As an alternative, the S/T is supposed to be completely different from all earlier 911 GT vehicles. “We needed to make the final word driver’s automotive,” says Preuninger, “and being the lightest 992 [-generation 911] was the primary growth purpose.”
There are, then, carbonfibre door skins, entrance wings, froot lid and roof. Wheels are magnesium and the inside options no rear seats. Weight has been shed elsewhere too, as a by-product of different targets. The 4.0-litre flat-six naturally aspirated engine comes from Porsche’s 911 GT3 RS, the place it makes 518bhp. However as a result of the crew needed it to have extra of a ‘zing’ issue, there’s a a lot lighter clutch for the six-speed handbook gearbox, and a single- quite than dual-mass flywheel.
The GT3’s hydraulically activated rear-steer system has been binned, too, saving extra kilos and not sapping engine energy. The rear anti-roll bar and its drop hyperlinks are constituted of carbonfibre and the brakes are carbon-ceramic. All in, the S/T weighs 1380kg, so 38kg lower than a handbook GT3 Touring and solely 10kg greater than a 911 R, and responses must be improved once more by 8% decrease gear ratios and a 10mm shorter gear lever than that of a GT3. Spring and damper {hardware} and Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tyres are the identical as on the GT3 Touring, however the adaptive damper’s software program tuning is completely different. The steering has been made extra linearly responsive and, maybe counter-intuitively, slower total: it’s tuned with the intention of replicating a hydraulic rack’s regular take-up of weight and really feel, accepting the lack of the GT3’s faster preliminary low-speed turn-in.
The steering is definitely heavier and extra deliberate than a GT3 Touring’s (one in all which, helpfully, Porsche needed to hand for a short back-to-back blast). And given they share a lot, the 2 vehicles really feel notably completely different. There’s an preliminary straightforward slickness to the GT3’s steering that the S/T rows again on. Even at low speeds rolling away from our location, it feels extra genuine, extra like real tyre forces are feeding by means of to the rim – which is, after all, what the very best steering racks do.
