Porsche marks the 911’s 60th birthday with a lightweight, analogue, driver’s dream. Catch the S/T while you still can
Tom Ford
EVERYONE IS TALKING ABOUT
There are few things in life as dependable as the Porsche 911. Reliably a competitor, always a contender, the archetypal sports car. It’s also almost impossibly prolific; in terms of recent models you’ve got Carrera, Carrera S, Carrera T, Carrera 4 and 4S, Targa, GT3, GT3 RS, GT2 RS, Speedster, Sport Classic, Turbo, Turbo S, Dakar, GTS, GT3 Touring, convertible versions of most... you get the idea. Working out which 911 suits you best can take some navigating.
But Porsche has decided to keep things simple as far as TopGear is concerned. If you want the ‘best’ 911, it’s probably this: the Porsche 911 S/T.
So what makes TG think that this might be ‘the one’? Well, the S/T is Porsche’s present to itself upon the 60th anniversary of the 911. There’ll be 1,963 units in honour of the birth year, and Porsche describes it as a “highly puristic sports car dedicated to sheer driving pleasure... on winding country roads”. No mention of track action. Consider our collective interest piqued.
The recipe is delicious and apes the ideas of the original S/T from 1969 – a fast car made faster and more intense with the liberal application of motorsport know-how, but without the use of big wings. Almost sleeper spec. Mounted in the back is the naturally aspirated, 521bhp 4.0-litre boxer from the GT3 RS coupled to a short ratio manual (with shorter cogs than a GT3). The rear-wheel steer system is ditched to save weight and complexity, and the bonnet, front wings, roll cage, rear anti-roll bars and shear panel underneath are all carbon fibre. The wheels are centrelock and magnesium, the glass thinned to shave precious grammes. Even the battery has been on a diet, and now consists of a lightweight race-style lithium-ion unit. Cobble all this together with the slim carbon bucket seats – chunky people Sports seats are available as a no cost option – along with weight savings from the powertrain and clutch, and the S/T becomes the lightest production 911. With a kerbweight of 1,380kg, it’s 40kg lighter than a manual GT3 Touring.
But more than that, the lightweight clutch and single mass flywheel saves nearly 11kg by itself. And sitting in those perfect seats, ergonomics absolutely on point, it
