Porsche Is Bringing Back the Manual 911 Carrera S — But Only for North America

• What's new: Porsche will offer the 911 Carrera S with a manual transmission in North America.
• Why it matters: This gives Porsche 911 buyers who want to row their own gears a more powerful option than the Carrera T without stepping up to the much more expensive and hardcore 911 GT3.
• Edmunds says: The manual Carrera S sounds like a great sweet spot to us — though its $169,450 starting price is a tough pill to swallow.

More than just a manual gearbox

The MT Package is not simply a Carrera S with its dual-clutch automatic transmission removed. Porsche throws in rear-axle steering, a sport suspension that lowers the car by 10 millimeters, the Sport Chrono package and center-lock wheels. Those wheels save more than 17 pounds compared with the standard Carrera S' setup. There's also a SportDesign front end, titanium exhaust outlets, unique exhaust tuning and, naturally, a walnut-topped shifter to give your right hand something nice to hold. The result is a car that weighs 3,327 pounds in coupe form. That's only 11 pounds more than a Carrera T, yet the S has 85 additional horsepower.

This combination sounds particularly promising based on our experience with the Carrera T. During a previous first drive, we found its six-speed transmission satisfying to operate, with a nicely weighted clutch and effective automatic rev-matching. Later track testing showed the T wasn't especially quick by modern sports-car standards — our testers recorded 0-60 mph in 4.7 seconds — but its light, responsive handling made the stopwatch seem rather beside the point.

The Carrera S gets a new personality

The automatic Carrera S is noticeably nicer to drive than the base Carrera, helped by its additional power and worthwhile performance hardware. The manual package effectively takes that quicker, more capable foundation and adds some of the involvement that makes the Carrera T special.

In typical Porsche fashion, buyers still get plenty of customization options, including numerous paint and leather choices, optional carbon-fiber bucket seats and available carbon-ceramic brakes. There's even an optional package with puddle lights that project the six-speed shift pattern onto the ground, in case anyone forgets which transmission they ordered.

As far as pricing is concerned, the 2027 911 Carrera S with MT Package starts at $169,450 for the coupe and $183,350 for the Cabriolet, with the $2,350 destination charge included. For comparison, the automatic Carrera S coupe starts at $158,550 including destination, while the Carrera T starts at $150,350 and the GT3 at $238,150.