Porsche’s 60th birthday present to history’s most enduring sports car. The elevator pitch would read something like this: a GT3 Touring manual with GT3 RS power and lightweighting. But don’t dare underestimate this car as some sort of parts-bin stew. This is one of the all-time great 911s.
How fast?
Are we really going to boil this down to soulless numbers? Fine: 518bhp from the 4.0-litre flat six gets you from 0-62mph in 3.7 seconds so long as your rear-drive launch and first-to-second shift are clean. It’s rich in traction, and Porsche’s acceleration claims are often conservative, so you should match that unless you’ve got butter fingers and ham fists. The S/T doesn’t stop accelerating until it clears 200mph.
How light?
Now we’re talking. Thanks to a cocktail of weight-saving – much of which is hidden from view – the S/T weighs in at 1,380kg, an impressive 40kg less than a GT3 Touring with a manual gearbox and optional ceramic brakes which feature as standard here.
Let’s rattle off where exactly those kilos have been shed, because it discloses clues to why this is such a special bit of kit.
To give a more ‘organic’ seat of the pants feel, rear-wheel-steering has been binned. This sheds 6.5kg from the rear axle, but also allows fitment of a lithium-ion battery, shaving off 3.5kg.
The wheels are magnesium, saving 10.6kg versus the GT3’s forged rims. The carbon doors come from the GT3 RS, and require bespoke front wings with the huge wheelarch cutout but no extractor vent up top. There’s another 2kg gone. Carbon underbody stiffening and lighter carpets keep driving the kerbweight down.
Then we get to the really juicy bits. The S/T’s clutch is half the weight of the GT3 Touring’s at just 10.2kg. The addition of a lighter flywheel means revvier throttle response to go with your racy clutch and short throw gearbox. And to complete the effect, the final drive ratio is eight per cent shorter. Porsches often cop flack for having the gearing of an intercity train and an ability to tackle pretty much any road in second gear alone. The S/T’s about to address those criticisms with a powertrain that’s fizzier, angrier and more energetic than a 911 GT3. Crikey.
How much?
Welcome to the most expensive Porsche 992. The base price is a heady 231,600. Throw a livery or some retro paint on top and you can cruise past a quarter of a million quid.
How many?
Porsche says it will limit the birthday bash to 1,963 units, in homage to the year of the 911’s birth six decades ago. More S/Ts are being built than Sport Classics (1,250 of those) but it’s rarer than the Dakar (2,500 of ‘em). As per usual, if you’re only just finding out about it now, you are going to have to pay over the odds. About double ought to do it.
What's the verdict?
“Some will complain it’s too big, or too luxurious, or too expensive… the 911 has dealt with plenty of naysayers over its six decades”
It’s no surprise that we like the S/T: it’s a lighter, more powerful GT3 Touring and that’s about as good as ‘mainstream’ sports cars get. But this is something even more special. A 911 joining that sumptuous 9,000rpm engine to brisker gearing, a short-throw manual gearbox, three pedals and a chassis that seems to get along famously with dodgy roads.
Perhaps the S/T’s only weakness is the very fact that it’s a limited edition collectors’ item. That might encourage some to buy one and squirrel it away, hoping its values soar, scarcely driving it in the process. Criminal. This isn’t a 911 to be admired from afar – it’s one that deserves, and rewards, driving its lightweight magnesium wheels off.
Porsche’s own engineers glow with passion when asked about developing the S/T. It’s interesting how they hark back to the 991-gen 911 R and point out it was a bit of a rush job, developed in around 13 months. The S/T is more thorough, more ruthless with its diet, and is more complete in their eyes.
Some will complain it’s too big, or too luxurious, or too expensive. There will always be naysayers. The 911 has dealt with plenty over its six decades and counting. But when the big book of best 911s is being written, this one deserves to be right up there with the 997 4.0 as one of the greatest of all time.
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Continue reading: Driving
Driving
What is it like to drive?
At the first blip of the throttle, the 911 S/T starts to put distance between itself and a GT3 Touring. The revs rise and fall more sharply. It’s not exactly a Lexus LFA, but you notice the lack of inertia. That’ll be the single-mass lighter flywheel and teeny clutch at work. It weighs just less than half of the equivalent component in the manual Touring.
The noise is a different character to what you’re used to in a GT 911 too. It’s graunchy. It clatters and grumbles like they used to be before the RSs went flappy-paddle. The classic raw 911 ‘washing machine full of gravel’ chunter is back.
Set off and those machinations are swept away with a more melodious flat-six soundtrack, while you’re distracted by other new sensations. The clutch pedal travel is shorter and the biting point more of a snatch. The gearlever feels like it came off a Caterham: short, stubby, nestling deep in the folds of its leather gaiter.
The change action itself is sublime: positive, precise and satisfyingly mechanical. But, the gates aren’t so narrow that you’re constantly fretting about a money-shift. Thanks to a new final drive ratio that’s eight per cent shorter than a GT3 manual’s, the whole powertrain feels more energetic, and so does the driver. You’d never call a GT3 lethargic of course, but we’ve always yearned for the intercity train gearing to be swapped for something sprintier. The S/T grants our wish.
Does it drive just like a GT3 Touring manual?
Actually it’s quite different, and the changes are all positive. Firstly, the S/T shuns rear-wheel steering. It’s a feature we’ve become used to as the 911 has swelled in size, but Porsche has junked it here to retain a more ‘organic’ feel, and to save weight. Not only does deleting it ditch 6.5kg from the rear axle, but it allows a less powerful (and lighter) lithium-ion battery to be fitted. Bye-bye another three kilos.
Up front, the steering ratio has been quickened just a smidge to retain agility. It’s not Ferrari-quick, but the compromise is spot-on: responsive on turn-in but not hyperactive when cruising. Porsche’s GT boss Andreas Preuninger claims – to our raised eyebrows – that this is his favourite power-assisted steering yet. Yes, including the old hydraulic stuff, he likes the S/T’s best of all.
But he would say that, wouldn’t he? Fact is, this is very good steering. A McLaren offers more granular feedback, but we’re splitting hairs.
Meanwhile, the steering isn’t distracted by camber like a GT3’s. When the 992 made the switch to a double-wishbone set-up with a heap more spring rate, the increased track performance came at the cost of road manners. Fine, you might say: it’s a GT3 and if you want a comfy daily-driver buy a Targa, a GTS, or a Carrera. But we’re spoiled. We like the idea of dailying a GT3. Sadly on UK roads it’s just a bit too fighty. Preuninger bemoans British and American roads, noting his cars are good as gold in Germany.
So, his crack team of suspension experts have spent two years honing the S/T’s set-up. It retains adaptive dampers (fixed rate suspension was considered to save even more weight but Porsche concluded it’s better to have the bandwidth of normal and sport settings) but on the broken-up southern Italian roads we met the S/T on, the difference from a stiff, buckaroo-ing GT3 was uncanny.
The S/T keeps the tight body control and deft balance but filters out the kickback. While the soaring powertrain and delightful gearbox grab the headlines, the revised chassis is this car’s hidden ace. We can’t wait to try it in the UK to see if it copes as admirably over here. Could that push the verdict from a 9 to a 10? Stay tuned…
If you break the S/T down into individual elements: the engine, the gearbox, the ride, the handling, the steering and so on, then it’s all good. And yet when it all comes together and you just want to drive neatly, quickly and noisily, it’s still able to exceed the sum of these excellent parts. It’s just phenomenal to drive. Life-affirming. Something that’ll make you fall back in love with driving, and weedle its way into your ten-, five- or three-car garage. Harder work than a GTS? Yes. But worth it.
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Previous: Overview
Continue reading: Interior
Interior
What is it like on the inside?
The clues that you’re sitting in a limited-edition special are perhaps more subtle than you might be expecting for such a big anniversary shindig-on-wheels. There’s a slightly gaudy badge on the passenger’s side of the dashboard denoting which number of the 1,963 units your S/T is, you lucky so-and-so. The numerals in the digital screens (and the physical rev counter centrepiece) are resplendent light green, in homage to classic Porsches. As standard, the seat centres are upholstered in a retro fabric, and there’s a teeny S/T badge just south of the stunted gear lever.
You can spec a carbon fibre roll cage a la GT3 RS, but it spoils rear visibility and inhibits access to the bare storage well where the rear seats of lesser 911s would live.
Otherwise, this is familiar 992. We still don’t like the cupholder directly behind the gear lever – too easy to knock your drink when shifting. You’ll be shifting a lot. And the five toggle switches in the centre (nose lift, suspension mode, hazard lights, ESC Off, ESC/TC Off) only serve to demonstrate how much better tactile controls are than a touchscreen. In fairness, the interface is a swift-reacting one and the ‘shelf’ gives you somewhere to brace your hand as you jab the display.
Does it feel stripped out?
Unlike the old 991, you can’t delete the infotainment to save yet more weight – it’s simply too engrained into the car’s systems, and besides most owners would option it back in anyway. In some ways this cabin feels almost too plush for a lightweight special: the watchstrap door pulls look a little token when the rest of the cockpit is so well-appointed.
Because the S/T retains conventional twin front radiators like the GT3, it retains its huge under-bonnet boot, which is lost in the GT3 RS with which it shares its glorious engine. It’s large enough to swallow a couple of airline carry-on cases and a squashy bag or two.
Oh, and a real geek point: before you step inside, note the door handles: the S/T gets rid of the irritating electric pop-up handles and uses a regular sprung item. It’s a vast improvement to the car’s ‘handshake’ than the standard 992. Hopefully that slice of common sense comes back to all 911s soon.
Previous: Driving
Continue reading: Buying
Buying
What should I be paying?
As you know by now, limited-edition numbered Porsches aren’t something you can buy on a whim. You need to have got your name down early. Expect to see these advertised for half a million quid next year, if the 911 R and GT3 RS are anything to go by.
You can spend £14,000 on a Heritage Design package which distinguishes your S/T with racing numerals, white-painted wheels and dubious ‘Icon of Cool’ puddle lights. Don’t bother, says us. The wheels weather quickly even with the standard ceramic brakes not producing as much dust as steel rotors would, the livery looks a tad juvenile for such an elegantly subtle supercar, and the puddle lights are just awful. Writing ‘cool’ makes something uncool. We don’t make the rules.
If you’re feeling flush you could spend £12,000 on a paint-to-sample colour and Porsche will gouge your wallet with various choices of bespoke upholstery and stitching. But actually, this isn’t the usual death-by-configurator speccing experience. You can’t have an automatic gearbox, rear-steer, active anti-roll bars or a sunroof. There’s no agony of deciding whether or not to have the wing. All S/Ts get a gurney flap.
Actually, that’s worth noting if you haven’t managed to get your hands on one. See, Mr Preuninger explains that part of the motivation for the S/T’s teeny rear lip spoiler is his personal annoyance at the ugliness of a GT3 Touring’s active rear wing, which opens up at around 80kph and ruins the lines of the car’s shapely rear. By fitting the surprisingly effective gurney, the S/T can keep its beauty intact until 130kph, and even then the rear deck doesn’t open so far.
When we asked if this development would make it onto the revised, facelifted 992 GT3, we were met with a knowing smile. And if the S/T’s development can gift the GT3 a prettier rump, maybe it could also hand over its superior damping and steering. Don’t fret, S/T owner – you’ll still have the plaques, badges, lightweight transmission internals, and of course the carbon fibre doors which are apparently a complete nightmare to produce.
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