2004 Porsche 911 Turbo Cabriolet Review

Specifications

The Perfect Sports Car Loses Its Head

Talk about disappointed! I got home from a recent trip to Los Angeles only to find the Guards Red Porsche 911 Turbo Cabriolet I had Shawn pick up in my absence was equipped with an automatic. Not to say theres anything wrong with Porsches 5-speed Tiptronic gearbox, that also features thumb actuated steering wheel controls, but I would have much rather have had a 6-speed manual.

OK, here I am whining about the fact that I just spent a week in a $130,000 plus (with options) exotic sports car that most car enthusiasts would gratefully accept no matter which drivetrain it featured. Sorry for the spoilt brat ranting, Ill keep my thoughts on this subject to myself from now on.

The fact is… I hate to admit that I kind of liked it. Other than a slight hesitation off the line, the Tiptronic Turbo is amazingly fast and much more convenient during stop and go city driving. Its uniquely entertaining in its own right, requiring little effort to exact tremendous performance, shifting down fairly quickly and upshifting smoothly. Despite the jibes that your non-SL-owning friends will no doubt heap upon you when you show up at the club driving a non-purist Porsche, you shouldnt be embarrassed. I was quicker to admit that it wasnt mine than I would have been if a manual was attached to the center console, however, making sure that parking lot gawkers knew clearly that I would never actually purchase a Porsche with an automatic transmission. Ha, the silly stigmas Porschephiles carry around with them.

But why should I be embarrassed? Even with the autobox the Turbo will sprint away from just about anything else on the road like its standing still. Speaking of embarrassed, I did just that more times than I care to admit, reaching legal speeds at a ridiculously rapid rate. I presume that the manually-equipped Turbo corners as well as the auto-equipped version does, being that it easily felt as secure as the 6-speed manual-fitted C4S Cab I tested a few months ago, both tackling the hairpins on the way up to the ski resort behind my home with uncanny adhesion. The Turbo, of course, shortened the straights in between substantially; once again causing more embarrassment as the schoolboy giggles overcame my normally composed self, now caught up in a shamelessly immature act of “just-got-my-license-so-look-at-me” abandon. Thankfully theres virtually no one on this road this time of year, which makes for a safe test track.

By the way, the stock 911 Turbo puts 415 horsepower and 415 lb-ft of torque down to all four wheels, which is ample for most speed freaks. Just the same Porsche offers an engine upgrade that I tested in a previous review dubbed the X50 package, which ups power to 450 horsepower and 450 lb-ft of torque. This was more than enough, although Asgar Virji, the local RUF dealer, sent me an email after reading my review telling me that if I think the X50 is fast, I should try one of his RUF Porsches. OK, I said. Expect a road test on the RUF in the near future. Nevertheless, Im not about to complain again. The stock Turbo is still plenty fast, despite new more powerful super-models coming from Mercedes-Benz, the SL55 and SL65, as well as much less expensive domestic offerings such as the new 2005 Corvette that comes stock with 400 horsepower and, of course, the all-powerful Viper SRT-10.

Porsches interior isnt all that much better than either the Corvette or Viper unless the full-leather option is added on. Even then its a tad on the drab side unless its spruced up with optional aluminum, body-color or carbon fiber trim. Ah, now thats more like it. My tester featured leather on the dash, etc, plus aluminum trim pieces to brighten up the cockpit. It makes all the difference. If it were mine, and I had already spent more than $130K to option out the car with leather trim, sport seats, a 6-disc CD-changer (trunk-mounted… ugh), heated seats and other features that normally come standard with any other luxury brand, I couldnt help but opt for the carbon fiber trim upgrade too. It looks sensational.

Those bright red brake calipers look pretty cool too. They bind down on large diameter cross-drilled rotors set deeply behind 18-inch 5-spoke rims. Very nice! They bring the Turbo Cab from hyper-speed to standstill in hardly any time at all, at a frightening rate actually, and combined with Porsches otherworldly PSM (Porsche Stability Management) system, few more controllable vehicles are available anywhere.

The aforementioned trunk-mounted 6-disc CD-changer comes connected to a new audio head, which now includes a single-disc in-dash CD-player positioned just above a large screen multifunctional interface. Its easy to use and the sound quality from the 12-speaker Bose system is much better than any previous Porsche stereo.

A button next to the audio interface opens or closes the fully automatic power top. Its beautifully finished inside, as would be expected of a car in the 911s class, and lowers relatively quickly with no clasps to unlock or handles to twist, storing under a hard tonneau when fully open. Very slick. It would be difficult to make a softtop thats easier to drop or raise, full marks for top quality.

High quality drop-tops arent exclusive to Porsche however. What the German brand has to offer more than most automakers, over and above the 911 Turbo Cabs dynamic performance, is a near ideal seating position. Visibility is superb no matter which window I needed to see out of, the drivers seat is beyond comfortable yet as supportive as any in the industry, plus the pedal setup is perfect for heal-toe actuation. After all it should be set up optimally for enthusiast drivers, being that Porsches 911 has probably won more motorsport events than any car currently in production.

The new Turbo Cabrio is as good as any Porsche has ever been. Its also one of the best performance cars to ever loose its roof, and automatic gearbox or not, a completely engaging sports car that any owner should be proud to drive up to the club in.