Porsche 911 Carrera S gets a manual gearbox again – now six speeds instead of seven; slower 0-100 than PDK

The manual transmission returns to the Porsche 911 Carrera S, which lost the option when the model entered the 992.2 generation in January last year. The catch is this will only be offered in North America from the 2027 model year, with the company saying that overwhelming customer demand there is what prompted the decision.

Porsche’s new offering is called the 911 Carrera S with MT Package, which joins a list of seven variants of the sports car to be offered with a manual transmission in North America. Instead of bringing back the seven-speed gearbox from the 992.1 generation, the six-speed unit from the Carrera T is used instead.

If you’re curious about the seven, they include the aforementioned Carrera T and Carrera S with MT Package, both available as a coupe or cabriolet, along with the GT3, GT3 with Touring Package as well as the GT3 S/C.

The six-speed manual transmission is paired with a 3.0 litre twin-turbocharged flat-six petrol engine that makes 480 PS (473 hp or 353 kW) and 530 Nm of torque, all of it going to the rear wheels. This setup is good for a top speed of 308 km/h and a 0-100 km/h of 3.9 seconds, the latter being slower than the eight-speed PDK-equipped version that takes just 3.3 seconds (4.1 seconds versus 3.5 seconds for the cabriolets).

Porsche says going with the MT Package brings with it more standard equipment compared to a regular Carrera S to justify its premium over a regular Carrera S. These include rear-axle steering, Porsche Active Suspension Management (PASM) with a 10 mm lower ride height, a walnut shift knob, Sport Chrono Package and unique exhaust tuning.

For the first time, the Carrera S also gains centre lock wheels in a Ceramica finish, which are said to save around 7.7 kg over the standard wheels. Four-way Sport Seats Plus and black-trimmed titanium exhaust outlets are also included with a SportDesign front fascia and a red ‘S’ badge at the rear. Pay more and you can get 14-way Sport Seats or 18-way Sport Seats Plus and folding bucket seats made of carbon-fibre.

Other added-cost options include Porsche Ceramic Composite Brakes (PCCB) that are an upgrade over the standard cast iron discs, which also distinguishes the new model from the Carrera T. The catalogue runs deep, with paint to sample and over 70 leather interior configurations to get customers to open up their wallets further.

Pricing for Carrera S with MT Package starts at USD167,100 for the coupe (about RM681k) and USD181,000 (RM738k) for the cabriolet, with delivers expected to start by the end of 2026. Compared to PDK-equipped Carrera S, that’s a premium of USD10,900 (RM44k) – the previous 992.1 Carrera S can be had with a manual instead of a PDK at no additional cost.