Porsche celebrated their 70th birthday in 2018, and to mark the occasion Porsche demoed two 911 Speedster concept cars. To celebrate their 71st birthday, Porsche announced the production of the 991 generation 911 Speedster and it is now available to order, but will be limited to a production run of just 1948 units.
A Familiar Presence
The Speedster will act as the swansong to the 991 generation, being the last of the GT cars to use this platform. Strip away the sleek convertible skin of the Speedster and you’ll find the heart and chassis of the GT3. With its 4-liter flat-six engine being tuned to create 502 horsepower at 374 kilowatts, and a redline of 9000 rpm, it creates a driving experience the most hardcore purist would struggle to find issue with. The Speedster will come with the GT3’s GT Sport 6-speed manual transmission, coupled with individual throttle bodies to improve throttle response time. It borrows the mechanical and electrical aids from the GT3 touring, which means you still get the automatically deployed rear spoiler, and all of the Porsche Luxuries that the standard GT3 lacks. All this propels the Speedster from 0 to 60 mph in 3.8 seconds, with a top speed of 192 mph.
A Unique Design
You may begin to think that the Speedster is just a GT3 touring transplanted into the shell of a 991 Carrera cabriolet, but the fact is, Porsche retooled the entire 992 chassis, which gives the Speedster a much lower and sleek design. This was done by redesigning the windshield frame to be 2 inches shorter than the Carrera Cabriolet. To keep the car as light as possible, the Speedster has received carbon fiber front fenders and trunk lid. To challenge their engineers, Porsche has created a single piece carbon fiber decklid, which is the largest structure Porsche has ever produced.
To reduce the weight even more, the soft-top folding roof has been done away with, which means owners will need to manually operate the roof. Air conditioning has also been removed, but is available as an optional extra. The interior features fixed carbon fiber bucket seats and nylon straps in place of heavy plastic handles. Ceramic carbon brakes and lightweight wheels round-off the weight saving measures to give the speedster an overall weight of just 3,230 pounds.
Refining The GT3 Experience
Unlike the GT3, which is a hardcore, no-nonsense, race track weapon that happens to be street legal, the Speedster has been refined to be a machine you would be happy to drive daily. Porsche started by developing recalibrated rear-steering with new dynamic engine mounts, and softer suspension to improve the ride quality. While the Speedster has lost some of the structural rigidity of the GT3 by chopping off the roof, the chassis still begs the driver to push it hard into corners and drive it like the thoroughbred GT car that it is.
Inside everything is leather bound and premium, as you would expect from Porsche. While cruising around, you’ll find the cabin to be quiet place for you to retreat to. The front located trunk is unencumbered by additional suspension and cooling parts, which means you can happily fit a medium sized travel bag into it.
The standard black 911 interior can be complemented by the red themed Speedster trim that features red stitching on the dashboard, “Speedster” engraved on the headrests, red nylon door pulls, and a red 12 o’clock mark on the steering wheel. To make sure you’re ready to accessorize to match your Speedster, an official watch, that will be made to match your car’s interior, is available as an optional extra.
No official pricing has been announced by Porsche, but US buyers can begin configuring their own Speedster with Porsches Car Configurator.