Porsche 911 S/C exclusive first drive! | Chris Harris on Cars

Added: 2026-05-05

[00:00:06]Yes, they have cut the roof off the GT3 [music] and called it the SC.

[00:00:12]All the purists are up in arms and crying, but should they really be?

[00:00:26]A few weeks ago, I drove the new 911 [music] SC on the windy and beautiful island of Tenneref. I couldn't believe how good it was, to [music] be honest.

[00:00:34]How little was lost by chopping off that roof. But I really wanted to see if that chassis [music] could handle the kind of punishment I normally aim at the hard top GT Porsches. So, I asked them if they'd let me borrow one for a day on road and track. They very kindly [music] lent me a development car and gave me some time at the brilliant little Vice test track.

[00:01:00]Andreas Proninger was on hand, too.

[00:01:11]Here we are then, not far from um Vice Porsche's development R&D center. And I'm just on the edge of the Black Forest and it's [music] it's April, but there's not a cloud in the sky because the motoring gods have given me the perfect weather to test one of the more controversial vehicles that I'll drive this year. It's called a 911 SLC and it's effectively a convertible [music] GT3.

[00:01:41]And a lot of you out there will not like the concept of this car.

[00:01:57]I have to say [music] at this point this is a philosophically complicated situation for me. Like many people in their [music] 50s, my brain hasn't yet acknowledged the fact that I'm no longer 25 years old. And when I was 25 years old, Porsche launched a car called the GT3. and it became my favorite vehicle.

[00:02:19]I just love them. But I always viewed it as a purist vehicle. It was there to be driven and it certainly wasn't there to have its roof chopped off and be compromised. When I first realized that Porsche had done this to a GT3, I was a little bit shocked. But then then I drove it and I realized, I mean, it's so lacking in compromise, but also why not?

[00:02:44]If you want the coupe, you can buy the coupe. If you want the RS with the wings, buy the RS with the wings. If you want the touring without everything else, again, why wouldn't they fill their boots and make a car people that want a convertible? And crucially, it gets me closer to this thing behind me, which is one of the last great musical instruments [music] of our passion, the Porsche Flat 6. Listen to it.

[00:03:23]It doesn't sound that good in any of the other variants cuz I'm closer to it and it's just a thing of joy. And maybe I have to acknowledge that as you get later in life and older, there are two things that happens to the adult, particularly male of the species. For me, first of all, you want more salt on your food. I don't know why, but you want more salt on your food and you start to like convertibles. Now, I was obviously designed perfectly for convertible driving because of my lack of hair, but actually, I've got no obvious compromise here. I really It doesn't feel an awful lot sloppier than the coupe, and I've got myself exposed to the elements. I'm really comfortable in a convertible now. I own a couple. I can't believe I've said that in public.

[00:04:13]I own two convertibles.

[00:04:16]So maybe I'm aging at the same pace as the GT3. Maybe the GT3 is in that phase of life. Chill out. I don't need to prove that I'm a track wizard.

[00:04:26]I can just be comfortable with who I am.

[00:04:28]And for everyone that hates the car, buy an RS. Buy the one that you like. All horses for all courses.

[00:04:38]What have we got then? Well, we've got the same engine you get in the GT3 and the GT3 Touring. We've got a shell that's a [music] Carrera shell, but remarkably is so stiff that you just you're just not aware of what's going on. I've stressed that honestly. I've got no scuttle shake really. I've got a little bit of of different rigidity. I mean, maybe 5% I can sense, but that's it. You got to be a nerd to spot it or you got to be looking for it. Um because they had to homologate the car within a certain category that's it's quite complicated. They've had to throw the kitchen sink in it to make it as light as possible. So you get a whole load of ST bits, no rear seats. You've ended up with a car that weighs no more than a a fully loaded GT3 Touring with a PDK gearbox and it's a convertible with an electric hood. So, as a value proposition, it's a bit cheeky this because you get the ST fenders, you get the scallop door, which looks really cool with the door handle. Don't like the other pop out door handles on the 992 at all. Honestly, if you can get over the philosophical issue, there's a lot of value in this car.

[00:05:45]They're giving you all the fancy bits and then you get this.

[00:05:58]Okay. Three pedals, a normally aspirated 520 horsepower flat 6 and and a stick. It's kind of what driving is made of. And I I really really impress upon you how little compromise there was. If Porsche had made this car based on a 996, there'd be a problem cuz the rigidity of those cars wasn't where we are now. And I make no excuse for just driving slowly through the back forest. This is a car that on the road, you don't need to hammer it. You can enjoy the fact that you've got control of it with the manual gearbox and you can just chill out, enjoy the scenery, but it's got a level of performance that means that if you wanted to do a track day in it, you'll still rinse most things. So, we probably at some point do need to go to a track.

[00:06:48]I think Porsche might have one they can lend us for a couple of hours. I feel a bit privileged doing that. But yeah, we're going to go to Vice and drive the car later on. I've only ever I think filmed there twice before in my life, so I'm quite excited. But for now, chill out, relax. I mean, yeah, that's my contented face. I just like mooching about with the roof down. I did it at the weekend. I deliberately went out in some very narrow Somerset lanes in my Z3M Roadster because I quite like doing it. It's It's age. It comes with, as I say, liking salt on your food, making involuntary noises. When you put your shoes on, you go, "Oh, I never used to do that." Involuntary noises. That should be the spec package for this car.

[00:07:35]The special spec package.

[00:07:38]growing old gracefully.

[00:07:45]If the 25-year-old me could see me now, it would be a shame, but I don't really care.

[00:07:53]Now, I need someone to help me explain this car a bit more. And I think I might have a handily placed lurking somewhere in a car park down here. Where is he? We put him here deliberately. We had him flown in and dumped by the side of the road. He can jump in and do some explaining to me.

[00:08:11]So, I'm going to pop in here and then he can do that.

[00:08:20]Jump in.

[00:08:22]Oh, let's get going.

[00:08:28][music] >> So, I've done my piece talking about how I've got old >> and I like convertibles.

[00:08:33]>> I do. It's embarrassing, but you've always liked them, haven't you?

[00:08:37]>> I I I I was a cabriolet fan since young.

[00:08:40]I mean, my first company car in Porsche was a 993 in black convertible. That was the first car I speced as a lease car back then. And it was uh was such a sensation for me. And then I always like to be in the open in the summertime.

[00:08:56]You smell the wood, you smell everything, and you get this little wind around you. You hear the engine noise a lot more intense. And I think I like the shape of a convertible, especially look at that car. It's so narrow. It does this this pitch that I really like on the car. And um it adds just some excitement to the driving. If you just drive for the sake of driving, even when you do it slowly like us, like now I >> it's fun.

[00:09:23]>> I agree. I never liked convertibles because I thought there was a massive dynamic issue with the rigidity of the shell, but I'm not honestly I'm struggling to find a difference here between this and the coupe. If I'm honest with you, >> there is a tiny. You can spot a tiny amount, but it's tiny.

[00:09:41]>> Yeah, but you're a race driver. I mean, almost. I mean, I don't notice it very much. I mean, a little bit, maybe tiny fraction, but um it doesn't count. It's It's just It just doesn't matter. It's much better. For 99% of the people, it's below their threshold of noticing.

[00:09:59]>> So, to be clear, anyone that buys this car and says, "Oh, it doesn't drive like a GT3." Are you calling >> Absolutely. I mean, >> I definitely I wasn't sure myself of uh how a GT3 convertible would feel like, which is not a speedster. And uh I was totally surprised at how much GT3 99% is still in the cabriolet.

[00:10:24]>> Yeah.

[00:10:25]>> Uh it's so stiff and we have we the rigid the rigidity of the of the body um of the cabri is a lot better than it was like a te decade ago.

[00:10:34]>> It's it's miles different.

[00:10:36]>> It miles different. And um it's it's not that we use uh some highly tricked out material like carbon fiber, titanium, whatever. We have a very special material that we use there and it's called sheet metal. You only have to put it in the right places and uh >> to make it thin enough and use the right style of welding at the right at the exact points that you need it >> and uh you don't need to add weight to the body in white. Not not even for this tor. And >> so this is a standard this is a standard >> standard standard body. We would have done something to it if we would have to but uh we it was just not necessary.

[00:11:14]>> Okay. I'm I'm going to use this for you as a as a practice exercise for when you go to the first meeting of the GT drivers in Renport or something and they say to you, "Mr. Poinger, you should never have made a GT3 convertible. It goes against the philosophy of the GT3, you're going to get all of this." What are you going to say? What's your reply?

[00:11:37]I I hope I would have a convertible with me and I would give him the keys and dig out my old quote. Shut up and drive.

[00:11:46][laughter] Find out yourself. And uh I was the same and I have really sympathy for that attitude, but it's just uh as soon as you try that car out, you'll find out it's it's it's not justified.

[00:11:58]It is a GT3. It is as precise and as racy and as u GT like I would say as any other GT variant as well.

[00:12:09]>> I I think this side of motoring maybe people assume you should do this in a PDK GTS, but why shouldn't you do it in this?

[00:12:17]>> No, you want to be you want to have something to do in the car. I I I want to have this when I'm just driving for the sake of driving. When I'm doing driving on a country road like here, I want to be involved and I want to be I want to have as many interfaces between me and the machine as possible. And the clutch and the gear lever are very very important interfaces.

[00:12:37]>> I know we've been saying it for a long time, but normally aspirated with this and three pedals. We're coming to the end of that, aren't we? We have to accept the fact we're coming to the end of it.

[00:12:46]>> Well, I mean, it's getting diff more difficult every year with every legislational change. Um, I think this is the best we can do under the circumstances that we have right now and it's brilliant. Um, it will get a little bit more challenging in the future. I wouldn't rule out that we find ways, but uh, at least I would say for the for the normally aspirated engine, it will have a very hard time under the new EU7 legislation that's coming up in two years. Yeah, that's right. a manual. I I think we will we'll never go away from a manual because this is something that you just need in a driver's car in my point of view.

[00:13:26]>> Do you remember 991 GT3 with all the arguments? We missed the hats.

[00:13:31]>> Yeah, >> we're going to have PDK only.

[00:13:32]>> I don't remember. I mean 991 was a was a gamecher and it it it created such a such a discussion. Rear wheel drive rear wheel steering. Mets gone >> electric steering as well. electric steering um and PDK. There was four main things that people couldn't connect to the GT3 story.

[00:13:58]>> Y >> with leaving away the rear wing.

[00:14:01]>> Yeah.

[00:14:02]>> Now we've got almost 50%age of touring customers in the GT3.

[00:14:07]>> But now the discussion with the convertible will be the same as long as the people are not driving the car.

[00:14:15]>> Yeah. So I am not afra I don't I don't have any concerns uh that this car will not be successful because it's such a who to drive and such a great combination of GT motorsport technology and a fun car and I think this is something that has gotten more important in the last decade than before.

[00:14:38]>> Yeah, >> GT is not only going to the paddock on a on a on a track day. It is drivers cars as well and um it's almost 50% now. So >> emotion is what counts.

[00:14:53]>> Now driving back into Porsche's research and development center covered in cameras isn't very clever. So we wet them off and went to the track.

[00:15:04][music] Now if I look like a happy chappie, it's because I am. I'm in Visa. The sun's out. I mean, like real sun. And this is the famous [music] Porsche test track.

[00:15:20]You don't get to come here very often.

[00:15:21]I'm really spoiled today.

[00:15:25]And what [music] better place to demonstrate the fact that loping the roof off a GT3 really seems to make no difference whatsoever cuz if it works around here, it'll work anyway. This is a tough little test track. [music] So, let's give you one good fast lap.

[00:15:42]And windows down for the full convertible effect into this first corner here after the straight.

[00:15:54]You can play with the back of the car.

[00:16:01]Breaking hard into this righthander here. This is such an emotive test track. Everyone from Mark Donahghue to Derek Bell to Stefan Bellof would have been here as well. I mean all the names have been here and it's narrow and it's technical and there's stuff to hit and it's just Porsche through and through.

[00:16:26]All the cars from the last 50 60 years have been developed here. Of course they have. It's home. is designed to pull apart a car dynamically. And this convertible right now, I mean, if I didn't have all this air in my face, I wouldn't know it was one. I mean, it the difference between it and the coupe is so marginal that I really want to dislike this thing, but you can't. I've got no interruption in the steering at all. I've got no sense the body shells creaking. You just you'd need to be better driver than me to really pick any difference around here.

[00:17:06]Listen to that engine. Freaking hell.

[00:17:11]Makes you feel a bit more alive with all this going on around me as well.

[00:17:25]All I'm making. Sorry.

[00:17:35]You know what? Being exposed to the elements does add to the sensation of speed. I reckon roof dam feels like you got another 50 horsepower.

[00:17:48]What a little cracker jack. I'm getting old. I like convertibles, but this thing is so damn good.

[00:18:04]It really is so damn good.

[00:18:09]The engine 520 horsepower, normally aspirated. What more do you need?

[00:18:14]Instant throttle response.

[00:18:22]Oh, okay.

[00:18:25]Well, for me, there's no doubt that if anyone thinks this is a car that shouldn't have been built, they've just got a problem with the way it looks, cuz the way it drives, it's fabulous.

[00:18:37]Absolutely fabulous.

[00:18:42]The great irony of this car is that despite being the [music] supposed floppy open top cruiser, it's better than most hard top rivals on track. If I'm being completely [music] honest, it's actually the easiest GT to make slide because of that extra bit of rear weight distribution making it want to wag those hips more readily. I was convinced [music] that this was a car too far for Porsche, but it just isn't.

[00:19:05]The legacy of driving dynamics [music] established by Andreas and his team continues unblenmished with this SC.

[00:19:12]Anyone that doubts it should just drive one. If liking it means I'm getting old, then I'm very comfortable with the aging process.