(Bloomberg) -- Porsche currently sells 25 versions of the 911 sports car. There’s hardly an argument for another one—especially one like the 2024 911 S/T, which at $292,000 is the most expensive 911 even though it offers only marginally improved power and speed compared to the 911 GT3.
I was skeptical myself, as I repeatedly told my podcast co-host Matt Miller.
But after a day spent inside a 911 S/T winding through the redwood forests of Northern California, I must admit to being seduced. With a growling 4.0-liter naturally aspirated engine, a short-shifting manual six-speed gearbox that punches like Oscar De La Hoya and a distinctive look, the 911 S/T is the carmaker’s operatic dissertation on the beauty of driving, and I’m here for all of it.
The Thrill of the Drive
The 911 S/T features a high-revving 518-horsepower engine that has the car reaching 60 mph in 3.5 seconds and allows for a top speed of 186 mph. It’s the same engine Porsche has used in several other cars, like the 911 GT3 RS, but this is the first time it is paired with a manual gearbox, which makes for a special combination. (The release of the S/T also marks likely one of the last times we’ll see this type of engine in a 911, so the car can be considered the pinnacle of that engineering feat.)
Everything about the 911 S/T feels interconnected, and many of its well-considered attributes achieve multiple purposes. They all work together to keep the car light, nimble and driving-focused without stripping it so far back that it becomes too raw and rough to enjoy. For instance, a newly developed, superlight clutch/flywheel setup helps save 23 pounds but also allows the flat-six engine to rev more easily—which translates back into that super quick (read: super fun) shifting.
A standard lightweight sport exhaust system saves weight, too, and it enhances the potent engine note. Special lightweight carpeting achieves the dual purpose of allowing more engine sound to come through into the cabin and saves an additional 4 pounds. All told, the S/T weighs just over 3,000 pounds. It’s the lightest 911 you can buy new.
Porsche wants the S/T to evoke a prior, glorious generation of track-happy 911. But there’s a difference between the historic ST cars and the current S/T. You couldn’t just walk into a dealership and buy a 911 ST like you could buy a 911 S or 911 R—it didn’t work that way. Instead, the ST cars of the late 1960 and early ’70s were amalgamations of three factory packages offered with punchy extras such as wheels, roll cages and chassis enhancements that buyers could option if they wanted to take their 911 to the track.
In short, the special extras enhanced other existing 911 variants for racing. The plucky customized 911s earned the colloquial group name ST, which had been the internal name for a special racing version of the 911 S Porsche from 1969, according to a Porsche spokesperson. By contrast, the modern 911 S/T is not track ready; it doesn’t even offer a roll-cage option in the US, which is required on most tracks.
Basically, as I told my co-host Matt, this felt a bit like a money grab for Porsche. It seemed to be selling a car aimed at getting wealthy, status-driven buyers to purchase another 911 by vaguely appealing to a nostalgia for something that never even saw a salesroom floor. There’s a strong business case for doing this if Porsche wants to get on Ferrari’s level. But I digress….
And yet, as I was whizzing past autumnal vineyards sleeping near St. Helena, California, exactly none of that mattered. From the moment I got inside and shifted into first, the 911 S/T reminded me how fun it is to drive a stick. Working through those short gear ratios paired with that high-revving engine—in a car that stayed planted firmly wherever I sent it—made me feel like a kid again. You know the inner monologue we all have but know better than to say out loud? Mine was something like, “Whoa, wow, yippee!”
I took the S/T through some heavy rain from Meadowood resort in Napa Valley and meandered 200 miles or so up to Mendocino; the goal was to reach a seafood spot there for lunch, then come back. The wet stymied the most spirited driving, but the S/T proved balanced and controlled even in slick conditions.
Gloomy skies broke once I hit Highway 1. Now I pushed it, reaching for fifth and sixth gear as I surged north. The S/T handled in the sublimely direct way of someone who gets right to the point.
As I wound through the dark, forested landscape en route to chowder, the green instrument cluster and clock of the chrono package glowed; they’re special, because decades ago, only short-wheel-base 911s had that color scheme. The pinstripe pattern on the seats may repel some, but in an otherwise all-black cabin, they looked smart.
After lunch, I parked the car on some cliffs overlooking the ocean. Its channeled roof and hood and sharply defined side air inlets set it apart from other 911s. While the car is not exactly rare—Porsche will make 1,963 S/Ts (a nod to the year the 911 made its debut)—you can easily tell it apart from a more pedestrian 911. Magnesium wheels come standard. At the rear, a lip called a “Gurney flap” pairs with a retractable spoiler to help improve aerodynamics; it extends at 74 mph and retracts at 65 mph.
Thank goodness this didn’t get a ridiculous wing that screams for attention, like the GT3 did. Small accents are fitting here, because, like a discrete mechanical wristwatch, the S/T embodies the if-you-know-you-know attitude. It doesn’t scream expensive; it doesn’t have to.
Not for Everyone
All that said, the S/T is not for everyone. It’s noticeably louder than the heavier GT3, as I quickly learned after riding along with the Porsche spokesperson in one for a bit after lunch as we turned south. The S/T can be described as rattly, which to me is a deliciously analogue feel but will turn out to be taxing on, say, a cross-country jaunt. This is not a grand touring 911; you may not want to sit in traffic with it every day as your chosen commuter, either. It lacks a backseat and rear-wheel steering.
The S/T also requires quite a lot of shifting on curvy roads, since those short gears were always asking me to move up or down as I would through the hills. It’s not exactly a workout, since the clutch is so light and quick to use, but it’ll keep you busy. (If you’re crazy for heel and toe driving like the old pros did, you’ll want to turn off the Auto Blip feature that automatically opens the throttle when downshifting to make traditional shifting a breeze.)
On the highway speeding back toward Napa, I could have used a tall seventh gear to really let the car stretch its legs, as it were, on the straight, open road. Still, I wasn’t complaining. This coupe doesn’t offer the bolstered and buffered ride of my personal favorite 911 variant, the mighty Turbo S, nor the track-ready rawness of the GT3, but then again it’s not supposed to.
Instead, the Porsche 911 S/T is an ode to the joy of driving and a fitting tribute to the spirit of the best sports cars Porsche makes, even if it never was quite like this one in the first place.
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