Limited Edition Porsche 911 R Comes To India!

Remember when Porsche flew down a bespoke 911 GT3 RS for a discerning Indian customer? Well, something of that sort has happened yet again. The Porsche Centre in Bengaluru delivered the limited-edition 911 R to Bhoopesh Reddy, a well-known car collector and industrialist.  

The 911 R draws its inspiration from the road-legal rally car that Porsche put on sale in 1967. The 911 R resembles the hardcore GT3 which Porsche says hints "that it originates from the motorsport department in Flacht, Germany". The mantra for the R is simple – shed the weight, and pile on the power. It is the lightest ever version of the 911, weighing in at 1,370kg. This is courtesy the carbon-fibre wing mirrors and a magnesium roof. The rear windscreen and the side windows are made of lightweight plastic, just in case you thought Porsche wasn't serious enough in its weight-shedding endeavours. 

The weight-saving continues on the inside, where the plush, leather-bathed seats are chucked out in favour of bucket seats made of carbon. Porsche has also binned the door handles and you get a couple of pull straps to open the doors. Other interior highlights include an R-specific GT steering wheel and a short gearshift lever. Then there's the usual garnish of carbon fibre trims and the 911 R gets its own aluminium plaque bearing its number – highlighting its exclusivity. 

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The diet is backed by a heavy dose of power. It gets the 4.0-litre flat-six motor, that has been tweaked by the mad-hatters at Porsche to make 500PS and 460Nm. The 911 R will clock 100kmph in just 3.8 seconds and go on to the top speed of 323kmph without batting an eyelid. In case you're wondering, Porsche claims it will return 7.5kmpl. 

It isn't just a straight-line rocket, though. Porsche says, "The Porsche 911 R could almost have been made for tight corners." It gets four-wheel steer that lends it sharper handling, while the big 245- and 305-section tyres provide all the grip you'd ever need. To make the flying scenery come to a standstill, the 911 R gets ceramic brakes with huge 410mm discs at the front, and 390mm units at the rear. 

What's the best bit about the 911 R? Well, it gets a six-speed manual transmission only. It's a 'Purist's Porsche' in every sense of the word. That said, it isn't stripped off tech and gets Porsche Stability Management (PSM) and a double de-clutch function that helps aggressive downshifting. 

That brings us to the final question: how much does it cost? Well, Porsche hasn’t given us the numbers, but some backhand calculations tell us it is likely to be in the range of Rs 4 crore. Is that a bit too much? Possibly. Is it worth it? Totally.