Porsche 911 Cabriolet review

A modern cabrio has to do two things to be taken seriously: not flop about on a challenging road like the chassis is made of waterlogged kitchen roll, and insulate its occupants so they’re not subjected to storm-force winds while enjoying the great outdoors. If we’re getting greedy, being exposed to a decent soundtrack wouldn’t go amiss either. We’ve only driven the 992.2 Cabriolet in its hybridised, all-wheel drive 4 GTS form so far, so that latter point is an interesting one. We’ll come back to that.

Any floppiness, then?

The 911 gets off to a flier in this regard. Its mostly aluminium body is lighter than the 991’s, but stiffer too. The stronger body and super-rigid engine mounts mean the car feels superbly stiff. Even bounding along rough roads with the standard (and now recalibrated) adaptive suspension in its harder Sport mode, the rear-view mirror doesn’t wobble off the windscreen surround and you don’t feel the steering wheel lolling from its mountings in your hands. Everything feels completely solid, utterly harmonious, and while you know you’re carrying extra weight versus the coupe, with so much power on tap in the GTS, you’d struggle to ever notice it.

How is that powertrain in real life?

The hybrid system in the GTS makes the 911 feel remarkably quick. It has that unrelenting, brutal speed of previous 911 Turbos, but with none of the lag. The electric motor hidden in the single turbocharger “drastically shortens the time required for the turbo to spool up", says Porsche, and that’s proven by graphs showing that the full 450lb ft of torque is available from less than 2,000rpm. That means you can put your foot down at any speed and in almost any gear, and the 911 will plough on forward towards the horizon. 0-62mph in 3.1 seconds, remember. 

Top speed is the same as the coupe at a bonkers 194mph, but there’s good news at lower speeds too, because although this new 3.6-litre flat-six might not have the motorsport grumble of the old GTS 3.0-litre at low revs, there’s new noise created by that electric turbo constantly spooling itself up at crazy speeds. It’s great fun to listen to.

Switch to Sport or Sport Plus mode and things get even more aggressive, with the battery doing its all to shed its energy in the pursuit of maximum performance. The PDK is smoother than ever too and upshifts are lightning fast. Turning the 911 into a hybrid hasn’t taken anything away, in fact, it adds to the experience. 

What about in twisty stuff?

The front end’s faithful, there’s huge power to play with mid corner, rear-wheel steering is standard for maximum agility and the steering itself is weighted with beautiful precision that laughs in the face of modern BMW’s doughy heft and the overly quick, undetailed wavering of, say, a Jaguar F-Type. Lovely steering wheel too.

You need trust in the front end, mind, and confidence in the reaction and colossal grip, because boy does the new 911 feel BIG. It’s a one-size fits all bodyshell now, as wide as the old GTS, and on anything other than dual-carriageways, you’re breathing in when anything bigger than a bicycle comes the other way.

Because the car’s so deft and responds so accurately it’s easier to place than an aloof F-Type or 8 Series, and the buxom front wings and wide hips give you a better idea of where the extremities lie than when you’re tanking along in the Aston Martin Vantage. But be in no doubt, the days of the lithe little 911 having more road to play with than its rivals are over. That’s a shame, a lovely trait lost in the pursuit of cabin space, crumple zones and more and more grip.

Also, we’d probably go 2WD to save a micron of fuel, a smidge of weight, a chunk of cash and know the car’s ever so slightly more throttle-adjustable in the corners, even if it’s a trait you’ll rarely unlock, like a chronograph’s water diving depth.

Anything else to get off your chest?

Driving the GTS in coupe form on track we did notice a slight step change under very hard braking as it switched from regen to actual pad on disc action, but our initial test of the Cabriolet was on the road (obvs) and there's never a need to hit the pedal hard enough to discover the phenomenon.