2024 Porsche 911 S/T review: Threading the needle

Though Porsche is within the midst of taking its BEV technology mainstream, the corporate hasn’t overlooked the truth that its high-performance status was constructed on the 911.

Over the previous few years, the automaker has developed a myriad of various variations of the enduring sports activities automotive, leading to choices that at the moment vary from plush open-top cruisers to hardcore observe monsters, together with particular version fashions just like the off-road-tuned Dakar and heritage-inspired Sport Classic. You could be questioning, then, if there’s actually a possibility for a brand new performance-focused mannequin to face out within the 911 lineup.

On the floor, the S/T appears to tread a lot of the identical floor already occupied by the GT3 Touring, an iteration of the track-ready GT3 that ditches the big mounted rear wing for the smaller, aesthetically subtler lively rear spoiler discovered on Carrera fashions. However as beautiful to drive because the GT3 Touring is, it appears like a conceptual afterthought.

Due to its decreased downforce, Porsche has all the time thought of the Touring to be a GT3 meant for the road reasonably than the observe, but the mannequin’s tuning has in any other case remained unchanged from the usual GT3. This, together with a lot of different essential updates, permits the S/T to face out from the gang not simply amongst quick 911s however amongst sports activities vehicles generally.

The identify is a nod to a racing model of the 911 S from the late Sixties: Internally often known as the ST, the package deal included modifications to the chassis, engine, and physique to enhance efficiency. However not like the enduring Carrera RS 2.7 that may debut a number of years down the highway, the ST lacked the aggressive aerodynamic parts that may later come to outline the look of track-tuned 911s.

The core {hardware} concerned is an fascinating amalgamation of parts from the present GT division lineup. In a purposely old-school strategy not not like the Sport Traditional, the S/T pairs the GT3 RS’s naturally aspirated 518 hp (386 kW) 4.0-liter flat-six engine with the GT3’s six-speed handbook gearbox—a mixture that may’t be had in every other factory-produced 911.

Just like the GT3 RS, the S/T’s hood, entrance fenders, doorways, and roof are constituted of carbon fiber, and due to its magnesium wheels, fixed-back carbon bucket seats, and different weight-reducing parts which might be outfitted as commonplace, it manages to tip the scales at a svelte 3,056 lbs (1,390 kg), making this the lightest 911 of the present era.

Including energy and slicing weight are actually welcome developments for efficiency fanatics, but it surely’s the raft of refined, much less quantifiable modifications that make the S/T such an extremely compelling sports activities automotive. Porsche’s purpose was to create the final word canyon carver reasonably than an apex-hunting observe machine, and as such, it has tossed the GT3’s rear axle steering system and retuned the suspension dampers for the less-than-perfect tarmac that is typical of twisty backroads.

To additional ratchet up driver engagement, engineers decreased the peak of the shift lever by 10 mm, leading to even shorter, extra exact throws. The transmission’s gear ratios have been shortened by 8 p.c to permit the engine to climb to its searing 9,000 rpm redline extra quickly, leading to extra frequent shifting. There is a new light-weight clutch and single mass flywheel on board, too.

The latter performs a surprisingly massive position within the S/T’s distinctive character, permitting the engine to comb by way of the revs with a degree of manic urgency that makes the GT3 Touring appear virtually lazy by comparability. And because of the S/T’s decreased sound deadening in comparison with the GT3 (which already has considerably much less sound deadening than a 911 Carrera), each mechanical course of that usually takes place behind the scenes is dropped at the forefront. It may well equate to noisy steady-state driving at instances, however the soundtrack that the S/T delivers if you’re rowing by way of the gears simply makes up for it.