2024 Porsche 911 S/T: Australian first drive

07/25/2024 01:04 AM

Tick, tick, tick… the Porsche 911 S/T’s exhaust continues to vocalise long after the flat-six engine's been switched off – a lingering reminder of the exhilarating moments spent at 9000rpm earlier on.

As it sat, admittedly out of place, in a nondescript shopping centre carpark in Brisbane, the limited-edition car's looks are easy to appreciate against the backdrop of grey, white, and black SUVs surrounding it.

This is the most expensive Porsche sold in Australia, after all. The new Porsche 911 S/T is arguably the most driver-focused 911 variant of all time and brings the GT3 RS's racetrack prowess to more of a road-going application.

Just 1963 examples will be made worldwide and Australian pricing starts from $660,500. Add in on-road costs and options and this unique 911 variant is almost certain to surpass the $750,000 mark. Our test car did, anyway – $795,751 drive-away based on dealer delivery in Melbourne.

But this is a special car and you don't have to look hard to appreciate it. Our Shore Blue Metallic example featured historic logos and lettering down the side, a wonderfully simple and stripped-out interior, and a 60 Years of Porsche badge on the car's rear end.

Of course, requisite 911 S/T badging denotes the fact that this 911 is the most hardcore of all and harks back to the early 1970s Porsche 911 S/T – a lightweight, road-going interpretation of Porsche's then race-bred 911. Today, the model uses lightweight componentry to become the lightest variant of the 992-generation.

It employs carbon-fibre reinforced plastic for its door panels and wheel guards, and thin glass panes are used for the windows. Its set of staggered 20/21-inch centre-lock wheels are made from magnesium and reveal a set of standard carbon-ceramic brake rotors. Porsche has also disposed of the GT3’s rear-wheel-steer ability, further reducing weight.

Effectively, the running gear is pinched from the 911 GT3 RS. That means a rear-mounted 4.0-litre flat-six-cylinder engine that develops 386kW and 465Nm. It's all sent to the rear wheels and matched to a unique six-speed close-ratio manual transmission.

Porsche has also fitted a lightweight clutch to the manual gearbox, as well as a single-mass flywheel, which collectively makes for race-car-like nimbleness and a savage acceleration time of zero to 100km/h in 3.7 seconds, according to the car maker.

Seeing as this is the ultimate road-going 911, designed for public-road corner carving rather than setting blistering lap times (although it's likely capable of that too), Drive was invited to Brisbane to sample the new variant ahead of customer deliveries.

Irony is having an $800,000 limited-edition 2024 Porsche 911 S/T, arguably the most driver-focused 911 variant of all time, at my disposal and being stuck in late-afternoon traffic for what was likely to be our only opportunity to test it out.

At an average speed of 5km/h on Brisbane's Bruce Highway, it's obvious that the 911 S/T is built to go fast – not stumble through bumper-to-bumper peak hour. Sound deadening and absorbent material are reduced to the bare minimum, so the constant vibrations and rumblings of the big flat-six are omnipresent despite a sub-1000rpm idle.

The special new clutch might be lightweight in name, but it feels bloody heavy underfoot. Repeatedly engaging and disengaging the pedal is tricky – this is not a gearbox comfortable with urban speeds.

It does take time to get used to, especially when it comes to changing gear. That lightweight clutch and single-mass flywheel combo makes the engine rev quicker, invoking a motorsports feel, but the engine also drops revs alarmingly quick and the resulting experience can be clunky at low speeds.

But, the gearbox is still undoubtedly one of the coolest aspects of the 911 S/T. The six-speed unit's ratios are eight per cent shorter than a regular 911 GT3, and this means the driver gets to rev the car out to its glorious hair-raising limits that more often.

I'm not sure if I'm alone in thinking this, but the 911 has become a big car in its current generation. Despite the 911 S/T tipping the scales on the lighter side of the 992 line-up, I can't help but think the accentuated rear haunches are comically large and difficult to see around.

Some will love the widebody look that the 992-generation is typified by, but I'm certain there's a subset of 911 aficionados who yearn for a smaller physical footprint.

In any case, a lot of this wasted time in traffic gave me a great opportunity to enjoy the 911 S/T's interior. It's absolutely gorgeous and unashamedly driver-centric. You sit in a set of heavily bucketed and broad-shouldered seats, which have next to no adjustment, while the steering wheel is devoid of buttons and switches.

Even the GT3's mode selector dial is gone in favour of a clean look – this S/T has no set of specific drive modes aside from varying damper settings and an exhaust button.

It's refreshingly simple and a nice throwback to see such an unfussy interior. Joining the retro aesthetic is a phosphorus green central-mount tachometer, flanked by digital dials, and normal door handles are removed in favour of leather pull tabs.

Even on the outside, the 911 S/T is fitted with pull handles rather than the pop-out items seen on the 911 GT3 or Carrera ranges.

It’s so special, inside and out. But the entire experience became even more incredible after I broke free from the restraints of traffic.

Finally, the time came to wind out to the 911 S/T's 9000rpm rev limit. Phwoar! What an experience.

Windows: open. Gear: second. Foot: planted. Hearing that flat-six engine rev its heart out to redline is an intoxicating experience, but it's also one that's over all too soon.

However, that finicky gearbox is far happier to snick into gear at higher engine and wheel speeds, and then it’s ready to do the dance up to 9000rpm all over again. The short-throw shifter itself is a joy to hold and is characterised by a notchy action. It’s true, you have to be either particularly deliberate in your movements – or just well practised – but the sensation of hitting a perfect shift is rewarding.

Thankfully, Porsche has organised the car’s computers to do the inverse – there's an auto-blip function for rev-matching that executes a downshift better than I ever could.

There's no doubting the 911 S/T goes fast, but it's not the wildly nauseating experience you get in a regular turbocharged 911. A (relatively) lower torque figure and a linear curve ensure oomph builds in a slow-but-steady kind of fashion.

Speed piles on in a deceptive way – but naturally, before you know it you've exhausted the play limits of road regulations and speed limits. Even though this is a 911 built for the road, I'm certain its performance would be exploited to an even greater extent on a racetrack.

Then comes the handling profile. Even at mundane speeds through the flowing country roads just south of the Sunshine Coast, the 911 S/T's pointed nose eagerly follows the pinpoint-accurate steering system, while reliable feedback keeps the driver in touch with the road.

Every minute change in direction, or road surface, is fed back to the driver for a wonderfully tactile driving quality. Even though it is effectively a GT3 derivative, the 911 S/T feels out road imperfections and deals with them without sending jolts and sharp road impacts through the driver's rear end. This is a car built for the open road – imperfections and all – and it drives like it.

The carbon-ceramic brakes are touchy on initial depression, but their resolute ability to pull the car up in short order is hugely impressive. As an aside, not only do carbon-ceramic discs work harder physically than normal brakes, but they typically also produce less brake dust to dirty those gorgeous off-white wheels. Win-win!

What makes the 911 S/T so brilliant is what Porsche has distilled the model down to. Its unfussy exterior design is without air-bending wings, flaps, and canards. The interior is solely focused on the experience of driving a manual sports car – no modes, no distractions. And the removal of unnecessary weight has resulted in a livelier-feeling sports car.

Porsche's good at rolling out a new special edition with all-new technology – 911 Dakar, 911 Sport Classic, GT3 Touring – but it's very likely that the best 911 driving experience comes from a nameplate first born in the 1970s.

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