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if you haven't heard there's a bit of an
analog revolution going on at Porsche no
other company is embraced with quite the
same gusto the pleasure isn't
necessarily linked to down forcing lap
times manual gearbox is more slippery
shapes less weight all these things help
the car bond with you rather than
constantly straining at the leash first
came the Cayman gt4 then the 911 R then
the 911 gt3 with an optional manual
gearbox and now there's two more so
called back to basic 911 to add to that
list and here they are our two analogue
flavored 911s but from quite different
ends of the Porsche spectrum over here
they're 85 grand Carrera T a homage to
the Monte winning Carrera T from the 60s
essentially Aurora
slightly lighter version of the bago 911
and here the 111 gram gt3 mit Touring
pack a wingless manual only version of
the gt3 designed to make 911 are
speculators look a little bit silly we
begin with the gt3 Touring pack gone is
the rear wing and you can only have a
manual gearbox and that's about it but
all the best bits from the gt3 are still
here so you get the 493 break 4 liter
naturally aspirated flat 6 that revs to
9,000 rpm four-wheel steering and the GT
threes wider body lower chassis and
wheels inside you can only have leather
no racy Alcantara here and no optional
club sport pack either with its roll
cage and fire extinguisher so less
racetrack more French Riviera and feel
but this is still a massively print car
naught 62 and 3.9 seconds and a 190
six more crack
first things first we need to talk about
that Touring pack name it comes from a
spec that was often on the Carrera RS
back in the 70s so it's got the Heritage
but it's probably a little bit
misleading just deleting the rear
spoiler and making a manual gearbox
compulsory does not make this thing any
more of a continent crusher what it does
do is make it look so much cooler to my
eyes at least it's so much more stealthy
flies under the radar only people in the
know will know just how special this car
is the manual gearbox it's absolutely
superb it's tight it's mechanical it's
only got six ratios actually and that's
because Porsches GT Department refused
to use a 7-speed manual good on them I
say because seven speeds is probably one
ratio too many and then we come to the
engine which we already know from the
standard gt3 is a thing of wonder in
fact we recently gave it our engine of
the Year award on Top Gear magazine but
in case you didn't know well I better
demonstrate just what makes this
powerplant
so so special
that ladies and gentlemen is 9,000 rpm
500 rpm more than you get from a 911 our
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what I don't want to do is focus on any
one specific component they're all
brilliant in their own right but what
makes this car so good is the way they
meld together they work together and
form this cohesive whole
for example the meaty steering works
really well with the mighty brakes down
there and the suspension
well it doesn't fight the rotor it
doesn't crash around it flows along and
breathes with you what you get is a
sense of solidity and immense capability
and no point though does this car feel
intimidating it's on your side it's your
friend it wants you to do well of course
if you want to prove yourself then you
can always get a gt2 RS but for the rest
of us that don't like pain and prefer
driving on normal roads as opposed to
racetracks well this is quite a thing a
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tall order them for the more junior
karate but as I said earlier today isn't
about raw numbers and performance it's
more about pleasure and putting one of
these on my face
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the T here stands for touring this isn't
a softened off Carrera is more of a
lightweight special it uses the same 365
brake 3 liter turbo flat 6 as the base
Carrera baguettes a mechanical diff
20mil suspension drop and sports exhaust
as standard while the 7-speed manual
gearbox has shorter ratios and a shorter
stick throwing out the back seats and
some sound insulation thinner rear
windows and making the radio and sat-nav
optional although you can add them back
in no extra cost
let's save 20 kilograms that means the
naught to 60 time drops by 1/10 to 4.5
seconds 4.2 if you go for the PDK option
which you absolutely should not and the
180 miles per hour top speed so does 30
grand and 130 horsepower less make this
an inferior car well no not by the
criteria that we're using today yes the
gt3 has its party piece it's 9,000 rpm
engine but actually this thing has a
smaller turbocharged engine so you get
more torque lower down and really it
punches just as hard on the tight narrow
roads and the South of France that were
driving around on today in terms of
sound
well that exhaust does make some quite
juvenile pops and crackles sounds a
little bit synthetic but I dare you to
try and drive through a tunnel and not
put your windows down
overall then this car the coyote well it
feels smaller it feels lighter
it feels dainty er than the gt3 a lot
closer then two 911s of old question is
can I feel that 20 kilogram weight
saving no can I hear the reduce sound
deadening in the back new is this manual
gearbox good yes it's absolutely
excellent but if I'm honest
perceiving those slightly shorter ratios
is quite tricky what this car is then is
a really clever piece of spec
manipulation designed to serve this
fashion for more analogue sports cars
but please don't be put off because hey
when was it ever a crime to give
customers exactly what they wanted
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right so which one is our winner well
it's a hell of a lot closer than I
thought it was going to be the truth is
I got much more confident much quicker
in the Carrera T and let's not forget
you could buy a hot hat with the change
but even when it was hampered on squidgy
winter tires you can just tell there's
more magic in the gt3s bones which is
why that's where my money would go but
other manufacturers
please take note sports cars and
supercars aren't just about headlines
and numbers and performance figures it's
about the squidgy human sitting in the
middle controlling them and right now
I'm one very
you