The Real Car
Porsche 911 S/T (year 2023) is dedicated to the 60th anniversary of the Porsche 911 (that was originally presented in 1963). A total of 1963 units of the 911 S/T will be made. This is the sportiest and the lightest of the street 911 Porsches of the 992’s generation. Its engine comes from the GT3 RS. There is a 6-speed manual transmission and a lightweight flywheel. Its body panels are made from carbon fibre (rather than aluminum). Wheels are from magnesium. The rear axle steering (that was present in GT3 RS) has been removed.
Recent Norev Scale Models
To be honest, I used to think that Norev had not been such a serious player as AUTOart and Minichamps. I used to think so until I read the great review of the great Norev 1:18 Porsche 911 GT3 RS (992).
The perforated metal grilles of this new 1:18 Porsche 911 GT3 RS (992) looked much more attractive to me than the sealed plastic grilles of the previously released 911 GT3 (992). Not a significant change, you may say, but for me these perforated metal grilles looked like a convincing proof of maturity.
In the same time, I was not really interested in the 911 GT3 RS (992) with its massive wing and all its sporty spoilers and vents and other quirks. And then… Norev has released the 1:18 911 S/T!
Norev 1:18 Porsche 911 S/T (2023)
Since 2012, I’ve been wanting a scale model of a modern street Porsche 911 in a nice blue colour and without extra body kits that change the smooth exterior lines of the 911. When a very nice Porsche 911 GT3 Touring (991) had been released by Minichamps in a wonderful “baby blue” colour, it was almost what I wanted. Here is the review of that model.
I was considering that model but eventually rejected it because of the sealed plastic grilles and not very detailed interior.
And now, here is the Porsche 911 S/T (year 2023) by Norev. At first, I appreciated its nice “shore blue” colour and its clean body design. The absence of extra decals and inscriptions on the body was also a plus for me. Then I appreciated the perforated metal grilles and pretty good interior details. With all of that in mind, it looked like I’ve finally found a scale model I’d been wanting – and here is the review!
The Exterior
The Meissen Blue colour of the scale model looks like light blue mixed with light grey. With enough lighting, the colour looks bright, and with weak lighting, it looks more greyish. This colour is brighter than Shore Blue that was the presentation colour of the real car. Actually, I like the brighter colour more.
The shape of the 911 S/T is pretty good, as far as I can compare with the examples on YouTube. The black lower spoilers at the front, side and back are parts of the metal body painted black. In my opinion, it is better than separate plastic parts that might adjoin not ideally.
The shutlines are on par with a die-cast AUTOart Porshe 911 GT3 RS (997). The weight of Norev’s model is 730 g which is pretty similar to the mentioned AUTOart’s model which has a weight of 700 g.
As I already mentioned, all the grilles (or meshes) are perforated and made from metal. And I’d like to emphasize that all the perforations have a form of slightly compressed hexagons – exactly as on the real car! Good job, Norev!
I like the fact that Norev has not added the giant “63” decal on the doors, as well as the “Porsche” inscription. While the inscription may be desired by someone, personally I prefer the clean body.
The taillights are made from transparent plastic and contain pretty enough details, including the nice raised “Porsche” logo. The headlights include a center inner lamp from transparent plastic and a small inscription that says “Porsche” in white on a black background. I should add that Norev has used the headlights of the Porsche GT3 Touring (2022) rather than the newer headlights that are commonly used in the 911 S/T. While searching for the 911 S/T with this older version of the headlights, I was able to find an example with these older headlights:
VIDEO #1
This seems to be one of the first examples of the 911 S/T car, and I believe Norev will update the headlights in their future releases of the 911 S/T scale model.
The wheels are branded, which again confirms the serious position of Norev. All the wheels have working suspension – and it’s something I’ve been really missing in modern releases by AutoArt and MotorHelix. The wheels overall are pretty detailed, though the radial holes in the spokes have not been reproduced by Norev. While writing this, I realized I started to expect AutoArt’s attention to detail from Norev! And this is justified because the wheels are really that good. Well, if I wanted to cavil, I might probably say that the tires seem to look a little bit too thick, but I’m not sure. Here are some other things that may be improved:
– While the tires look somewhat thick, the brake calipers of the front wheels look too thin. By saying “too thin”, I mean the front caliper should be bigger (deeper) where it envelops the front brake rotor.
– The “Porsche” inscriptions on all break calipers are not sharp enough – they are rather blurred.
– The ground clearance of the scale model is not quite correct. According to the official information, the ground clearance of the real car is 100 mm. It gives us 100/18 = 5.555 mm in 1/18 scale. The actual ground clearance of the scale model is 7.5 mm.
Probably the weakest part of the exterior is the exhaust which is not as detailed as the rest of the model. On the real car, there is no strip that connects the exhaust pipes. Not sure why Norev has made it so obvious – they might have painted it black to visually hide the strip.
The Opening Bits
The rear compartment does not open. Though it’s not a big loss since all you might have seen there are just two fans and two lids. Don’t get me wrong: it’s not that I’m welcoming the sealed rear compartment. I’m just saying that you do not lose much in the case of this particular car. But in general, I’m highly against any sealed compartments. Maybe Norev will consider adding the rear openings to these models in the future, including the working rear spoiler/wing.
The front trunk opens, revealing nicely carpeted storage space and the “dog legs” hinges. These hinges definitely need to be improved, but at least they have been painted in black. The holes in the trunk’s cover and the grilles remaining in their places are accurate to the real thing. The inner (lower) part of the trunk’s cover tries to mimic the real carbon elements, but it looks unconvincingly.
The doors use hidden hinges and are opened wide enough. With the doors opened, one sees very nice labels near the door locks.
The Interior
The real 911 S/T in Shore Blue exterior colour mostly use the “cognac” interior colour.
Norev goes with the black interior colour. While searching YouTube, I was able to find several cars with the black interior (with the exterior colours of Shade Green Metallic and Black), and Norev reproduces it very well:
VIDEO #2
VIDEO #3
I am impressed and amazed by the stitchings on the dashboard, seats and door cards, as well as by beautifully distinguished carbon fibre elements. Everything reflects the real car, including the fabric loops as the inner door handles!
Oh my God! The stitch work is something that AUTOArt always avoids – and why? – it looks so good! Also, let me mention the roll cage in “moulded” carbon fibre, the backs of the seats in gloss carbon fibre, and overall carpeting. And did I mention the fabric seatbelts? Oh boy! This interior is challenging AUTOart!
Final Thoughts
I’m impressed by this model. With the only main disadvantage of the sealed rear compartment and non-movable rear spoiler/wing, this scale model exceeds the previously mentioned Porsche 911 GT3 Touring (991) by Minichamps in literally all the other aspects! (Well, maybe Norev’s tires are a little bit too thick. But they are branded!)
I know that Minichamps is going to release their 1:18 Porsche 911 S/T in the near future – and if they do not endeavour, they will hardly compete with Norev. Especially taking into account that Minichamps tends to offer less for more money. Unfortunately to Minichamps, luckily to Norev.
If Norev offers the openable rear compartment, movable rear spoiler/wing improves the “dog legs” hinges and considers other small refinements mentioned above, then this scale model will be literally everything that a collector may desire. At least, this is my personal opinion. Cheers – and hope you’ve enjoyed this review!
Hi, thank you for the review. In the end, I did purchase the above model as the review was first shared within the DS forums. It arrived today, even better than I expected. What I lovely model by Norev and the exterior colour, just wow!
And I’d like to praise the DS team for editing and correcting the text of the review, as well as post-processing the photos! Both look much better now!
We are not skilled in either, but we try! Thank you.
Wow! Looks stunning. Thank you for you review and pictures.
Vitaliy!!! Thank you so much for joining the authors ´ team here on DS!
Thank you, Karsten! It was just a matter of time!
Thanks again for the review! Such a great model and my personal favorite so far this year.
I believe, this is not Shore blue but Meissen blue, hence the difference. And it does not feature the Heritage Package, which would have the grilles in silver and rear Porsche script and 911 ST badge in gold, and the duotone interior with the cognac colour. The GT Spirit will be that more exclusive version.
This was mentioned in the review listed on the forum discussion page as well. The box calls it Meissen blue but to me it’s meant to be Shore l as it looks closer to that. I put it side by side with a Meissen blue model and they do not match.
My box states “Meissen blue”.
Mine too but it’s either incorrectly labeled or they got Meissen wrong on the model. Either way, the models blue looks great so I don’t mind what it’s called or meant to be!
The question of color is interesting indeed.
In reality, the color of the model is not so saturated blue as it looks on the photos – it is rather blue with grey undertone.
While the box of the model says “Meissen Blue” (exactly as you suggested), in fact this color is too greyish to be “Meissen Blue”, and in the same time too bright to be “Shore Blue”. So it is rather both “Meissen Blue” and “Shore Blue” mixed together.
As the presentation color of the 911 S/T car was Shore Blue, I assumed this color has been chosen for the scale model.
Thank you for a very enjoyable and comprehensive review.
Happy to see so many reviews of Nover 911s recently.
I’m definitely adding the S/T under consideration, though I’d prefer the mentioned Cognac interior, maybe Norev will come with othervarieties (considering the dozens of GT3 and GTR RS versions they offer).
I’d caution against using ground clearance numbers for an accurate compariosn with the real car though, particularly on models with working suspension*. It’s not quite so simple to ascertain where ground clearance is measured on the real car (particularly interesting on off roaders). I’d rather rely on how well wheels fill the wheel wells and the general stance of the model (both obviously compared to the real car). As you mention with tyre size, anything to do with wheels seems to be the most common issue on current models, be it ridiculously oversized rims, paper thin tyre sidewalls or on the opposite side ballooney sized tyres, wheels too muc inset in the wheels wells or sticking out.
*I’m really glad the S/T does have a working suspension. Somehow it’s been reported that unlike previous many Norev 911 models, the S/T wouldn’t feature it which seemed odd indeed.
A Heritage Edition including the cognac interior, bright mesh, gold lettering, ceramica wheels already exists in dark olive green as a Dealer Edition by Norev.
Huh, thank you, I had no idea. I already have green GT3 Touring and GT3 RS models (each a different shade of green). Getting an S/T in a third shade of green might well complete the trifecta.
That said, I haven’t been ale to track down any “dark olive green” S/T from any manufacturer. Only a green metallic one from Norev coming supposedly sometime in the summer. Are you sure it exists already?
It was available a couple of weeks ago here:
https://ck-modelcars.de/en/norev-1-18-porsche-911-992-s-t-year-2023-dark-olive-wap0213210s0st/p-93771/
Probably you may find it in some other online store.
Ah, so it’s actually black and not green. I’ll stay on the lookout anyway.
Thank you.
The Norev Model is NOT Shore blue but Meissen blue and it does not feature the Hertiage Design pack, hence the black interior, no decals and black grilles. Who says the Meissen blue model you have compared it with is correct?
I guess we need someone who owns both the real Porsche car in Meissen Blue and this scale model to confirm whether the color is same :)
A color is a very complicated subject that highly depends on lighting, surface and surroundings. And this is even more complicated by the fact that the color tends to look different on a photo.
While Norev definitely states “Meissen Blue” on the box of the model, the actual color looks more greyish than “Meissen Blue” should be according to photos and videos in internet. Maybe I should have named it “Meissen Blue with a noticeable tinge of grey that makes it look closer to Shore Blue”…
Maybe you should not judge the correctness of a colour by looking at photos on a screen – it simply does not work. As an example – what appears as “red” on photos and on TV on the classic Marlboro McLaren race cars is actually dayglo orange…
Meissen Blue is a very dull, bleak, greyish blue. Shore Blue is a metallic shade by the way.
It’s possible my other Meissen blue model is incorrect and it’s possible this Norev is incorrect. It’s also possible It’s not meant to be Shore Blue. One thing that is for sure, the model looks great so it’s not a big deal about the accuracy of a color. Let’s call it a unique hybrid mix of Shore and Meissen and be happy.
Well, if it says „Meissenblue“ on the box, using the official nomenclature of Porsche, it is fair to assume that Norev as a Porsche licensee have made an effort to make it match Porsche ´s colour, getting help from Porsche. Unless a fair side-by-side comparison proves otherwise, this should be considered the accurate colour. A comparison could be made with the model next to a colour sample that dealerships keep for customers to spec their cars.
OK, I should probably change this sentence of the review:
The Shore Blue colour looks like light blue mixed with light grey. With enough lighting, the colour looks bright, and with weak lighting, it looks more greyish. The colour of the scale model seems to look somewhat brighter than the colour of the real car you may see on YouTube. While it might not exactly correct, I like the brighter colour more.
to the following one:
The Meissen Blue colour of the scale model looks like light blue mixed with light grey. With enough lighting, the colour looks bright, and with weak lighting, it looks more greyish. This colour is brighter than Shore Blue that was the presentation colour of the real car. Actually, I like the brighter colour more.
Here is another nice video about the Porsche 911 S/T.
This time with the very same exterior color (as far as I can see) and with the cognac interior color.
Why I’m writing it here is because this example of the 911 S/T has exactly the same headlights as the ones in the scale model. So it seems different examples of Porsche 911 S/T do have different headlights.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_amToVrz-M