Tuesday, March 01, 2016

Porsche 911R unveiled at the 2016 Geneva Motor Show - A return to purity


You know after all the chasing for more power, bigger spoilers front and rear, the fastest ever shifting double clutch gearbox ever, the most aero shape ever, the fastest and most capable sports car ever etc. etc. bla, bla, bla, we suddenly get a surprise by Porsche. A pure, normally aspirated manual transmission Porsche for people to buy. No flappy pedals here folks. You have to row that shifter like in the good ol' days.

 
Porsche decided that it needed a back to its roots type of 911 and came out with the Porsche 911R in a record 13 months of development time. It should be launched at the 2016 Geneva Motor Show around now and this 911R has something called a normally aspirated 4.0liter engine. No turbos stuck on it. It sucks air in naturally without the need of an additional respirator. It also will not change gears on its own. It is like owning a Porsche RS from 10 years ago. Well maybe less. But you get my point. 

It has the 911GT3 RS wide arches but no wing at the rear. It also has 493bhp, 459Nm from that N.A 4.0liter flat 6, transmitted to the wide arched rear wheels via a 6 speed manual gearbox. 0-100kmh in 3.8seconds and because it has less drag (due to no wing obviously) it can hit 201mph (the RS does this at around 199mph due to drag caused by the wing...but is more stable). It also weighs 50kg lighter than the RS at 1250kg dry. A useful option is the lightweight single mass flywheel that supposedly adds some aural delight  if you drive it.


So Porsche has gone back to its roots. Purity of design. Purity of drive (well, aside from the fact that the 911R still has active rear axle steering that the 991 series cars have). Its going to cost about GBP134,000 so if it arrives here, its going to really cost you too. But heck, I hope it comes here soon.









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