A CAB WORTH HAILING(some text hidden)

By Jonathan Crouch

Ten Second Review word count: 33

The Porsche 911 Cabriolet has improved in huge measures with this '992'-generation model. The hood is a brilliantly-engineered piece of kit and the chassis dynamics are better than ever. It's getting pricey though.

Background word count: 145

The Porsche 911 is more than just a car. It's a legend. As such, it carries a huge weight of provenance. Obscure design cues speak volubly. Individual colours have historical resonance. It's something to obsess over. Thing is, for some people it is just a car. A pretty and fast car, but just a car nevertheless. While most 911 purists would never choose an open-topped version, there's a healthy proportion of 911 customers who like the idea of limitless headroom. 'Real' 911 buyers tend to sniff at Cabriolet variants, denigrating those who choose them as not getting the whole 911 'thing', but so good is the latest '992'-generation car that perhaps the purists are painting themselves into a corner. If owner experience and enjoyment are key to owning a sports car, who's to deny that 911 Cabriolet customers aren't one step ahead of the obsessives?

Driving Experience word count: 297

There's a weight penalty (70kgs) for choosing the Cabriolet body shape rather than the Coupe but that's well compensated for by the extra power on offer from the various versions of the twin turbo 3.0-litre flat six available with this '992'-series model. There are three mainstream choices, all offering the choice of either rear wheel drive or all-wheel drive and either 7-speed manual or 8-speed PDK auto gearboxes. Select from either the base 385PS Carrera, the 450PS Carrera S or this 480PS Carrera GTS. Even the base Carrera manages 62mph in just 4.4s en route to 181mph. The Carrera 4 GTS Cabriolet we tried improves those figures to 3.5s and 191mph. If that's somehow not fast enough, then the all-wheel drive-only Turbo and Turbo S Cabriolet models beckon, respectively developing either 580PS or 650PS. Whichever variant you choose, crucially, peak pulling power is developed low in the rev range from just 1,700rpm, which should make it easy to tap into the neck-snapping performance. When it comes to refinement and insulation, there's not much difference to the experience you'd get with a metal roof 911 Coupe (or indeed a glass-roof 911 Targa), so the compromises you've to accept when choosing the Cabriolet body style are slimmer than they've ever been. Handling is typically immersive and adaptive damping (or 'Porsche Active Suspension Management') is standard, as part of a suspension set-up that remains unchanged. If you're graduating on to a '992'-series Cabriolet from the previous '991'-series design, you'll notice that the steering rack has a faster ratio. And you'll appreciate this generation model's neat 'Wet mode' driving setting that senses the splatter or rain water in the wheel arches and then dials in appropriate settings for the engine, gearbox and safety systems at the same time as alerting you.