Already referred to as the most purist-oriented Porsche in years, the new 911 R is a pared-back road weapon designed for carving up B-roads in style, and for 911 enthusiasts it’s easily one of the most exciting things to come out of Stuttgart in years.
Engineered as a car for the sort of driver who’s more bothered about the experience than how quickly they can clip an apex, the 911 R uses much of the same engineering as the full-bore GT3 RS race car but optimised for everyday use.
Compared against the GT3 RS it’s got the same amount of power, 493bhp to be exact, but it’s actually lighter and, according to Porsche, is so nimble that its handling is as good as the mid-engined Cayman GT4.
We’ll spare the rhetoric and just get down to the nitty gritty, so here’s all you need to know about what could be the best 911 in decades.
It uses Porsche’s most powerful atmo engine
You’ll find no turbochargers under the bonnet here; instead, the 911 R represents a more back to basics approach to the 911 with a naturally-aspirated engine instead of the newly turbo’d Carerra models.
It’s not just any old engine, though. No, this is the exact same 4.0-litre flat-six as the 911 GT3 RS with all 500 of its ponies intact. The most powerful non-turbocharged engine Porsche currently offers, it’s good for a 0-62 sprint time of an incredible 3.8 seconds, with a top speed of 201mph.
However, like many German manufacturers, Porsche has been known to coyly understate the true performance potential of its cars, so driven flat-out it’s possible that the 911 R could be even more potent than its engineers are letting on.
No PDKs here, manual only
Of course, the major appeal of the 911 R is that it’s about somuch more than just the numbers. Unlike the GT3 range, which is targeted at slicing as many milliseconds of your lap time as possible, despite all of its power the R’s main selling point is its engagement.
As a result, it ditches the dual-clutch PDK automatic gearbox found in cars like the Turbo and the GT3 range in favour of a good old fashioned six-speed manual. It uses the same casing as the other manuals available on the 991 911, but its innards have all been specifically built just for this car.
Short, snappy and described by the head of Porsche’s GT divison Andreas Preuninger as feeling like “a bolt-action rifle”, this gearbox is much easier to shift than previous models and also comes with a rev-matching feature if your heel-toe shifting isn’t up to scratch.
It doesn’t just look good, it sounds good too
As if the high-revving howl of the flat-six from the GT3 RS wasn’t good enough, the 911 R also comes with an optional lightweight single-mass flywheel, which Porsche says bestows the car with an extra layer of auditory character.
The R also has had a full 4kg of noise-insulation stripped out from the inside, which combined with its dual-tip titanium exhaust, means that it has an extremely raw, visceral sound. You can specify a radio for the cabin if you really want one, but we reckon the car’s own soundtrack will be more than enough.
Light weight is the order of the day
Speaking of stripping out the insulation, the 911 R has been trimmed down so much that it’s actually 50kg lighter than the track-focused GT3 RS, with a maximum weight of just 1,370kg fully-fuelled.
Ditching the manual gearbox alone saves 20kg, while the front wings and the bumpers are both manufactured from carbon fibre and carbon ceramic brakes feature as standard to further cut the weight.
However, the car’s light weight and lack of extreme aero unlike the GT3 models has meant that Porsche has had to get creative. To keep things stable at speed, the automatically-deploying rear vane rises higher than on a normal Carrera, while it also features an underbody rear diffuser to generate downforce while maintaining a clean and classically-styled appearance.
Track-inspired technology for the road
In short, the 911 R is a road car designed for maximum everyday enjoyment but built using technology developed from Porsche’s thoroughbred race cars like the GT series.
“It’s kind of a new breed of GT, it’s a true, authentic drivers’ car,” Preuninger said. “It’s not a race car, it’s not for track use, it’s not a track tool like we normally offer. It has the same technology but it’s more of a purists’ car.”
As a result, it not only inherits the GT3 RS’ engine, but also the same all-wheel steering feature to increase its agility at speed and with the same sticky track-ready tyres. Suspension derived from the GT3 models and the same dampers to boot also mean that the 911 R just as agile as its racing counterparts, albeit not specifically geared towards the circuit.
It comes from good stock
Unless you’re a 911 fan, you mightn’t realise that this 991-generation model isn’t actually the first Neunelfer to wear an R badge. Instead, that goes to the original 911 R from all the way back in 1967.
Like its modern successor, the original 911 R matched a somewhat innocuous appearance with wickedly fast performance and a lightweight build with a fibreglass bodyshell, ultra-light components and even a special fuel tank to keep weight down.
Only 20 production cars were built and, just like the modern 911 R, the original also featured the same coloured decals and even used an engine derived from a racing-spec 911 variant.
It’s the antithesis to ‘iPhone driving’
There are no back seats, no air conditioning and no radio, while luxury options like leather and alcantara have been swapped out in favour of a stripped-back appearance. Even the door handles have been dumped in favour of fabric pulls, such is the driver-oriented focus of the car.
Preuninger said: “A car still is a sum of a lot of mechanical components and it should feel that way, not like you’re driving an iPhone. I like iPhones, but I like to get the mechanical feeling of a car.”
In fact, it’s supposedly so good and so pure that Porsche reckons the R will even tempt vintage 911 collectors who have been buying classic 911s for their character to stop by a dealership and pick up a modern 991. Given 911 fans’ typically nitpicky nature, statements don’t come much bolder than that.
Apparently it makes a great drift car
Despite the fact that it’s not intended to be used as a race car, Porsche still intended the 911 R to be as fast and agile as possible, and as a result it uses the same Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tyres as the GT3 models but with smaller wheels.
Thanks to the fact that it has all the same power as the GT3 RS but with a smaller contact patch (305 rear tyres compared to the 325s on the RS’ 21-inch wheels), the 991 911 R is reportedly an extremely able drift car.
“It’s a good drift car,” Preuninger said. “I don’t want to encourage it on the open road because it is a road car, but it’s still a very entertaining drive.”
It’s limited-edition only
Perhaps the only negative to the 911 R for some is that Porsche has announced that it will built just 991 models as a tip of the hat to the current-generation car’s model designation, at a cost of £134,000 each.
The promise of a stripped-back, pure driving experience is more than enough to get most 911 owners chomping at the bit, but given its cost and its small numbers, it’s unlikely that the average Johann will be able to get his hands on one.
Nonetheless, Preuninger seems confident of the R’s success, and given that this particular car has been made essentially thanks to the requests of 911 fans, it’s possible that something very similar could be made in the future if you don’t get one first time round.
