Indeed, the T is basically the ideal sports car. Optional rear-wheel steering provides extra agility at lower speeds and increases stability at higher ones, and the standard torque-vectoring functionality means it turns in with a vengeance. Mid-corner speed is ferocious, and every input is tuned for tactility. The brakes are stellar, and the active dampers both imbue an otherworldly level of handling but also deliver daily-driver ride quality. The T is for Touring. But you could also go with Terrific looks, Twin-turbo flat-six, or True driver鈥檚 car. It has the same engine as a base Carrera. The Carrera T packs a 3.0-liter twin-turbo flat-six that pumps out 370 horsepower and 331 lb-ft of torque鈥攑lenty of power for anyone not addicted to extraterrestrial-level speeds. Our test car had a seven-speed manual transmission, and all Ts are rear-drive only. It鈥檚 a lower rider. The Carrera T rides 0.4 inch lower than a base Carrera compliments of the standard two-mode Porsche Active Suspension Management. The seven-speed manual transmission has top speed of 180 mph.
The optional dual-clutch PDK automatic adds additional mph, topping out at 182 mph, and also shaves 0.3 second from Porsche鈥檚 stated zero-to-60-mph time. The automatic can do the deed in 4.0 ticks of the stopwatch. It鈥檚 up to you, of course, but we wouldn鈥檛 give up the visceral control of a manual in exchange. The 911 T comes with a few choice goodies as standard. In addition to PASM, the T sports as standard a mechanical locking differential, Porsche Torque Vectoring, the delicious-sounding sport exhaust, a Sport Design steering wheel, and rotary drive-mode selector. There are no inside door handles. Instead, the T gets Porsche-GT-car-inspired nylon pull straps. They save a little weight, sure, but also look incredibly sweet. You bet, but maybe be judicious. You can of course outfit the T with plenty of Porsche鈥檚 famously plentiful options, but we鈥檇 prefer our personal example to come as lightly spec鈥檇 as did our press car.
These numbers are identical to the outgoing Macan, which shouldn't be a surprise as it's basically the same engine apart from several small revisions designed to increase responsiveness and efficiency. This engine features a single, twin-scroll turbocharger located between the cylinders of the V6 rather than off to one side of the engine 鈥?referred to as a "hot-V" arrangement, it has several advantages. The overall packaging is much more compact, giving engineers more freedom for placement in the engine bay. And placing the turbo close to the combustion chambers means there is less distance for the exhaust and subsequent charged air to travel. Shortening this distance increases the responsiveness of the engine to throttle inputs, making it feel sportier than the outgoing unit. Additionally the new twin-scroll turbocharger provides maximum torque much lower in the power band, with maximum torque coming in at 1,360 rpm and staying flat up until 4,800 before starting to fall off.
This huge power curve was highlighted on the narrow twisty roads that bisect Palma de Mallorca, where the punchy 3.0-liter could rocket the Macan out of hairpin bends. It scooted around packs of Tour de France hopefuls without ever feeling like a switch to the PDK transmission's manual mode was necessary to keep the engine on-song. Speaking of the PDK, Porsche's ubiquitous dual-clutch automated manual transmission is standard and has been optimized to the new engines. In both Normal and Sport mode, shift times have been decreased and responses to throttle inputs have been improved. In keeping with the Macan's sporting nature, the Sport Chrono package remains available but with a new feature called Sports Response that trickles down from the 911 and 718 lines. Activated by a steering wheel button, Sport Response increases the Macan's responsiveness for 20 seconds, providing the driver Sport Plus levels of performance (quicker throttle and PDK response) without having to fully engage the Sport Plus mode.
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