YouTuber Scares Himself in a Modified Carrera T

Seen Through Glass installs an Akrapovic exhaust and a software tune that pushes a Carrera T beyond 500 horsepower.

When Porsche launched the 911 Carrera T a couple of years ago it was not designed to be a top performance model as they used the base 370 horsepower Carrera engine. The car was a lightened and slightly more focused model that offered a more rewarding and visceral driving experience. It was by no means a slow car, but a Turbo S it was not. However, what if you took that somewhat humble Carrera T and cranked up the power by about 40%?

Thanks to Sam Fane and his YouTube channel Seen Through Glass we can see and hear how the Carrera T is transformed. The work is performed by Litchfield Motors based in the UK. They are most well known for their insane Nissan GT-R builds, but have added Porsche to their list of specialties. For the exhaust, Fane decided to go with a slip-on system from the well-respected manufacturer Akrapovic. Fane went with a titanium setup and the goal was performance over any significant changes in sound. The car does sound a bit throatier, but the overall character was not changed. There was no dyno run after just the exhaust install so we can’t know how much, if any power that alone provided.

The power was certainly addressed through an ECU tune performed by Litchfield Motors. This was a tune only, no other mods other than the exhaust are on the car. No headers or bigger turbos here. The results were verified by strapping the car to a dyno where it put up some big numbers. Numbers that shocked Fane when he saw them: “I am a little bit scared by that number. It says 520. I am not going to be able to hold onto this thing.” That horsepower is complimented with 470 foot-pounds of torque. That should make the relatively lightweight Carrera T properly fly down the road, and maybe even a little faster than Fane expected.

The thought going in was to gain a bit of power to make it just a little more responsive. As Fane says: “Sometimes it felt a little lackluster, so I just wanted to spruce it up. I was not expecting 500 plus horsepower.” Unfortunately, the day the tune and exhaust were completed, was a typical lousy UK weather day with a cool rain falling. A proper wringing out of the newly upgraded car would have to wait a bit.

The wait was worth it. Out on slightly drier roads, the car is completely transformed from mild-mannered to a 911 with enough power to shift your internal organs around. It was overwhelming the well-worn rear tires as they struggled to put all that force to the ground.

There was some grumbling from the Porsche faithful some years back when they decided to turbocharge all of the 911 variants, save for the GT models. However, there is no arguing that it is much easier to extract big power from these newer turbo cars. That big power means not just a faster car, but a more enjoyable car. You can see this enjoyment, and a little bit of fear, as Fane pushes the car his face alternates between a huge smile to a look of concern and then back to a smile. That is what a performance car is supposed to do, and if this tune and exhaust do the trick then we say that is money well spent.

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Joe Kucinski

Joe has been obsessed with cars since he got his very first Matchbox toy in the ‘70s. In 2003, he found a new obsession in track days that led to obtaining his SCCA competition license in 2015. In 2019, he became a certified driving instructor for the National Auto Sport Association. His love for all things four wheels has never wavered, whether it's driving some of the best cars in the world on the racetrack, tackling 2,000-mile road trips in 2-seat sports cars or being winched off the side of a mountaintop in a Jeep. Writing for the suite of Internet Brands Auto Communities sites, including Rennlist.com, Ford Truck Enthusiasts, 6 Speed and more allows him to share that knowledge and passion with others.