The 2023 Porsche 911 Carrera T is the ultimate car (for people who can afford a 911, but maybe not a GT3 Touring)

So the basic Porsche 911 Carrera is a serious sports car. Everything works fine, including destroying canyon roads, going on road trips, or picking up groceries. Unfortunately, Porsche has laid out its notoriously expansive options list in such a way that you can’t choose any of the higher-performance technologies unless you spend more cash to get a Carrera S.

Plus, that’s no longer entirely true since Porsche debuted the 2023 911 Carrera T on Tuesday, and the like previous 991-generation TThis is nine eleven get if you really want to drive it without spending a boatload of extra bucks.

Now, to be clear, the 911 Carrera T it’s not cheap per se, with a starting price of $118,050, including a $1,450 destination charge, but compared to the non-optioned Carrera S, which starts at $124,050, that’s a pretty good deal. This is especially true when you consider the unique specification that Stuttgart has come up with for this T.

For starters, the Carrera T has the base Carrera’s 379-hp turbocharged straight-six and a standard seven-speed manual transmission. An eight-speed PDK box is also available for those who don’t want to use three pedals. It also gets a torque-vectoring mechanical limited-slip differential, which is on the S but not available on the base Carrera, and Porsche Active Suspension Management, aka PASM, with a ride height 10mm lower than standard.

But wait, as they say, there’s more. The Sport Chrono package is standard on the T, and you can (and absolutely should) option Porsche’s excellent four-wheel steering system, which you don’t normally get on the base Carrera. Work, right? It gets better. The Carrera T weighs 3,254 lbs, thanks to reduced sound deadening, thinner glass, a smaller battery, and the deletion of the rear seat. If you want the rear seat, you can reinstall it for free. A sports exhaust system and a GT steering wheel are also standard.

The Carrera T also gets its own visual tweaks, such as titanium gray Carrera S wheels measuring 20 inches up front and 21 inches out back. There’s also a bunch of T-specific dark gray accents in places like the exterior mirrors, lower side decals and the rear model badge. The interior is matte black with a few gloss black bits sprinkled throughout. Four-way sport seats are standard, but 18-way sport seats or even Porsche’s lumpy carbon buckets can be optional. There’s even a Carrera T Interior Package available as an option, adding either Slate Gray or Lizard Green seat belts, stitching and seat stripes.

Also new for the Carrera T is the availability of Paint-To-Sample, which (for a boatload of extra cash) opens up the car’s already great color palette (Ruby Star Neo, anyone?) to 110 additional color options.

Porsche expects the Carrera T to hit dealerships in the spring of 2023.