Photo: Allison Dinner / Getty Images News / Getty Images
Welcome to the Porsche 911 S/T. Designed by Porsche as a present to itself on the 60th anniversary of the 911 (there’s 1,963 planned in honour of the birth year), the S/T revives a grand old name from 1969 when a 911 S was sprinkled with a touch of motorsport fairy dust to become the S/T - a fearsome competition car that did without the aid of big wings and hefty aero. A kind of beautiful Frankenstein’s monster, the S/T was a competition car, but not prolific.
The modern S/T follows the same path, though with much more modern vim. Mounted in the back is the naturally-aspirated, 521bhp 4-litre boxer from the GT3 RS coupled to that short-ratio manual (with shorter cogs than a GT3). There are no big wings bar a short Gurney flap on the electric rear spoiler, which itself doesn’t raise quite as high as other 911s. The rear-wheel steer system is ditched to save weight and complexity, and the bonnet, front wings, ‘cage, rear anti-roll bars and shear panel underneath are all carbon fibre.
The wheels are centre-lock and magnesium, the glass thinned to shave precious pounds. Even the battery has been on a diet, and now consists of a lightweight race-style lithium-ion unit. Cobble all this together with the slim carbon bucket seats along with weight savings from the powertrain and clutch, and the S/T becomes the lightest production 911. With a kerbweight of 1,380kg, it’s 40kg lighter than a manual GT3 Touring. There are plenty more facts and figures, and who better to show Top Gear magazine’s Tom Ford around the new Super 911 than the man behind it and the boss of Porsche's GT division, Andreas Preuninger.
Click Here To Listen Live https://www.iheart.com/live/news-radio-wtam-1100-174