The Porsche 911 R has gone on display at the Geneva Motor Show 2016. The Porsche goes back to its roots with a manual gearbox, rear wheel drive and a stripped out interior. There is a retro feel here, although the Porsche 911 R does feature many of the mod-cons that make the current generation car such a success.
The Porsche 911 R gets a 4.0-litre naturally aspirated flat-six engine. Power is rated at 500 hp with 460 Nm of torque and is routed to the rear wheels via a six-speed manual gearbox. Coupled with a low weight of 1,370 kg (50 kg less than the GT3 RS), the Porsche 911 R has that winning formula Porsche recently enjoyed with the Cayman GT4.
Despite the lack of aerodynamic parts, the Porsche 911 R sits firmly among the motorsport-inspired, track-bred models: the 911 GT3 and 911 GT3 RS. It manages a 60 mph sprint of just 3.7 seconds with a top speed of 201 mph (323 km/h). Yet, the 911 R still manages to return an impressive fuel consumption of 21.2 mpg (13.3 l/100 km).
The bonnet and front wheel-arches are made of carbon fibre and the roof from magnesium. The rear windscreen and rear side windows are lightweight plastic. Sound insulation has also been removed to save weight, as has the rear bench seat. The air conditioning and the audio systems are optional extras, which helps save further weight.
Inside, the Porsche 911 R gets a carbon-fibre bucket seat, trimmed with bespoke fabric centre panels in Pepita tartan design. Fabric pull straps are fitted to each door. The driver gets an R-specific 360 mm diameter GT sport steering wheel, and a short shift gear lever.
For full details, check out our earlier Porsche 911 R news article. For more from the Geneva Motor Show 2016, check out our dedicated news feed.
