, they vary greatly in 996s - some, like on my current car, are so stiff, and that's even after a transmission change. The 7-speed manual in the 991 isn't a great 'box, in my opinion.
@@9WERKSTV Many thanks for the reply. Cheers!
I'd love one of these with a manual box and the rear seats specced back in. I don't really see the point of a non-GT 911 without the back seats. The weight savings are pretty insignificant. Hard to find with this spec however.
I'm on the fence with the rear seats… some days I like 'em, other days I don't.
That Nine Eleven Guy I don’t see any reason besides 5kgs to not have them. I you need cargo space, fold them down. If you need to take a passenger/kids with you, fold them up. Besides, and this is the main issue for me, I really don’t like the look of the stripped interior without seats. And I think it’ll be an easy hour or so with a wrench to remove them and see what all that weight saving fuzz is all about😉
Great video - at £70k it still seems expensive for what it offers, especially compared to the 718 Cayman GTS 4.0 ?
Possibly, but I think the T is a better tourer. It might just be me but I wouldn't want to go off driving round Europe in a little Cayman, I prefer the 911 setup for that.
Definitively, by yourself also, as you proved in the Carrera T Monaco-UK video😂
I’ve said it multiple times: The Carrera T is THE best 4-seater 911 to date. It’s not a track rat, but a superb B-road slasher. It’s not a surgically scalpel-like tool as the GT3, but nothing in the Porsche line-up comes close in versatility and driver involvement. Get one while it’s misunderstood. History has shown misunderstood 911’s are the ones that turn out to be the collectible gems, like the 964 RS and Speedster. Not made for the masses, but for those who know.
Very happy to say I agree, ha! I was so won over by the T this time round that I looked at finance for one, but the numbers were pretty lumpy (and this was pre corona, I got the impression with all the market uncertainty around electric cars that finance companies are trying to leave as little on the balloon as possible). A cracking modern driver's 911 that doesn't set you back GT3 money.
Love this video!!
The essence if the Carrera-T is 100% in the spec. Many T’s were poorly spec’d and only those are the ones experiencing the depreciation. A properly spec’d T is as follows: rear seat deleted/manual transmission/918 Seats (not available in the base model) and rear wheel steering. Furthermore only 1276 T’s were finally made which is far less than the GT3 and only 20% of those were spec’d with the 918 seats....these models are likely to be well bid at auction as 918 seats were not available as an option in the base Carrera.
1276 only? Nice.
I have one and was't aware about those numbers. Cool....
Where did you get that info?
Cheers
if the next Carrera T has the 4.0 liter NA engine that Porsche now uses in the GT4 and 718 4.0 GTS's it might be very special - Porsche says that engine won't fit in the 992 but I find that surprising when you know that one spawned the other but without turbos.....
It'd be awesome, wouldn't it, but alas so far there's no evidence of protoypes bombing around with that engine in.
Promise me that if you ever go on mastermind, your specialist subject will be the 911 👍🏼🇬🇧
That's not a bad shout at all!
I keep watching video after video about modern 911s and everything that people criticise and want to change have solutions that are readily available, simply by buying a 997.
Man, were totally on the the same plain when it comes to mechanical gauges and an actual key. I really cant get over digital gauges, they’re such a cheap cop out under the guise of “technology.”
Completely agree with you!
Actual Key... With an Actual place to put it... :D Couldnt go keyless :)
Drove a Carrera T liked it a lot. Like the manual 997.2 GTS better.
Both great choices. ONLY car I'd trade my 997.2GTS manual for would the "right" spec 911T. My brother's Racing Yellow T, manual, performance build spec would fit that bill. Frank, are you reading this reply?? LOL!
@@steveshap1369 Yes!
Interestingly my T weighed in at 1470kg, with steel breaks, rear seats added , rear axle steer and front axle lift. So 30kg more than this demo car 🤔
Kishan Perera Front axle lift is 6-7kgs. Mine’s regged at 1425kgs. Rear seats, T-interior, PCM and rear axle steer.
I sold a perfect 991S to return the 997.2. 4S
I’m keeping the above BUT going T
My 18th 911. PDK.? It rules compared to The Snail Shifting MANUAL. Driving is not about
shifting. Shift in bed not on the Road
Yes!!!
The 992 Carrera S with a manual is slightly LIGHTER than the 991.2 Carrera S, not heavier. You could call it the unofficial next gen Carrera T with the S engine. :)
Yes, it is a fantastic car only when it is significantly cheap.
i don't think this car is good enough to justify the price over the 991.2 base carrera
The option prices of the items included as standard on the T vs the base Carrera more than offset the price difference...
In yellow its the fastest smiley on earth 🤔🙂😉
It’s dropped by 30% and that was before the inbound global recession. Going to be some very cheap cars out there 👍
I hope you are right.
I've seen a couple of fellas closing the doors with the fabric loops. They're for opening the door not closing it , you pull on the big door handle for that.
Best spec for a T is manual + LWB seats + RAS. Future classic for sure.
I agree that its appeal will grow with time. Of course in 20 years it will suffer the same fate as all sports cars from this era - where to find fuel...
Stonking video once again. Re the car though, I'd rather have a cup of T.
Ahahaha!
The Carrera T is just confused.
Touring ? Not really
Sports car ? Perhaps
Confusion is apparent .
No matter how it’s classified it’s a great car.
its loved by purists, pure standard Carreras are really sporty and more engaging than a Turbo S.
I'd rather have a turbo S but to each his own
Allen Saunders have you driven both?
No answer. Well I have, and would take the Carrera T 7 days a week since I don’t have immediate access to German autobahns. The brutal motor in the Turbo S is actually it’s Achilles heel since it does away with any stretch of road in such a manner that you don’t really get to appreciate the art of driving it. The T just is so much more rewarding IRL situations on non-derestricted roads. And it’s 200kg lighter and much nimbler to throw around. The Carrera T is simply the best and most versatile 4-seater 911 ever made.
I would rather buy a Cayman GTS 4.0 liters.
M M Great car! But is launched after the Carrera T stoped production. And let’s face it. It’s a Cayman. It doesn’t have the 911 pedigree.
MarMPB and it’s got FPF’s Wich muffle the sound which the T hasn’t.
The T was a half-hearted cash grab of a car with lazy engineering, and it was a failed attempt at capitalising on the overs market that had become rampant with the R/GT3 etc...
The fact that dozens of these sat in dealers unsold for a long time should tell you what a failure it was. Big mistake by Porsche
I don't think it was a mistake at all, it brought better driver engagement to the 911 lower down the food chain from those aforementioned GT cars. As ever though, time will be the best judge.
@@9WERKSTV I'm not convinced anything in it screams better drive over a regular 911 or S, I've yet to try one and will be more than willing to eat humble pie but I would have loved them to go further with it - the six speed like you mentioned, maybe less options available would have retained the purity
@@JayEmmOnCars As with most cases regards the 911, the end product is better judged from the driver's seat rather than the spec sheet.
@@9WERKSTV That is very true
That Nine Eleven Guy YES!! JayEmm, haven’t you had any fresh air lately? If you haven’t tried one, your opinion is just BS. I’m really raising my eyebrows on you now. Is this how you normally run your own channel?? Voicing opinions without any self experience of the cars?? Besides, I actually turn the argument of sitting at dealers completely around. The T is misunderstood. That’s almost the most interesting prospect about it. All misunderstood Porsches strangely turn out to be well sought after gems a decade or two down the road. Like Carrera CS, 964RS, 964 Speedster, 996.2GT3RS’s, 997 Sport Classic, 991 50th. They all sat around on dealer lots for ages and suddenly they went into collections never to be seen again getting proper use. I’m on my 8gth 911 now, and my 2018 manual T is sincerely the best. Last Friday I sold my 964Turbo. It was an easy call to keep the T over the vintage Turbo. It’s simply the best 4-seater 911 ever made. Engaging and vearsatile. The 991.2 TurboS is A LOT less entertaining than the T. It’s just comedy compared, unless you have access to a nearby autobahn.