Porsche 911 Carrera T revealed

A poor man's 911 R or exactly the sort of thing Stuttgart should be making for the masses?

More than enough has been written about Porsche's 911R at this point, but comparisons to it and the more recent GT3 Touring are going to be hard to avoid here.

Manual gearbox? Check. Stripped back interior? Check. Driver focussed? Check. Welcome to the latest new 911 Carrera T. Based on the standard 911 Carrera, it can be differentiated from that car thanks to a new bumper, with a more prominent splitter at the front; metallic grey mirrors at the side; black, centre-exit exhaust pipes at the back; and 20-inch alloy wheels. Nine colours are available, including Lava Orange, Guards Red and Miami Blue.

Inside you'll find lightweight four-way electronically adjustable cloth seats, nylon door loops in lieu of handles, a leather GT sports steering wheel and a special shorter gear stick - when specced with the standard seven-speed manual gearbox that is, which itself has shorter ratios than standard.

A seven-speed dual clutch PDK automatic with launch control is also available, but that would somewhat undermine the evident focus on driving purity and weight saving. To achieve the 20kg reduction versus standard, Porsche has used lightweight glass in the rear and rear-side windows, removed the rear seats - naturally - reduced sound deadening insulation and added the option to delete the infotainment system.

That said, features not otherwise available on a standard Carrera - such as, 20mm lower, PASM sports suspension as standard and the option of rear-wheel steering - are available, as well as a rear mechanical locking differential.

The 911 Carrera T is powered by the same 3.0-litre turbo engine as the standard 911 Carrera, still developing 370hp and 332lb ft. With the manual 'box, 0-62mph can be taken care of in 4.5sec - 0.1 seconds less than a standard Carrera - but a further 0.4 seconds can be shaved off that with the PDK.

A poor man's 911 R it may appear to be, but with a starting price of £85,576 it's hardly a poor man's car. It isn't difficult to see the appeal though; back to basics driving machines have made something of a resurgence recently. And despite lacking additional power over a standard Carrera, any reduction in weight, tech and resulting faff, will surely lead to a more involving driving experience from what is already a very good car.

There is one elephant in the room though, because for the same money you could get a hold of one of the best driver-centric cars Porsche has made in recent years, the Cayman GT4. Which would you choose?