2023 Porsche 911 S/T review: International first drive

On the two-hour flight from Munich to Lamezia Terme in Calabria, I'm having trouble sorting out the 2023 Porsche 911 S/T numbers buzzing around my head.

Porsche is charging a whopping $660,500 before on-road costs for the S/T, which on paper doesn't seem worth $240K more than the almost identikit GT3 with Touring package.

Though it musters a feisty 386kW, the newcomer won't even accelerate faster from 0-100km/h than a Carrera S at less than half the price. Both cars do the job in an identical 3.7sec. In terms of top speed, the S eclipses the S/T with 308km/h vs. 300 – come again?

At 13.8L/100km, the new flagship model is furthermore significantly thirstier than its 331kW sibling which averages 10.5L/100km. So what is this, a clever marketing ploy or one more Porsche myth in the making?

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A jubilee medal here, a logo badge there, a Gurney flap on the rear spoiler. You need to look long and hard to tell the new S/T apart from a GT3 Touring. Inside, the differences are equally subtle.

The green-and-white on black speedo, rev counter and Sport Chrono dials are reminiscent of the original 911. The snug seat is the familiar CFRP bucket approved by the Swabian Domina Guild, but the black-and-white pinstripe trim is new, and it reappears on the featherweight carbon-fibre door which shuts with a positively non-metallic clunk.

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If you must, Porsche will fit the pricey Heritage Design package featuring cognac leather trim and dubious golden accents along with a special paint job and ivory wheels. Hmm.

The glorious engine starts at the first turn of the integrated ignition key, and although the trademark 24-valver is the undisputed core element of the car's 60-year-old DNA, it suddenly sounds, feels and is quite different.

At idle speed, a fresh noise joins the familiar rasp, vroom and clatter. What sounds like a bagful of steel antlers in a tumble dryer are in fact the initial high-mech flight exercises of the new single-mass flywheel. Reducing the rotating masses by a substantial 10.5kg, it connects to a re-engineered clutch which is also lighter in weight but heavy to operate.

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Make that very heavy. Even the six-speed gearbox feels a little meatier than what we have on record, but the stubby lever, the short throws and the crisp gate make the right palm duly gleam with joy.

Off we go. 178km does not seem to be a long enough distance for a Big Drive in such an important car. One could cover this stretch in 45 minutes on an empty Autobahn, in an hour and a half using the byways of rural France, or in two hours max on a Friday afternoon from Bologna to Milano Marittima during Ferragosto.

But 3:13hrs for a complex 178km grid of narrow country roads with zero traffic, no radar traps and not a single Carabinieri in sight?

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Walter Röhrl, multiple world rally champion, Porsche brand ambassador and actively involved in the development of the S/T has the explanation: "The route, which is part of our official testing programme, reminds me of the most special stages of the San Remo Rally. It demonstrates the car's breadth of ability to the full." Hear, hear.

Even when tackled at eight-tenths, the terrain is tricky. Our test car has no front axle lift, so chin rash is a constant risk. Those vulnerable satin black wheels (21-inch rear, 20-inch front) also deserve extra attention.

But the number one job for the driver is to fade out all those potentially painful new acoustic intrusions; the clutch clatter, the clonks from the gearbox, the chafing diff, the rev-dependent transmission whine, the brakes that switch from chirp to drone to hiss depending on speed and temperature.

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There is no doubt about it: the 911 S/T is a live animal, restless by nature, over-eager on demand, scintillating when pushed.

Which may take a little longer than foreseen because the clutch is a delicate beast – overcook it, and it will smell and may slip. But we would never trade the iconic manual six-speeder for the slicker and quicker PDK 'box. No contest, surely.

What exactly is it that makes an S/T? The next leg of our drive looks sufficiently laid back to ponder this question. It's less than ten clicks long but almost four cars wide, nicely surfaced and bristling with different radii and gradients.

Here, the S/T feels very much like a GT3 – except they threw out the rear-wheel steering to save 6.5kg.

On paper this is a noble gesture but positively counter-productive on the final leg of the journey: the poorly kept Salerno-Reggio autostrada where amping up the speed makes it feel uncomfortably razor-edge again.

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Through the twisties up in the hills, however, the missing 2.5 degrees of rear steering angle was never an issue. By definition obsessed with weight saving, the Porsche GT department led by Andreas Preuninger managed to trim down the S/T to a zero-body-fat 1380kg, saving 38kg saving over the GT3 Touring.

Means to this end include thinner carpets (2kg), a smaller battery (3kg) and bespoke mag wheels (10.6kg). In sympathy, I only ate half the pasta that night and didn't touch the tiramisu.

Less weight means less mass and momentum, which in turn means potentially more agility and speed. But there are more edges to the dynamic sword, like accessibility, balance and confidence. To comply, the stripped uber-911 fuses compliance and precision, responsiveness and mechanical grip to a remarkable new whole.

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It's all in the mix which was merely tweaked over the GT3, not altered. The recalibrated PASM and PSM software helps to reduce body movements and improve grip. The transmission ratios are now eight per cent shorter, which partly explains the two-tenths an S/T gains over the GT3 in the 0-100km/h acceleration run.

The locking ratio of the diff was modified for a creamier, more controllable exit out of tight corners. The steering ratio has changed from 14:1 to a slightly less aggressive 15:1. The rear spoiler extends at 120km/h rather than 80km/h and at a less radical angle.

Last but not least there is the engine which truly excels in its 4000-8000rpm performance zone. Think of it as an unplugged version of the GT3 RS unit. That's unplugged as in boasting slightly modified camshafts and throttle valves.

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Add to this the effect of the lightweight clutch (0.074kg/m2 instead of 0.207kg/m2 pressure) and the smaller diameter (184mm instead of 240mm) flywheel, and you can perhaps imagine the explosive forward thrust generated by this naturally aspirated 4.0-litre flat-six Superkraftwerk which will happily rev to 9000rpm again and again.

The maximum torque of 465Nm is available at a lofty 6300rpm. At the end of the day, this awesome powerplant felt and sounded more like the final air-cooled boxer than the hardest-core six-cylinder turbo, but perhaps that's just me talking nonsense over dinner after the third glass of chilled Lambrusco.

Over two hours into this memorable Thursday morning and I'm hooked for good. Why? Because this car is a drug. Having eventually agreed on a rhythm to build on, we're in an interactive, catalytic, galactic flow, the Porsche and its red-faced part-time keeper.

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The pace is already there, thank you very much, now the speed must follow. And it will, because we have barely scratched the surface yet. But then the route suddenly forks to the right, and the roads that follow look rough enough to scare off a Dakar, let alone our S/T.

Potential damage lurks left, right, centre and, most of all, underneath, but somehow this 911 is lithe and surefooted and acrobatic enough to escape the Valle della Morte unscathed.

The shorter gear ratios are a big help in this difficult terrain, the double-wishbone front suspension adds a whipped cream topping of extra suppleness, the recalibrated dampers respond less aggressively to the vagaries of the terrain, the steering feels a tad more casual around the straight-ahead position.

Sounds like a walk in the park, but this is a shrapnel-sharp, ferociously fast and 101 per cent involving driving experience.

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We both gave it all and then some, but even 3:13 hours were not enough on the devil's own playground to fully fathom the true potential of the 911 S/T.

At the end of our tour de force close to, at and once or twice even over the limit, three almost surreal strengths stuck to the mind like burrs to an Arran jumper: the eerily insane turn-in speed and the dotted superglue line that followed, the wealth and quality of information that keeps arriving at your palms in millisecond intervals, and the absolutely exquisite throttle, steering and chassis interaction.

If there are 50 shades of grey, the S/T easily delivers 911 shades of dynamic dare, depth and diversity. I shall envy each and every one of the 1963 lucky owners until the day I die, and that's a promise. Amen.