Introduced in 1992, the Porsche 911 Turbo S Leichtbau (lightweight) is a performance oriented and stripped down version of the regular Turbo S, which was already one of the fastest cars available on the market at its time. Created to celebrate Porsche's racing success, the Turbo S Lightweight was limited to just 86 units, and the model was essentially a racer for the road. One of these ultra-exclusive models, which carries a heavyweight price tag, will soon hit the RM Sotheby's auction block.
The Turbo S Lightweight Improved An Already Great Car
The 911 Lightweight started as an idea of Rolf Sprenger, Porsche’s executive manager, in January 1992. He wanted to make an extremely limited edition of a 3.3-liter 964 Turbo S by modeling it after the car that won the 1992 IMSA Supercar Championship. The plan was to make those cars as light as possible while simultaneously improving their already amazing performance. This new project was given a green light in May 1992. The production of the 911 Turbo S Lightweight eventually started in July 1992, which meant it was going to be sold as a ’93 model year.
Porsche’s engineers took the Turbo S and removed a lot of "unnecessary" things - the rear seats, power steering, air conditioning unit, fog lights (to cool down the front brakes), airbags… just stuff you don’t really need anyway. The doors and the bucket seats came from the Carrera RS. For the hood and the rear wing, they used fiberglass reinforced carbon. All of this resulted, strangely enough, with the Lightweight becoming one of the best looking Porsche 911s ever.
By taking out all those petty things and adding lightweight materials, they managed to slim it down by about 400 pounds (to around 2.850) when compared to a standard Turbo S. They weren’t messing around when time came to improving the engine. The same 3.3-liter flat-six from the Turbo S got bigger Bosch K-Jetronic fuel injectors, more efficient turbocharger, bigger camshafts, bigger inlet and exhaust ports, and different valve timing. All of this caused a significant power increase. The original 320 horsepower of the Turbo S was increased to 381 horsepower in the Lightweight version. Torque went from 347 to 361 pound-feet at 4,800rpm. The suspension was lowered by 40mm, and the car rolled on a new set of 18-inch magnesium wheels. Top speed was 183mph, and the 0-62 mph run was accomplished in 4.7 seconds - impressive numbers for 1993. At that time the Turbo S Lightweight was the fastest 911 ever produced.
A Rare Turbo S Lightweight Is Available
According to RM Sotheby’s the 911 Turbo S Lightweight hitting the auction block was delivered to Porsche's Japanese distributor in Tokyo before being imported to the U.S. by a collector. It sports Speed Yellow exterior paint with a black a gray interior and a full Matter integrated roll cage. This Porsche collector's dream won't come cheap, as the expected price is between $1,000,000 and $1,300,000 USD. That's completely understandable when buying an old school Porsche.