Porsche 911 S/T celebrates 60 years of Germany’s legendary sports car

On Wednesday Porsche unleashed its radical new 911 S/T.

Built to mark 60 years of the iconic 911 sports car and limited to only 1,963 units worldwide, this fabulous anniversary gift from the German carmaker is essentially a GT3 RS fitted with a Touring Package. This means you get a more conventional body free from all the track-biased aerodynamic aids native to the standard RS but still all the benefit of its high-revving 4.0l six-cylinder boxer engine.

This effectively makes the 911 S/T one of the world’s great modern day sleepers; a wolf in sheep’s clothing capable of blowing the doors off almost anything else on the road.

Exhaling through a standard lightweight sports exhaust system and producing a heady 386kW — 11kW more than the standard GT3 — this unit sports bespoke camshafts with modified cam profiles, a single-throttle intake system and a motorsport-derived rigid valve drive.

In the GT3 RS it is meshed to a seven-speed PDK gearbox but here in the S/T, Porsche has paired it to an old school six-speed manual transmission stacked with a set of shorter gear ratios. The latter also features a new lightweight clutch and single-mass flywheel design to help reduce rotating mass by 10.5kg. The upshot of this, dear reader, is more immediate throttle response as well as an engine that builds revs quicker. 

Performance? According to Porsche we can expect the 911 S/T to screech from 0-100km/h in a claimed 3.7 seconds and reach a true maximum speed of 300km/h. Lovely.

Matching this formidable straight-line shove is a unique and immensely capable chassis, which combines a double wishbone front axle design with a multi link rear axle sans rear axle steering.

Designed for carving up public roads rather than private race tracks, the 911 S/T also features dampers and control systems with model specific tuning. A full set of staggered (20-inch front and 21-inch rear) lightweight centre-locking magnesium wheels is fitted as standard as are ultra high-performance tyres (255/35 ZR up front and 315/30 ZR at the rear). Despite going about its business with minimal aerodynamic aids, the 911 S/T is equipped with a Gurney flap on the extending rear spoiler. 

In keeping with its pared down design ethos, the Porsche engineers worked tirelessly on making the 911 S/T as lightweight as possible. As such the car's bonnet, roof, front wings and doors are all hewn out of gravity-cheating carbon fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP). Lightweight glass is also fitted as standard, as is a similarly feathery lithium ion starter battery.

Finished off with reduced insulation, the omission of rear axle steering and weight savings in the powertrain, the 911 S/T achieves an impressive kerb weight of 1,380kg — exactly 40kg lighter than a manual 911 GT3 Touring.

Cabin highlights include an instrument cluster and Sport Chrono clock finished in a classic green Porsche colour scheme as well as a pair of CFRP bucket seats. Customers can swap these for the more forgiving Sports Seat Plus system at no extra cost.

For those seeking a bit more visual flair, the 911 S/T is offered with the optional Heritage Design Package. Ticking this box unlocks an exclusive new exterior colour, Shoreblue Metallic, as well as a new wheel rim colour known as Ceramica. On the doors, a starting number from 0 to 99 as well as a decorative foil can be applied on request.

As a nod to its historic roots — the original 911 S/T of 1969 — you'll also find the classic design Porsche crest adorning the bonnet, wheel centre locks, steering wheel, headrests and key. The Porsche logo and the 911 S/T designation script on the rear of the car are finished in gold.

The cabin has also been jazzed up with cloth seat centres in Classic Cognac with black pinstripes, two-tone semi-aniline leather trim in Black/Classic Cognac leather with extensive leather surrounds, a roof lining in perforated Dinamica, and other choice bits and pieces sourced from the extensive Porsche Exclusive Manufaktur catalogue. 

According to Porsche SA, local customer order books for the 911 S/T are open. Pricing starts at R6,326,000 with a five-year Driveplan. Availability will be limited.