PORSCHE 911 TARGA 4 GTS
Is it worth spending £24,000 to get hardcore gear in your Targa?
Of the endless 992-generation 911 variants, the Targa 4 GTS is the one you’re least likely to see. For one thing, it’s expensive: £126,000 compared with £111,380 for the rear-driven Carrera GTS and £102,710 for the Targa 4. At only five grand less than the GT3, the Targaplus-gts combo doesn’t come cheap.
For another, and Gts-grade or not, most people pining for an open-air 911 experience will gravitate towards the Carrera Cabriolet, which suffers no notable drawbacks stemming from the loss of the coupé’s solid roof panel and doesn’t require coming to a standstill to lower or raise the roof (part of the Targa’s artful deck extends beyond the car’s footprint mid-action so necessitates stopping).
Most of all, though, you should question the wisdom of giving the heaviest, most GT-F lavoured variant in the line-up a GTS makeover that adds – among other tricks – shorter, Turbo-derived suspension that’s intended for very hard driving.
None of which is to say that the Targa 4 GTS isn’t an immensely desirable car. The curved pane above the rear axle and the punnethandle hoop are an attractive duo, and the GTS stance is just so.
The extra-vocal GTS exhaust is also welcome and discernible whether you have daylight shining directly into the cabin or not.
This is also unquestionably the most capable the Targa gets, with unbreakable traction, nighunbreakable grip, plenty of accuracy and pretty outrageous reserves of composure, even on Britain’s less hospitable B-roads.
All of it, however, is done through ever so slightly gritted teeth. The Carrera GTS weighs 140kg less than the Targa 4 GTS, and you can feel the benefit in every direction change or compression. It earns the GTS hardware, whereas the heavier car is working harder, enjoying itself less, and in general becomes less natural.
I would save the £24,000 that it costs to have the Targa 4 ‘upgraded’ to GTS specification and spend it on indulging its debonair soul with the perfect colour and trim options.