Porsche's 911 T shows a drastic return to the car company's roots

• The 2018 Porsche 911T is the newest addition to the Porsche 911 lineup
• It's a stripped down, lightweight back-to-basics sports car from Porsche.
• The 911T has 370 horsepower and can hit 60mph in just 4.0 seconds.
• It will arrive in showrooms in March 2018 with a starting price of $102,100.

On Monday, Porsche went back to basics with the introduction of its new 911 Carrera T. The T, which stands for Touring, is a reference to is lightweight, stripped down entry-level model from way back in 1968.

It is the 23rd different Porsche 911 variant currently on sale in the US.

At its heart, the T is based on the standard 911 Carrera 2 Coupe. That starts with a 370 horsepower, 3.0 liter, twin-turbocharged flat-six cylinder engine mounted behind the rear axle mated to a PDK twin-clutch or seven-speed manual transmission driving the rear wheels.

Then, there are the performance goodies such as the standard PASM sport suspension, electronic or mechanic rear differential lock as well as a modified version of Porsche's Sport Chrono package which gives you launch control and driving modes. (The 911T doesn't get the dash mounted chronograph that normally comes with the Sport Chrono Package.) The 911T also gets optional rear axle steering, which isn't available at all on the standard 911 Carrera.

In addition, Porsche took a page from the Lotus playbook by simplifying and adding lightness. As a result, the 911T gets lightweight glass, less sound insulation, a piece of rope instead of actual door handles, and a no-cost option to forgo the PCM infotainment system/radio. (Unfortunately, US customers will have to keep the radio.)

At 3,142, the 911T is lightest of Porsche's Carrera range of cars and the second lightest 911 variant after the manual transmission equipped GT3.

This translates to an extra dose of performance. According to Porsche, the manual transmission 911T can do 60 mph in just 4.3 seconds; 0.1 seconds faster than a standard 911 Carrera 2. The manufacturer claimed top speed is an impressive 182 mph. With the optional PDK gearbox, the 0-60 mph time is down to just 4.0 seconds, but the top speed is reduced by 2 mph to 180 mph.

The 2018 Porsche 911T is expected to arrive in showrooms in March with a starting price of $102,100.

The 911T goes to show that while Porsche has been hard at work pumping out massive horsepower from its turbocharged flat-six engines, it hasn't forgotten the unadulterated joy of driving a basic sports car.

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