The 911 Turbo Loses Its Lid!
911 Turbo Cabriolet Photos
Porsche’s proliferation of the 911 range has led to just about ever permutationimaginable of this legendary rear-engine sports car. There’s the regular 911, and it’s available in two wheel drive or four, with a regular-sized engine, or, with a bigger one. It can also be had with not one, but two different convertible roofs. For those that want more, there’s the Turbo, and for the road-racer inside us all, there’s the truly desirable GT3 and GT3-RS. While this latest generation, code-named 997, hasn’t yet received the upgraded Turbo S model, or the GT2, the convertible model of the Turbo has just been announced, and it’s officially on its way.
The recipe for a 911 Turbo Cabriolet is pretty simple; it’s a 911 Turbo without its roof. The only noteworthy change to the bodywork is that the retractable spoiler rises 1.2 inch higher on the Cabriolet than it does on the Coupe at speeds over 75 mph to ensure that the tail doesn’t lift. But really, the big challenge for Porsche isn’t designing theTurbo Cabriolet, but making it as close as possible in performance and capabilities to the regular hardtop model. This means addressing such problems as chassis rigidity and the lost performance due to weight and drag.
The roof for the Turbo Cabriolet is pretty much the same as the one found on any other 911 Cabriolet, consisting of a power operated three-layer cloth roof, selected for its light weight and the resultant low center of gravity. Therefore, for the coupe to convertible conversion the 911 Turbo doesn’t suffer from too much of a weight penalty. Overall, the Cabrio tips the scales at 154 pounds more than its tin-top sibling, with most of the weight needed for strengthening the underbody and adding the retractable rollover bar. It lowers and rises in 20 seconds, incidentally.
Loss of performance really wasn’t an issue that Porsche concerned itself with,given the hearty nature of the 911 Turbo’s flat-six engine. With two turbochargers boasting variable turbine geometry and the ability to temporarily crank up the boost, the engine produces a fire-breathing 480 horsepower, and maximum of 457 lb-ft of torque. With so much grunt, the nominal weight penalty doesn’t have any effect on either the car’s acceleration or their 192 mph top speed. The 911 Turbo represents a bit of an oddity in that the Tiptronic automatic model is quicker to 60 mph than the six-speed manual, taking 3.8 seconds versus 4.0 seconds. The 911 Turbo features an advanced all-wheel drive system that shifts power around as it’s needed, so traction is never a problem.
Just about everything comes standard on the 911 Turbo, from navigation and Bose surround sound audio to the wind deflector, 19-inch wheels and xenon headlamps. Besides the transmission, the only real major option is the Porsche Ceramic Composite Brakes that include amazing, high-performance discs and six-piston calipers, plus a hefty, hefty price tag. The new Turbo Cabriolet will be available starting the 8th of September, which unfortunately leaves just a short period of time to enjoy the open air before the weather gets chilly.