Whole new dimension
FOR Porsche has sacrificed the roof and nothing else AGAINST It’s a pricey commitment over the coupe
You expect convertibles to be a bit heavier, a little slower and worse handling than their tin top versions. The road-crushing new 911 Turbo S Cabriolet is a little heavier – 69.8kg to be precise – than the coupe thanks to additional bracing and hardware for the roof mechanism. But worse to drive? Not here in Porsche World.
We drove this top spec 992 cabrio hard and fast over almost exactly the same roads as the hard-top and not once did it feel slower or clumsier handling. If anything it felt faster, more engaging, more alive, roof up but especially down. You hear the engine breathing more clearly as it spins up the twin turbos, you interact more, it’s simply more fun.
It doesn’t feel compromised by its fabric roof – the whole mechanism weighs just 35kg thanks to its magnesium construction. When it’s up, only a tiny bit of that weight is up top, and when it’s down it squeezes together into a 23cm high package, right over the rear axle. We didn’t have a scientist on hand, but it feels like there’s slightly more rear grip out of slow corners. And absolutely nothing to suggest it’s any slower anywhere else. Porsche figures say it’s 0.1secs slower to 62mph, but you’re not going to notice that.
Porsche hasn’t just reduced noise and turbulence, either. It has also tamed and channelled it. With all the windows and the roof down, which takes 12 seconds at up to 31mph, it does get a bit billowy over 60mph. Putting up the side windows and separately controllable rear panes reduces buffeting by about 50 per cent. But stab the button for the rear wind deflector and you can burrow deep into the car’s performance without creating an in-car hurricane. Engineers from other sports car brands are going to be weeping into their hands, it really is that good.
As brilliant as the Turbo S Coupe is, we still felt it lacked a smidge of engagement, connection. It’s so competent it’s almost aloof in its ability to dismiss roads and corners, irrespective of their camber, inclination and condition. The optional Lightweight Package gets some of that key connection back, but in making it faster, Porsche has made it feel slower. It’s so much more composed and civilised that despite its devastating rapidity there’s almost none of the drama or sensation of speed of the last-gen 911.
But there is in this Cabrio. Punching the car out of a corner you hear the turbos wind up and the flood of torque flattens you into your seat as you rocket to the next corner. It might not seem much, but that noise brings the whole car alive and makes the entire experience more fun. Probably slower in most empirical ways, but better. To the point where you want to attack the road more enthusiastically.
But let’s be rational. The cabrio Turbo S costs £10,000 over the coupe – for that you could add must-haves such as the front axle lift, sports exhaust system, sport suspension, big Burmester sound system and a few other choice bits of tech. On paper, there’s no competition, yet in the metal and out on the road, it’s a different story. It might be a subtle difference but, perhaps for the first time ever, we’d recommend the rag top over the coupe, unless you live in the Arctic Circle. Even then, just get yourself a better hat and turn up the heated seats. Pat Devereux