The Porsche 911 R has been revealed to the world slightly earlier than planned after official pics leaked on a Dutch motoring blog. The new hardcore 911 is essentially a Porsche 911 GT3 RS without the extravagant aerodynamic aids. That means it’s packing the same 4.0-litre normally aspirated engine with 493bhp with 458Nm of torque.
The R also gets a manual gearbox to complete a package that should be a timely tonic for Porsche purists who’ve had their noses put out of joint by the recent move to turbocharging and PDK automatics in the 911 range.
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What we can see from the leaked images is a more subdued look than we’ve become used to on truly hardcore Porsche models without the rear wing and some of the other more excessive aerodynamic aids. The white bodywork and red racing stripes give the game away to an extent on the Porsche R but otherwise the R shares the clean look of models from further down the range.
It’s also worth noting that the R designation is not a new one for Porsche. In the late 1960s the 911R was a focused, lightweight version of the standard 911 with fibregalss reinforced plastic replacing much of its metal bodywork. That would suggest we could see some big weight savings on the new 911 R when full details emerge.
Additional details on the car have yet to be released but we’ll get the full story at the Geneva Motor Show tomorrow when the covers come off.
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