2018 Porsche 911 Carrera T 991.2 (500HP) Review - Tuner Car for Adults!

With headers, a Litchfield tune, and a DSC Sport V3.1 Controller, is this 500HP 991.2 Carrera T the ultimate everyday 911?

[devtec]

Hi Fenton, thank you for reviewing my car! Great fun to hang out with you, see you pushing the car, and to have it memorialized on YouTube!

Getting this car has been a long-time dream fulfilled. I was lucky enough to find it used right before the pandemic caused prices to shoot up, greatly increasing the value proposition of this car. With buying a T used and a few easy mods, you get a 911 with a compelling ethos: something in between / approaching a GT3 Touring (in rawness/lightness) and a Turbo (in power and delivery), _but at less than half the price._ 🤯 Some might say blasphemy, others might say man are we lucky to even have the option.

For those curious, I was inspired to get the T from the Litchfield reviews up on YouTube (see links below). I do love the tune, and especially the Vektor headers on the car, which without question increased throttle response and decreased turbo spooling time, making it feel closer to NA but with the incredible torque. Best of both worlds. I do cringe at the crackles and pops, but believe it or not, the tune did greatly reduce them (also not sure if Fenton was in Sport mode or Sport Plus, which reduces them even more). Other highlights for me have been the Numeric short shifter which nears the S2000 in bliss, the DSC Sport which significantly improves compliance, and the Antigravity lithium battery which saved another 35lbs.

I did try a used Akrapovic exhaust, and high flow cats, but both were a bit too loud and droney (at 2500rpm) for me. The engine/exhaust was dismayingly quiet though when stock, so Vektor definitely Goldilocks. Another quirk of the car has been the amount of rattles, but with a little obsessive use of felt tape, those have been readily solved. I do wish my T had RAS… ah well. Being lucky enough to have this T as my daily driver, who can complain.🙂

Agree with your conclusions, Fenton (both positive and negative). Hate that parking brake. In current form the car is an effortless machine, if perhaps slightly clinical. But can’t help being blown away with appreciation for its sheer competence.

Many thanks to you again, and to all of you for the comments!

[Birmingham_racing]

That's the beauty of modern turbo cars the gains you get soo easily from tuning

[chaseespinoza]

Great review. The 991.2T was destined to swap hands amongst enthusiasts. My favorite of the non-GT 991 and 992 iterations. The values have been comparable to GTS variants, which is cool to see!

[apolloandratti]

Having watched his last Cayman 4.0 video, I am deducing that Fenton's 2 top favorite modern Porsches are in this order: GT3 --> 718 Cayman GTS 4.0 w/ 3 pedals. The 981GTS/718 GTS Cayman/Boxsters seem to be the best non-GT Porsche driving experience at any price right now.

[eric.frasch]

I wish he put an exhaust on it. It really helps with the sound. I love the T. It’s the first “light weight” Porsche that has rear seats for my kids. I can put roof racks on it. I just bought one 2 months ago, replacing my 981 GTS.

[hamidakintomide]

Bro I was wondering if you could make a car history vid to tell us a bit more about where you started from regarding cars/all time favourite cars

[Alfa_Addict]

Excellent channel and some great cars on display and tested. I'm sure this channel will become huge!

[GlennsCarCollection]

Great video, love your channel. NSX, 911, S2000, R8 V10 owner here (all with manual transmissions) Carrera T only saves 44 lbs if you delete the back seat. If you keep the back seat, its only 11 lbs of weight savings. I cross shopped a Carrera T and a Base 2017 Carrera. I bought the base Carrera because it was a manual and my favorite color, Miami Blue. I didn’t notice the weight savings driving them back to back.

[parkman]

Glad you were able to get behind the wheel of a T! Still hoping one day you'll get to drive mine. It has a couple different options, RAS, PCCBs, and no sunroof which would lower the center of gravity a little bit. It's also completely stock, although I have really contemplated getting the DSC controller. But I'm pretty happy with the stock suspension, even with the extra grip of Cup 2s. Also with -1.5 degrees of camber front & rear, as long as I trail brake properly, car feels very neutral. I tend to run out of rear grip about as often as I run out of front. Not sure how the Litchfield tune alters the engine modes, but with stock mapping, throttle response is significantly more linear and NA-like in Sport Plus than Sport. I would say it's about 80% of the experience of an NA motor, and more linear and responsive than my FK8 Type R. Sometimes I think about getting a tune as well, at least maybe equal length headers to further improve response and sound but I love being able to ring out all 370hp so often. Regardless, Dave's T is a lovely daily sports car with some tasteful mods.

Thanks for the review Fenton! 👍

[yaminoyume]

quality content as always, keep it up

[Soh]

Great review as always. I need to get you in my BMW Z3 3.0i. I always felt like my car was/is a grown up NA Miata

[TurninTrackOut]

I very nearly got a 992 Carrera T...definitely a lot of potential. Great review.

[joeracer]

The tuner publishes numbers for 93 octane at 500 hp, the 91 in CA you maybe get 450hp. I’m a big fan of the Softronic tune I have on mine, but I don’t have anything to compare with.

[ISSpartan]

You’ve spoiled me with your fast driving dude. I watch other review channels and I get bored with their pace now 😂

Half the fun is watching you ATTACK that road and try to get some oversteer once in a while. Cool owners for letting you do that! I’d LOVE to watch you beat on my IS if I wasn’t in Canada 🤷🏻‍♂️

I feel like even One Takes have gotten slow these days… thank you for keeping the driving interesting.

[rsstnnr]

How much does a tune like this cost? And does a tune put unnecessary wear and tear on all of the other components?

[ISSpartan]

A cool comparison would be this tuned T VS an actual Turbo model. Poor man’s turbo vs the real thing, who wins?

[Jeremyyy]

I'll have a Ruby Star Neo 992 Carrera T in a couple months as the waitlist for S and GTS is years out. You take what you can in this market. NA is definitely more sensational, so an air-cooled flat six in on the horizon.

[frankyu]

Hi I’m having hard choose between 991.2 Carrera t and 981 gt4. As the only car I’ll be daily which is overall better?

[Datsunzen]

Seems that because the 718 Cayman is mid engine, it's apples to oranges in terms of a handling comparison. Would you say the 991 Carrera T has that "911y feel to it" simply because it's rear engine, or have the GT2 and 3 managed to overcome it? I think the greatest difference in older turbo 911s and this 2018 991 T is advancements in modern small frame turbo design. Modern turbos are way more efficient, where a smaller, faster spooling turbo can make more boost overall than ever before. For instance, as you recall, the GT3071on my SR20 had a "hallerious amount of lag". Fun in a straight line, but terrifying around corners. With the GTX 2867R we have now, makes boost at 2, 500 rpm, the power curve is linear, and it's far more manageable with an additional 80hp. Truly night and day difference in confidence pushing it harder through corners, finding the outer limits of tire grip, and living to tell the tale.

[Abdul_Rahman_QAT]

I think it would make more sense, if they used the GT4 engine for this car