Never mind the stats, here comes the Porsche 911 R

[NOISE] [SOUND] [MUSIC] The 911R then, must deal with it. There are only 991 of them, so you can't have one unless you snag one at auction nowadays. It's proof that Porsche listens to its customers. This is a car that looks at modern motoring, a world in which the 62 times mpg turbo charging automatic gearboxes Tells them where to go. This is a road car for pure driving. It is an experience. Now the key word here is experience. You see, Porsche cars are all very quick, but they're also skewered towards the every person, the kind of person that does want something fast, that wants something capable more so than [INAUDIBLE]. They want something that looks good, that feels good. And that would impress their mates. But that means there's room in the lineup. There's something a little more [INAUDIBLE]. The GT3, GT3RS, and CaymanGT4. There are exceptions to that. Cars are made for people who wants a better real world user ability but to dominate on the track. And trust me those three are proper track weapons. The G24 is the most usable on the road mind you and the most engaging as well that might have something to do with the gear box. There he goes banging on again about mantel gear boxes and performance cars. Well you know what, the manual gear box is part of what made the Cayman GT4 so [UNKNOWN] brilliant. Well that and the engine, and the drive, and the feel, and just the general Cayman GT4-ness of it. But the thing is, in the running of [UNKNOWN] It takes that whole engagement thing a little bit further. Here's the numbers part. It's got the GT3 RS's four-liter engine. So that means 493 brake horsepower, 500 metric horses, and 339 pound-foot. 0 to 62 takes 3.8 seconds. And it'll do around 200 miles an hour because, well, Why the hell not? Unlike the GT3RS, it wears a narrow body, has no wings, and it has a six speed stick shift. The [UNKNOWN] weighs 70 kilos less than the road going [UNKNOWN]. Now has Porsche done this? Well breathe in, it's a bit of a list. So the wings and the hood. Those are made of carbon fiber. The roof is maybe made of Magnesium. The rear windows, they're plastic, which is very lovely. Porsche has taken four-and-a-half kilos of sound deadening stuff out of the GT3 RS, hence all the road grit and noise you get in here. You save a few kilos with a lightweight flywheel. There's carbon discs all the way round. And if you're a purist or a You can expect this without air con or a stereo. It's fast, it's light. And it's a special edition Porsche, which means it's gotta be related to something in the firm's past. And guess what. In 1967 there was a car called 911R, the brainchild of Ferdinand Piech. The man who made Porsche's race cars so damn good it was designed to take on GT racing. So what old 30 did was he took a 911, kept it steel body, but then removed everything that could be removed. So the wings, the hood, the roof, glass fiber. The windows became plastic. Anything that could be taken out for weight saving purposes This is, was, the resulting car weighed just 800 kilos, or nothing. It was given lighter, wider wheels, a tackle that winds up to 10,000, a fancy Monde steering wheel, and an engine bred for racing. A 210 horse six pot from a 906 racecar. The idea was simple. Make and sell 500 Lightweight Specials. Enter them for GT racing, win all the things, and go home on a pile of gold. Sadly, the bean counters got in the way and said no one would buy them. So only 20 were made. It was the 2.7-liter before the 2.7-liter RS existed. It really is the prototype for the g2g and the likes we have today and of course for this. Thais why you can get a white car linear with red stripes [UNKNOWN] the typical Porsche way. But now is the find what you like to drive Various things have gotten in its and my way. But finally, we are united. So, the steering's been tuned, the suspension's been tuned. It's got a manual gearbox, and in Sport Mode it does a flippy downshift for you. That's the toy's bit done, what's it like? Well, in the wet, she's a bit of a demon. [LAUGH] This feels supreme. It feels fantastic because you get a drop of [UNKNOWN] again. We got that engine from the GT 3RS [UNKNOWN]. And none of them has sounded quite as good. This thing registered 9000ish RPM, it just sings. And it's glorious. And because it has less sound deadening than the GT3 RS, it's so, so good. And yeah you can hear the mechanical clatters and clanks, and stone chips bouncing off the wheel arches but pop it into second, go into a straight bit of road, hope to God there's not anyone in the way and boot it. Yeah. (laughs) The (inaudible) gear box is not the seven speed you get in a normal 911, no, this is a proper six speed box. Pedals are easy to get around, easy to use, easy to play with and toy with. You can control this car so easily [UNKNOWN] and if it starts to slide a little bit you can control it with the throttle, cuz there's so much finesse, so much beautiful response in there. This car is just something else. The star of this thing is just the way it feels, the way it dances, its steering You feel it through your arms and your hands. This thing changes direction supremely. It's so light, I'm overwhelmed by this. They wanted this to be the road version of the GT3 RS, and that is exactly what it is. It plays with you. it's so much more communicative. It feels less threatening even though it probably isn't cuz it hasn't got a big down force in weight. And this is a 200 mile an hour car [UNKNOWN]. The gearbox is so engaging. No, it's not as quick as a PDK, but who gives a [BLEEP]? I can Actually driving. I'm feeling balls in a process again. That is the one downfall of the GT3RS. It give up its fantastic, and its design to give you around the circuit, as quickly as humanly possible. Whereas, this isn't about lap times, this about joy, and experience, and my God What an experience. And the next generation GT3 will have 500 horse power but it'll also have a manual gearbox. Porsche listened, people bought these so quickly. And now It said in the manual, GT3. We thought those days were gone. I've driven so many 911s, so many. And they've all been very special But this is by far the best. It's the perfect 911. Make them like this. No matter how good the 911 are, and it is that good, I still have a problem with it. It's not the sheerest salt on the senses it causes, it's the fact that there are so few of them. And it's a problem that the performance car world. Really needs to stop. It's a point that auto car journalist, Matt Friar, brought up in his column awhile ago. Why are manufacturers creating so few of these cars only to **** all of them away to a chosen few. I mean I do get that it adds exclusivity to the brand, but when there are so many people that want cars like this. Why do they only go to preferred customers and why do they only make them in such small numbers? People clearly want them, so why make so few? How many of these are going to end up in air conditioned garages, away from the world because they're a sound investment? This is a car that Porsche designed for driving to enjoy on the road. That's why it's so tactile, so noisy, so engaging. It's why its tires aren't full front GT3 RS width. It's not meant to be a garage queen, but a B road hero. It's irksome that the 911 O is so limited, so hard to get hold of. So hidden away from people that really, really want them but the good thing is Porsche realizes that people want cars like this. And having driven this particular one, I can see why they do. [MUSIC]