Tuthill 911K: 850kg, 11,000rpm, Flame-Spitting Porsche vs The Clock! | Stig Laps

Welcome to the Top Gear test track. This is Stig Lap. That's the Tuthill 911 K. In this series, we're running the latest and greatest performance cars and placing them on the all-time leaderboard. But the challenge remains the same. Give Stig the keys to your car if you think you're faster. And this is what Stig's going to be dancing about in today. It's called the 911 K and it's loosely based on the 1972 Porsche 911. It's the work of Tuthill Porsche, a company that's probably most famous for prepping the world's best classic 911 rally cars. But this thing is something completely different. It's basically the ultimate, purest 911 with a little dash of psychopath thrown in because every single unnecessary gram has been shaved off until it weighs just 850 kilograms. And it's got a very, very angry engine, a four-valve, flat-six, 3.1-litre revving... ...to 11,000 RPM. Essentially, it's a small, aggressive animal. They probably should have called it the Tuthill Honey Badger. The key ingredients here are titanium for the roll cage, gear knob and torsion bars, and carbon fibre, lots of it. All the body panels and the entire rear bulkhead are carbon, so are the wheels, and then inside there's carbon seats, door cards, steering wheel and hydraulic handbrake, as well as carbon ceramic brakes. Two-way rally dampers should keep the mass in check, not that there's much of it. Richard Tuthill compares the driving experience to a four-wheeled motorbike. OK, so here we are on the straight bit just after the start line and assuming the 911k hasn't already breached Dunsfold's noise limits or set fire to the surrounding foliage on its warm-up lap, Stig is going to be blasting down here, lots of wheel spin off the line, probably changing up from first to second about this point, 11,000 RPM, and then blasting up towards the first turn. The big question around this car is that this track is a horsepower track, and this car doesn't have much horsepower. 350 horsepower, about the same as a warm hatch these days. Aha. But the key is actually power-to-weight ratio. Because this weighs about as much as a loaf of bread, it's actually got a really good power-to-weight ratio. 412 horsepower per tonne, which is more even than the Ferrari 458 Italia. And in 2010, that car did a lap of this track in 1 minute 19.1. So if this little Porsche is going to get anywhere near that, it'll be a job well done. Pre-match punditry complete, it was time for the Stig to party like it's 1972. Three, two, one, go. That sounds so good. It doesn't sound like a 911, but it does sound so good. Let's see if we can hear him hitting 11,000 RPM. That's about 10.5, I reckon. How well that time is it going to do? You literally have no idea. To be fair to this car, it's really not designed for going around a circuit. This is a B-road car, 40 miles an hour to 70 miles an hour, maybe 80 if you're feeling frisky. That's what it's designed for, but who cares? Stig's having fun. Here it comes. Nice and flamboyant. There it is. Bit of angle. And across the line. It looked good. Right, let's see that again from Stig's point of view, and this time, against the clock. Three, two, one, go. Clearly, we weren't going to be breaking any records here today, but a 122.5 for something with only 350 horsepower is mighty impressive. That's on a par with the noble M15, faster than a Ferrari F430. Heck, it's even quicker than a Lexus LFA, although, admittedly, that was in the web. But honestly, who cares about the lap time? Because this thing is a love letter to lightness. It's an event to drive, to watch, to listen to, and it shoots massive flames out of its exhaust. What more could you want? And here's what happened when Stig wasn't worried about a neat and tidy lap time or Tuthill's tyre bill. Next time on Stig Laps.