Porsche 911 S/T: The Ultimate 911 for the Road & Track?

The 911 S/T is essentially a GT3 Touring with a few tweaks here and there, but those tweaks make it the ultimate 911 for drivers.

Porsche has an uncanny ability to take the 911 and make it incrementally better every single time they touch it. Critics will shout that it looks the same as it always has, the new ones are too big, they don’t make enough horsepower, and so on. And most people on the street can’t tell them apart. Park a GT3 Touring next to a 911 S/T and ask 100 random people which is which and most won’t know. But you are not some random person are you?

You are a Porsche enthusiast. You know that looking at the two cars side by side doesn’t tell the whole story. The 911 S/T makes a bit more power, it is a bit lighter, the six-speed manual transmission has shorter ratios, it has the GT3’s double-wishbone front end but no rear-steering. Do these subtle changes really matter?

The changes may be subtle, but the price difference is not. Porsche charges $100K+ more for the 911 S/T before you even consider the massive ADM your friendly local dealer will want. That is a lot of money for 16 extra horsepower. However, as we can see in this video recently posted on the Top Gear YouTube channel, this car is about a lot more than horsepower.

The combination of all the ingredients that go into making a 911 S/T creates what can be considered the ultimate Porsche 911. It won’t set the fastest laps times, and it doesn’t make the most power. But when you want an engaging, fun, intoxicating car to blast around in on your favorite back roads, the 911 S/T is tough to beat.

Track Performance

The 911 S/T may have the engine from the GT3 RS; however, lap times are not its raison d’être. So, why does Ollie Marriage begin his review on a racetrack? First of all, why not? Second of all, the track allows the car to be pushed in ways that you can’t on regular roads.

Here you can feel how the car responds at the limit. For about four and a half minutes of the video Marriage is pushing the car around the track. And during that time, he uses just about every positive adjective you can imagine for describing a car. He loves the sound, the way it shifts, the way it steers, the way it communicates with the driver, and on and on. Simply put, he has an absolute blast driving the car around the track, lap times be damned.

Road Performance

This is what the 911 S/T is all about. Marriage says in the video that he always felt that the 997.2 GT3 RS was the ultimate Porsche. And it is tough to argue against that point. But after driving the 911 S/T he believes it has dethroned his previous favorite. The experience of this car on a scenic road is tough for any other Porsche to match. Although let’s be clear, driving any Porsche on a scenic road is a tremendous experience.

But this car has that little bit extra. It is not about the raw speed. It is about feeling. Most people would think this is just another 911. But Porsche somehow managed to tweak the recipe just enough to make it their signature dish.

One Flaw

The 911 S/T is wonderful. I don’t think that is breaking news. Yes, it is expensive, and nearly impossible to get. That is a shame. But the one true flaw is not with the car itself. It is with the owners. This video spends nine minutes explaining why this car is so amazing to drive. Yet most of the people lucky enough to own one, will rarely ever experience it. I will likely never own a 911 S/T. But most of the people that do, will not experience what it is like to drive one, any more than I will.

I know someone that has a 911 S/T. I was just talking to him about it last week. His car was delivered a couple of months ago. He has still not driven it. The dealership delivered it to where his collection is stored and parked it next to his other cars.

It has been on a trickle charger since. And that is the sad fate of many of these special cars. Porsche builds a car for enthusiasts and drivers, but they all get sold to collectors who rarely drive them. If you own one of these cars, go out and drive it. Put some miles on it. That is how you realize the true value of these cars.

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Joe Kucinski

Joe has been obsessed with cars since he got his very first Matchbox toy in the ‘70s. In 2003, he found a new obsession in track days that led to obtaining his SCCA competition license in 2015. In 2019, he became a certified driving instructor for the National Auto Sport Association. His love for all things four wheels has never wavered, whether it's driving some of the best cars in the world on the racetrack, tackling 2,000-mile road trips in 2-seat sports cars or being winched off the side of a mountaintop in a Jeep. Writing for the suite of Internet Brands Auto Communities sites, including Rennlist.com, Ford Truck Enthusiasts, 6 Speed and more allows him to share that knowledge and passion with others.