Wednesday 28th September 2016

Fanning the 911 R's flames: PH Blog

Why don't we just ignore the 911 R?

---

Should PH be providing oxygen to the debate surrounding the Porsche 911 R by driving and reviewing a car that, allegedly, nobody can actually buy? I guess if we were cooler we'd just ignore it and - as the conspiracy theorists have it - let the flippers, investors and Porsche dealerships count their money while the 991 cars fester in air-conditioned bubbles never to be driven or appreciated by true fans.

The gift that keeps on giving!

I'm torn, I have to confess. I don't think I've ever encountered a car that simultaneously inspires so much enthusiasm and outright hatred towards the brand that built it. I remain startled at quite how cross the people who feel they've been denied the right to spend £140K on a new Porsche seem to be, which inspired our April fool earlier in the year saying Porsche had responded by halting Macan and Cayenne production to free up capacity to build more. A ludicrous idea but enough to inspire some angry calls to dealerships and ensure I wasn't the most popular man in Porsche sales departments on the day in question.

For all that I still think the 911 R is a car worth talking about and, dare I say it, celebrating. Some will argue that's complicity in the hype machine and another puff of air into ballooning prices for 'special' 911s. But making a fuss over cars like this, the Aston Martin GT8 and - at a more attainable level - the BMW M2 is about more than the machines in question and instead fighting on a broader front for the kind of cars we like. The kind of cars we thought manufacturers had stopped building.

But if it means a return for manual GT3s...

If the brands in question ignored the tastes and aspirations of the mainstream buyers who sustain their bottom lines and just built the kind of cars a noisy minority happen to like talking about they'd never survive. That we've made enough of a racket they're willing to build a few of them is something of a small victory, even if not everyone gets to enjoy the spoils at this rarified level. The hope is that it registers with the boards and engineers signing off future models, platforms and powertrains, with a contingency for building a few manuals and enthusiast specials factored in where it might not have been before.

So, with apologies to the haters, we will still write about the R. And if you don't like that it's quite easy to avoid - it's the one with the stripes on.

 

[Ex Boy Racer]

I must admit, the motives of Porsche are still very confusing. They have produced a car that is popular, consolidates their reputation, gets them loads of kudos in the press and then make it limited edition. Why?
Extra volume means more profit, so it can't be financial. They have spent the money developing it, so the more they can sell surely the better. It's pretty much bespoke so they won't be left with loads unsold by making a large batch that is unwanted.
So, why? Why do it this way?
It would be great if PH (or any other car media) spoke with Porsche and got their reasons for it. I would like to know, just for interest's sake. And it might take some of the flack off Porsche if they told us and we could understand.