Car UK May 2019

44 CARMAGAZINE.CO.UK | may 2019

It can feel effortlessly rapid at six tenths

without feeling too easy or undemanding

in the eye of a ten-tenths mission

PRICE

£108,063

PowERt R a I n

298 1cc 24v twin-turbo

flat-six, eight-speed

dual-clutch auto,

all-wheel drive

PERfoR manCE

444bhp @ 6500rpm,

391lb ft @ 2300rpm,

3.8sec 0-62mph,

188mph

wEIght

1635kg

o n salE

Now

Data

E ffICIEn CY

25-26.6mpg,

207g/km CO2

For now, only the new eight-speed PDK

gearbox is available, but few customers are

queuing for the seven-speed manual – only

seven per cent of European buyers choose the

stick. The dual-clutch PDK’s breadth of ability

is such that those figures are hardly surpris-

ing: even though the shift paddles instantly

connect to your fingertips, they are prone to

be overgrown with cobwebs because the shift

algorithm is absolutely spot-on. There is one

notable exception: Drive in combination with

Comfort mode is a dynamically crippling set-up

put together exclusively to shine in the emissions

and consumption testing process.

Thankfully all it takes to put an end to this

nonsense is to dial in Sport. Whisking along

country roads with the visor down rarely

requires sixth, almost never makes the black

box select seventh and totally ignores eighth. A

gap left at the front of the transmission case will

later be filled with an electric motor as the 911

goes hybrid, but not just yet.

As always, the list of available options easily

breaks the bank. The good news is that very

few extras are absolutely essential. Among the

items definitely not needed for normal driving

are PDCC (Dynamic Chassis Control), PCCB

(carbon-ceramic brakes), a louder exhaust and

the sports suspension we’ve mentioned. Nice to

have is the rear-wheel steering, and absolutely

imperative are the chin-protecting front-axle lift

and dynamic-matrix headlights.

Suckers for driver-assistance systems may

specify the most basic aids, but they are not

nearly as sophisticated as the higher-tech helpers

offered to Cayenne and Panamera clients.

Even before you add any options, the 911

Carrera 4S Cabriolet costs £108,063, up £9k on a

comparable coupe. It’s money well spent if you’re

after a fast, entertaining, emotional driving

experience with added fresh air and flash. The

convertible remains remarkably faithful to the

coupe’s dynamic excellence.

True, the design could be a bit bolder, the

connectivity is not quite state-of-the-art, and

electrification remains an alien term to Por-

sche’s golden oldie. But soft-top Porsches don’t

come much purer than this new arrival that

epitomises the core values of the marque.

GeorG Kacher

with its composure and grip, and a certain

playfulness – something the stability control sys-

tem’s Sport mode indulges for those who prefer

safe cornering to unprotected power oversteer.

Let the 3.0-litre boxer engine speak up, and

all eyes zoom in on the snarling, growling,

blat-blatting two-plus-two with its unmistak-

able whistling wastegate twang. There’s a little

turbo lag, certainly, and this engine can’t do

the banshee high-rev thing like the old natural-

ly-aspirated 3.8 could, but it picks up revs like a

starving trout rising for a fat mayfly and carries

the oomph all the way to the 7500rpm cut-out

way above the clouds.

It sounds purposefully bassy and gruff, and

makes some pleasing turbo whooshes when you

back off the throttle. Most impressive is the way

it can feel effortlessly rapid at six tenths without

feeling too easy or undemanding in the eye of a

ten-tenths mission.

Surely there is little point in waiting for next

year’s 600bhp Turbo Cabriolet when this 444bhp

version kicks butt like virtually nothing else in

its price bracket, and already makes pals at the

golf club go green with envy.

First drives

First verdict

Carrera 4S Cabriolet takes the 911 experience

to another dimension, minimising soft-top

compromise to deliver a thrilling drive.

HHHHH

Cleaner layout

is welcome –

epilator gearlever

is not

Fabric roof folds

in 12 seconds,

two faster than

before, at speeds

up to 32mph