The new Porsche 911 S/T is a tribute to the 60th anniversary of the flagship sports car, adding potent performance and a driver focus to make it a fan favorite.

The new S/T brings a combination of qualities from various models in the 911 lineup. The underpinnings come from the GT3 RS with a few differences, including the lack of fender cutouts and massive spoilers. The S/T has an incredible flat-six engine with a high redline and a double-wishbone suspension made for racing on many motorsports tracks. Toss in the manual transmission, and this Porsche has all the desirable goodies.

The S/T is made for the road

Porsche makes several different iterations of the 911 sports car. You might expect a car that shares the platform with the GT3 RS to be made to tear up the track, but that’s not the case. The S/T is made for some fun on the road, offering legendary performance and fun when you want to carve up a canyon run or rocket along the lakeside roads. Another difference between the two sports cars is the GT3 RS uses an automatic transmission while the S/T has a wonderful manual shifter that will delight driving enthusiasts.

Controlling the Porsche power made easy

This celebratory Porsche provides excellent power at 518 horsepower and 342 lb-ft of torque. The car is built to handle this power perfectly with a set of large brakes and an excellent steering system, made for cutting up the roads with ease. The Porsche 911 S/T can hit 60 mph in 3.5 seconds on the way to a top speed of 186 mph. This makes the celebratory Porsche a little slower than its platform-mate but still a lot of fun to drive.

Porsche reduced weight for incredible performance

How do you make a sports car faster? Although several methods exist, one of the favorites is cutting the weight of a car. This new Porsche has a lighter transmission with the manual over the automatic, and it has a lighter hoof, roof, front fenders, and doors that are all made of carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic. The rear axle anti-roll bar and sheer panel are also made of this lighter and strong material. Another weight-saving feature is the use of magnesium wheels instead of traditional alloy models. The final weight-saving measure is the use of ceramic composite brakes.

The overall weight difference between the S/T and GT3 Touring with a manual gearbox is 70 pounds, with the S/T being the lighter of the two cars.

A few unique items

The new 911 S/T doesn’t have a rear wing, as many special models of this Porsche sports car tend to include. The aerodynamic items of this car are made for the road and not the track, but there is an extending rear spoiler with a Gurney flap. In addition to this interesting rear aero feature, the S/T features a set of carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic bucket seats as part of the standard package. If adjustable Sport Seats are preferred, they are available as a no-charge option on this incredible sports car.

A few exclusive Porsche qualities

The appeal of a Porsche 911 is pretty obvious, but most special edition models also offer some exclusive features and qualities to make them even more enticing. The Porsche 911 S/T has the optional Heritage Design Package, Shore Blue Metallic exterior paint, and the Ceramica wheel color, that are all exclusive to this car. The interior has cloth seat centers finished in Classic Cognac with black pinstriping. The Porsche logo and 911 S/T model designation on the rear wear gold colored finish.

The drive is supremely engaging

This new Porsche is a lot of fun out on the road, bringing the fun and crispness of the short-throw gearbox to the drive. The steering is responsive, and it feels as if the system knows where you want to go before you go there. The cabin isn’t as harsh as the 911 R but rougher than the 911 GT3 Touring, which puts this car right in the sweet spot of fun and active driving on any road.

This new Porsche 911 S/T could be one of the most exclusive cars in the market, with only 1,963 models being built, a nod to the first year of the Porsche 911. The starting price is upwards of $290,000, but that could be worth the cost, considering how quickly some of these special Porsche cars increase in price and value. This new lightweight sportscar is a fitting tribute to the sixty years that Porsche has been building the 911.