During last weekend’s Le Mans 24-hour race, which Porsche won for a record-breaking 18th time, it still found a free moment to announce an endurance racing-inspired, limited edition take on the iconic 911, called the 911 Endurance Racing Edition.
The fact that Porsche 911’s basic outline and engine position haven’t changed since 1964 shows that it is already a car with enduring appeal. However, to highlight this point further, and to remind everyone that Porsche is the most successful automotive marque in motorsport history, it has built another special edition 911, through its Porsche Exclusive arm.
A first sneak peek was offered at this past weekend’s Le Mans and it will be followed by a full-on showcase at next weekend’s Goodwood Festival of Speed. But based on first impressions, it could well live up to its name as a car that endures.
The new model takes the Carrera S as a starting point but then starts honing the car for the best possible road-legal track performance. It keeps the stock three-litre flat-six twin turbo powerplant — 420hp and a 307km/h top speed, but adds to this power and acceleration with a revised chassis.
The car rides 20mm lower than standard and comes with the Porsche Dynamic Chassis Control and Active Suspension Management systems as standard. That means power is always going to the wheel with the most traction and that each wheel can independently be pushed up or down (damping) to ensure contact with the road or to cancel out the ill effects of excessive force in cornering at speed, for example.
The Sports Chrono package is also standard kit meaning that owners can time laps, perform racing starts and have a boost function at their command. Porsche calls it Sports Response, and, when activated, everything the engine’s got is delivered in one 20-second blast.
Thankfully, Porsche has also decided to add rear-wheel steering as standard, to keep the back end in check.
Inside, the car is awash with black leather and subtle red accents. And of course, being a car aimed at track use, there’s carbon fiber too.
However, Porsche has also added several creature comforts including a sliding sunroof and parking sensors. But perhaps the best feature for serious drivers, and that’s who this car is aimed at, is a seven-speed manual transmission included as standard.