Stuttgart, Germany — It wasn’t that long ago – well, it sort of was, but it doesn’t feel like it – that I was driving on these very same roads in a brand-new Porsche, like the one pictured here. It was also a convertible, like the one pictured here and it also sat at the top of the line-up…sort of like the one pictured here. It was the Porsche 718 Spyder RS, and it ended up being possibly the best sports car I’d ever driven.
2027 Porsche 911 GT3 S/C
So, it was with this in mind that I sat out – from the driveway of the same hotel as previous, nestled nicely in the Swabian Alps outside of Stuttgart – in the 2027 Porsche 911 GT3 S/C. “S/C” is shorthand for “sports cabriolet”, but that doesn’t really matter because “S/C” is easier to see at write and sounds better anyway.
It comes only in rear-wheel-drive and only with a six-speed manual transmission – that’s right; with a clutch pedal and all. Let’s not forget the power on tap: that’s 502 horsepower and 331 pound-feet of torque from a four-litre flat-6 engine…that revs to a stratospheric 9,000 RPM redline.
So while it doesn’t sit at the top of the 911 line-up – like the Spyder RS did – it’s pretty darn close and with such a tantalizing combination, “top of the line-up” in this case is really more of a numbers game. The Turbo S Cabriolet and GT3 RS both make more power than the S/C does, but a look at the S/C and consideration of what it took to get it to perform like Porsche wanted to suggests something far greater than numbers on a page.
At just over 1,500 kilograms (3,307 pounds), it weights only about 40 kilos more than the GT3 Touring does – and that’s if you strip your GT3. If you add, say, rear seats and PDK dual-clutch automatic transmission, you’re looking at only a 21 kilo difference. Typically, removing a car’s roof hurts stiffness and more chassis reinforcement is required to make up for it, adding weight. Then, there’s the need for a folding roof mechanism and you’re heavier still.
In order to compensate for all that, the S/C gets the Weissach package as standard. That adds lightweight magnesium wheels (20” at the front, 21” at the rear), which save about 10 kilos. Ceramic brakes are also standard, saving another 20 kilos and the pesky roof mechanism gets a bunch of magnesium parts, adding less than 40 kilos. It stows in about 12 seconds, so you’ll never be caught in the rain here. That’s a clear advantage this car has over both the manual top Spyder RS and 2019’s 911 Speedster, which was the last time we saw a naturally-aspirated 911 with no top.
Fabric straps that act as interior door release handles, a manual-adjust tilt and telescope steering wheel and no back seats keep the weight down.
If you want to save even more, you can spec options like carbon-fibre bucket seats. Personally, I find these too narrow and prefer the 18-way power items that come as part of the “Street Style” package. That adds a host of style touches such as woven-look inserts (that require over 660 meters of leather for every square meter of material), a wooden shift knob, special wheel colours and additional exterior graphics. A multitude of colours are available, including a 150-plus catalogue of special “paint-to-sample” options.
Porsche insists that the GT3’s chassis and suspension tuning was so honed that only a little extra chassis reinforcement was required to make the convertible feel just as competent.
I couldn’t see all of that from behind the wheel, but that doesn’t matter because the full-on assault on the senses that comes with piloting a car like this means it could be painted in a charming kaleidoscope of flat white and beige and my hairs would still stand on end.
Since there is no turbocharging, power delivery is instantaneous and it feels like that whenever I depress the throttle, no matter the revs, no matter the speed. It’s just a seemingly infinite swell of torque that feels so much more than the numbers on paper. The sound it makes is absolutely guttural, too, shrieking all the way to that 9K redline.
I stab the light clutch, snag fourth from third and it all starts all over again, that addictive, transcendent wave of power thrusts me down this beautiful road just outside of Stuttgart, part of a network in the Swabian Alps where cars like this are tested and honed by the manufacturer.
2027 Porsche 911 GT3 S/C
If the any gear, any speed acceleration is thrilling in the hair raising, the steering and handling is thrilling on a more cerebral level. The steering – as is the Porsche way, from sports cars to SUVs – hits that perfect note between road feel, weight and responsiveness. Since I’m sat so close to the front axle it feels like I’m quite literally on top of it. That means that it’s so easy to get in tune with what’s happening with the front end, making it so easy to place within the lane and through long, sweeping turns with – “pinpoint” isn’t strong enough — laser-point accuracy.
At around $350,000 CDN at base, this is an expensive car. It is. Cars like the GT3 S/C exist, though, because every so often, a manufacturer wants to show that they can. That they can take one of the best performance coupes in the world, decapitate it, and have it deliver the same performance, the same handling and the same thrills. It’s a marvel of modern sport car engineering, which is the case no matter the price.
That’s all great – in theory. The question remains, though, is whether or not I was smitten to the same degree with the S/C as I was with the Spyder RS. The answer, in the end, is that it doesn’t’ really matter. I was absolutely mitten when I drove the Spyder; it looks amazing, its mid-engine configuration recalls so many past race cars. With its low weight and high power, it drives like one as well – and that’s all great.
You can’t get it with a manual gearbox though – well, you can’t get it at all, anymore, since it’s been discontinued – and while it was the flagship of its line-up, it wasn’t a flagship for the brand.
Those laurels go to the 911, and the S/C has decades of sports car caché and know-how to rely upon. Even without a roof, it’s a 911 in the purest form and that is almost impossible to replace. Sports cars don’t come much better than these two, and that’s the bottom line.
Quick Specs: 2027 Porsche 911 GT3 S/C
Powertrain: 4.0-litre flat-6 cylinder
Output: 502 horsepower and 311 pound-feet of torque
Drivetrain: Rear-wheel drive
Transmission: Six-speed manual
Drag Coefficient: 0.39 Cd
0-100 km/h: 3.9 seconds
Top Speed: 313 km/h
Interior Highlights: Street Style package, optional fixed-back carbon-fibre seats, frunk, canvas convertible roof with magnesium parts
Starting Price (Canada): $351,324