The biggest car news and reviews, no BS
Our free daily newsletter sends the stories that really matter directly to you, every weekday.
They say you never know you’re in the good old days until you’ve left them. For car folks, it’s a relatable sentiment. So many of the vehicles now regarded as legends, or at the very least respected, were discredited in their day. It’s only when some years have passed, and the status quo has degraded, that we’re able to appreciate what we’ve lost since. Strangely, I don’t think we’ll have that problem with the 2027 Porsche 911 GT3 S/C.
What Porsche has arguably delivered in this surprising turn for its iconic sports car is a greatest hits collection. Naturally aspirated flat-six? Check. Six-speed manual gearbox? Check. Double wishbone front suspension, lightweight construction abounds, and, last but certainly not least, an automatic folding cloth roof? Check in triplicate. It’s the ultimate purist sports car, like the 911 S/T with which it shares plenty of what makes it tick, with the added exhilaration of wind in your face and a song at your back.
What Is the Porsche 911 GT3 S/C?
At this point, Porsche has developed the 911 GT3 into a veritable family unto itself that ventures far beyond the track. You can have yours with a wing or without, with three pedals or a paddle shifter, and with seats locked in for maximum attack at the circuit, or with seats that twist and tilt in 18 different ways. The S/C is best described as the limited-run 911 S/T done up as a convertible, and the S/T was already like a GT3 Touring, with tweaks of its own.
The 911 GT3 S/C exclusively comes as a two-seater, though you can replace the little storage divots behind the seats with lockable boxes for a fee. Adam Ismail
I could spend forever and a day comparing and contrasting every permutation of GT Porsche, so in the interest of time, I’ll focus on what makes the S/C what it is. It starts with a 4.0-liter, naturally aspirated flat-six that revs to 9,000 RPM and makes 502 horsepower and 331 lb-ft of torque. The transmission, as previously noted, is exclusively Porsche’s GT Sport manual with three pedals sandwiched close for proper heel-toe action, though auto-rev-matching is available by engaging Sport mode.
The doors and fenders are made of carbon fiber to keep weight down, as are the rear anti-roll bar, rear-axle drop links, and shear plate. Composite brakes shed another 44 pounds around the car compared to the standard equipment on the 911 GT3, while magnesium wheels save about 20 pounds. The wheels are shockingly light to lift, even though they measure 20 and 21 inches in diameter from front to rear. To get them on a regular 911 GT3, you need to option the lightweight Weissach package, but that kit comes with every S/C.
Adam Ismail
All those weight-saving measures might be unexpected for a convertible, but if you look at it from the opposite perspective, they afford this GT3 the agility of all the others, even with the roof mechanism. Besides, it’s not like the top and its associated gear even weigh that much; thanks again to extensive use of magnesium and clever design that minimizes the number of components that need to be hydraulically actuated, the whole thing tips the scales at 80 pounds. And, despite the missing lid, Porsche touts 25% improved torsional stiffness over the old 911 Speedster.
Driving the Porsche 911 GT3 S/C
The end result of subjecting a 911 GT3 cabriolet to this diet is a curb weight of 3,322 pounds. That’s pretty scant when you consider that a drop-top 911 Carrera T weighs 180 pounds more. A regular Carrera T also wouldn’t have this engine or double-wishbone suspension and, believe me—you want them.
Porsche flew me to its home territory of Stuttgart and the Swabian Alps to sample the S/C in its preferred environment. No track action here; this journey was all about winding mountain roads and letting the sun shine in, fortunately, just a few days before Germany got wrecked by the awful heat wave that boiled Europe at the end of June.
When we talk about common-sense interiors that are technologically up to date but still tactile and easy-to-use, we’re talking about the current Porsche 911. This is the perfect cabin. Adam Ismail
It’s the right domain for the S/C, a car that seems contradictory on paper but truly makes all the sense in the world in practice. Today, if you truly want optimal, effortless speed, you don’t get a manual. That’s been true for some time. Additionally, Porsche says that almost half of the GT3s it moves these days are Touring models, and if you’re already making the GT3 more livable and light-hearted, it’s just a hop, skip, and a jump to fully commit and lose the roof.
You’ll be even more glad that they did when you extend into the upper reaches of the powerband, without state-of-the-art acoustic insulation to divorce you from the scream. This thing doesn’t really kick until 5,000 rpm, but with a 9,000-rpm redline on the table, you’re denying yourself and really making quite an irrational purchasing decision here if you’re not wringing the GT3’s flat six for what it can offer.
Yup, you get an old-fashioned ignition switch on the S/C, like you do with other GT3s. Adam Ismail
You’re also only talking about 502 horsepower here, and believe me—I don’t mean that in a pejorative sense. This is as old-school as a new-school sports car gets: free-breathing and high-revving, with a power sum that used to belong to supercars of the late ’90s and just 20 more lb-ft than a Civic Type R. The point here isn’t to inundate you with gratuitous thrust; it’s to give you just enough of it, deliver it in a way that almost nothing does anymore, and encourage you to use it all.
I love that about the S/C. I’ll be honest; it took me quite a while to acclimate myself to this GT3’s manual. While the short-throw shifter action is everything you’d hope—weighted, substantial, yet just clicky enough—and the clutch pedal’s bite and travel are predictable and not prohibitively heavy, the light flywheel means the flat-six drops revs immediately. There’s zero rev hang here, and so if you’re not quick with your feet, you will stall. I certainly did, three or four times in as many hours with the car.
But I’m more than willing to chalk that up to user error, and the thing is, in every other respect, the S/C is incredibly approachable, while also egging you on to be as sharp as you can be. What a great relationship to have with a car.
The 911 GT3 S/C’s roof takes 12 seconds to close, and can be opened or closed at up to 37 mph. Adam Ismail
Dynamically, it’s telepathic. Nothing feels feigned or faked or artificially amplified to convey a sense of sportiness; a GT3 doesn’t need to resort to a bulky steering setup, and the lack of rear-wheel pivot on this particular model certainly contributes to a more natural vibe. By contrast, the GT3 front suspension works wonders. I’ve never driven a performance car so properly tuned for brisk road duty while compromising virtually nothing in comfort. Then again, as a Northeasterner, I have to wonder how the S/C would fare on the lunar crags that pass for asphalt in my part of the world.
Value, Spec, and Verdict
“Value” is, of course, a subjective term when you’re talking about a machine like this. The 911 GT3 S/C begins at $275,350, and the one I drove has an additional $19,920 in options, including folding carbon-fiber bucket seats ($6,940), a front-axle lift system ($3,890), and HD Matrix headlights ($2,680).
If there’s a silver lining, it’s that, I suppose, most of the equipment that makes the S/C truly great, like the Weissach stuff, is standard. Also, the S/C is technically a series production model, unlike the S/T, of which Porsche built precisely 1,963 examples. But of course, interested buyers will still have to contend with limited allotments and markups for what is likely to be a very desirable model for very discerning customers.
If I were optioning my own, I wouldn’t hesitate a single moment to either stick with the regular four-way thrones or upgrade to the 18-way Adaptive Sport Seats, which also offer ventilation—apparently a first for any GT3. It could just be me, as I didn’t hear any other journalists complaining about it, but if you have a sensitive lower back like I apparently do, the buckets and their fixed seat back angle will ruin you. Besides, the S/C is supposed to be sharp and playful, not painful. It’s not designed for competition, and its seats shouldn’t be, either.
A 911 GT3 S/C with the Street Style Package. I’m a sucker for picnic-table seats in cars, OK? Porsche
If you’re going for the most posh experience, note the $34,190 Street Style Package (what, you’re already in the tank for at least $275K) that offers trim tweaks abound and, most notably to me, braided leather upholstery, which I don’t recall ever having seen in a car before.
All this is to say that even if you tick no extra boxes, the 911 GT3 S/C is expensive. If you’re going purely by the spec sheet, it may seem exorbitantly so. But the thing is, you don’t buy one of these for capability—you buy one for engagement. And if there’s a more engaging modern driver’s car, I’ve yet to find it.
Porsche provided The Drive with travel, accommodations, and access to the vehicle for the purpose of writing this review.
2027 Porsche 911 GT3 S/C Specs
Base Price (as tested)$275,350 ($295,270)Powertrain4.0-liter naturally aspirated flat-six | 6-speed manual transmission | rear-wheel driveHorsepower502 @ 8,500 rpmTorque331 lb-ft @ 6,250 rpmSeating Capacity2Cargo Volume4.8 cubic feet (frunk)Curb Weight3,322 pounds0-60 mph3.7 secondsTop Speed194 mphEPA Fuel EconomyTBDScore9.5/10
Quick Take
The Porsche 911 GT3 S/C is one of those cars that doesn’t initially make much sense until you drive it. But once you do, you’ll never, ever forget it.
Backed by a decade of covering cars and consumer tech, Adam Ismail is a Senior Editor at The Drive, focused on curating and producing the site’s slate of daily stories.
