Road Test: Porsche 911 2dr S

The warm caress of sunlight. The tangy smell of pine. The growl of a 3.6-litre flat six. The urge from 320bhp and 273lb ft of torque. The pristine mountain air becoming vortices around your ears. The whistle of songbirds and the chirp of 295/30 tyres on 18-inch alloy wheels. The senses feasting on sensations.

Whoever said having a cabrio is pointless was talking through their butt. Being cocooned in safety is all very well while driving through rough urban areas, but there's a point about cabrios that even the most myopic shouldn't miss. They offer a driving experience like nothing else.

The environment comes to you. Dozy morning heads are zapped into the here and now. If a cabrio brings a whole other palette of sensations, then it helps if the colours are provided by Porsche. Like the new 911 Carrera 4S Cabriolet, for example. Starting from the ground up, it's much like the C4S coupe.

The aforementioned tyres are on the rear and 225/40 jobs are at the front. The brakes are ventilated and cross-drilled and, like much of the C4S, are from the 911 Turbo. And again, the option is there for Porsche's Ceramic Composite brakes, which are 50 per cent lighter, so reducing the car's unsprung mass.

The suspension is lowered by 10mm from the normal Carrera's level. The automatically-raising rear spoiler comes from normal Carrera cars - no Turbo-style fixed wings. And now no fixed roof, either.

Instead, there's a folding canvas hood that can be raised or lowered with the push of a button. Or even remotely by the one on the key. The operation takes 20secs. And that's not all. Now the roof can be operated on the move, up to 30mph. Handy for those summer downpours.

Scuttle shake. There's a bit, but not much. This is the most rigid 911 Cabrio to date, so you can drive it the way it's meant to be driven without worrying about any body flex compromising the chassis.

And the good news is the extra strengthening has only added 70kg to the car's kerb weight and trails the coupe equivalent by just 5kg per bhp in any power-to-weight ratio comparison. That's not something you'll be too aware of in normal driving situations. Even sprinting from 0-62mph, the Cabrio is only two-tenths slower than the C4S tin-top.

Of all the different flavours of 911, the C4S is pretty much the red one. It has that Turbo look, plus a lot of that car's mechanicals, including a permanent four-wheel-drive system with torque split varying from 5:95 to 40:60 front to rear according to conditions. Having a wider rear track than the standard Carrera just adds to the phenomenal grip and traction.

There have probably been more gallons of printers' ink used up in eulogising a 911's 'alive-feeling handling' and 'fearsome acceleration' than any other area of motoring journalism. If you ever get to drive one, it'll all become blindingly obvious. But at the risk of using up more ink, you and the car do feel connected.

Throttle inputs start even as you're just thinking of pressing your right foot. Spin the engine to 5,500rpm and the engine note is tingling. The nose goes where you point it. Quick direction changes are easy. You know how much grip you have. The speed is there when you want and the brakes are utterly dependable too. There's so much capacity and capability.

Add the extra sensory inputs of a well-sorted cabrio, go to some wonderful countryside and you'll be convinced that, contrary to the old wives tale, money really can buy happiness - £69,930 might even be construed as a bargain.

You will have your own opinion, but the C4S Cabrio's looks have received a general thumbs up around here. The lower suspension and meatier back end seem to suit it well.

If you're still not convinced and think this is just a toy for sunny days, remember this: four-wheel drive is a boon in nasty weather, the Porsche Stability Management traction control is also standard and an aluminium hardtop is part of the package, though the hood has a heated rear screen already. Start saving. You won't regret it.

Colin Ryan