The German automaker got it right with the 2023 Porsche 911 Sport Classic. Aiming to infuse vintage styling with the powertrain of modern 911 sports cars, we weren?t expecting Porsche to imbibe the 911 Sport Classic with analog components that could make it the best new 911 in our book.

2023 Porsche 911 Sport Classic: What?s New"

The new 911 Sport Classic is based on a 992-Series 911 Turbo S with the same rear-mounted, twin-turbocharged 3.7-liter flat-six and widebody kit. However, the similarities end there because the Sport Classic has a rear-wheel drivetrain and ? at last! ? an exclusive seven-speed manual gearbox.

A standard 911 Turbo with an eight-speed dual-clutch automatic and all-wheel drive has 572 horsepower and 553 lb-ft. of torque. But the manual needs to work nicely with the twin-turbo engine, so Porsche engineers had to dial down the power output. Still, the Sport Classic has 543 horsepower and 442 lb-ft. of torque at its disposal, routed to the rear wheels for a vintage 911 driving experience.
We?re also expecting the acceleration numbers to suffer marginally with the seven-speed manual, but the 911 Sport Classic is not about neck-breaking agility from the onset. The 911 Turbo goes from zero to 60 mph in a scant 2.4 seconds, but it has all-wheel traction, lightning-quick gear changes, launch control, and 29 more horses. Honestly, we don?t care how the 911 Sport Classic rushes to 60 mph from a standstill simply for how it looks.

2023 Porsc...