Car India – May 2019

HENEWPORSCHE 911 CARRERA 4S CABRIOLET

produces 450 PSandmakes530 Nm from 2,300

revolutionsperminute.Itcanscorch from zero to 100

km/hin3.8secondsandiscapable of a pretty refreshing

topspeedof 304 km/h.Thisis all very well, but an almost

—almost—equallyimpressive performance figure is the

timeit nowtakesforthefabric roof to go from fully closed

toplease-pass-the-suncreamopen—at 12 seconds in either

direction,it’sa fulltwosecondsswifter than its predecessor,

despitetheroofbeingmuchthesame.

Secretsofthisextraspeedincludestronger electric motors and a

lighterfoldingmechanismwithreduced moments of inertia. As

before,therearecompromises:neatlypackaging the Z-fold roof

belowa metaltonneaucoverandabove the 3.0-litre flat-six means

therearendhastoliftbyabout 10 millimetres — a tiny figure that

doesnonethelessmaketherearendlook bulkier, especially roof-

down—andweightincreasesby 70 kg over a 911 coupé owing to

extrabracing,takingthe4Stoa hardlyfeathery 1,635 kilograms.

Butthisnewsoft-topdoesretainmany of the coupé’s strengths.

Availableinblack,red,blueorbrown,the fabric roof is stretched

tautandcrisptopreservea coupé’sathletic definition and even

matchesits0.30Cddragfigure.That’sprimarily due to the

improved fit of the fabric skin, a smoothly integrated heated rear

window, and the four rigid composite elements that form a

seamless arc. An extra fleecy layer sandwiched between the

unchanged outer and inner layers is said to drop noise levels by

10 per cent (and roof operation is quieter too).

Out on the road, noise levels really are impressively hushed

for a convertible. It’s only above 200 km/h that conversation

either peters out or is absorbed by the awesome Burmester

high-end sound system. Even close to V-max, ballooning of the

roof isn’t an issue.

More relevantly for the law-abiding types, you can still open or

close the roof at speeds of up to 50 km/h, just like the old model,

where some soft-tops insist you stop. It’s an invigorating

experience and for all the right reasons. With all windows and the

top down, this Porsche is an archetypal crossflow convertible that

consumes a litre of fuel every nine kilometres along with sixty mils

of industrial-strength hair gel. To attenuate the storm, you can

close just the front windows or all four windows or deploy the

effective wind deflector that pops up behind you, almost as big as

the projection screen at a drive-in cinema.

In many convertibles you have to manually clip the wind

deflector in place, but here it deploys from the rear bulkhead at the

Price:£108,063(Rs97.25lakh)

Engine: FF 9 WZLQWXUERȵDWVL[

Transmission:Eight-speeddual-clutchauto,

all-wheeldrive

MaxPower: 450 PSat6,500rpm

MaxTorque: 530 Nmat2,300-5,000rpm

Suspension:MacPhersonstrutfront,multi-linkrear

Performance:3.8seconds0-100km/h,304 km/h,

9.4km/l, 207 g/kmCO2

Weight: 1,635 kg

PORSCHE 911 CARRERA 4S CABRIOLET

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38 CAR INDIA May 2019 http://www.carindia.in

First Drive Porsche 911 Carrera 4S Cabriolet