Why Porsche’s 911 Turbo S Cabriolet is summer’s perfect car
If you have US$200,000 to spare and want a turbo-charged, open-top supercar that stirs inevitable lust in the sun on the open road, this is the one for you
It can be difficult to wade through the myriad iterations of the modern Porsche 911.
Only the most passionate enthusiasts can endure the various Carreras – “Ss,” “RSs,” GT2s, GT3s, and Turbos – and the insider nomenclature involving lots of 9s. That’s not even including such historic, and current non-911 Porsche sports car models – the 914, 718, 928, and 944.
The Porsche 911 Turbo S Cabriolet is one model you need to know about in time for summer weather and the inevitable lust it stirs for the open road
Here, though, is one model you need to know about in time for summer weather and the inevitable lust it stirs for the open road: the 911 Turbo S Cabriolet. (Cabriolet is car-talk for convertible.)
If you want a seat at any car-talk table, you must be able to reference the 911 Turbo, the most powerful (save for the 911 GT2 RS) strain of cars in the 991 line, which is the internal designation for the seventh-generation Porsche 911 sports car.
The turbos are the grandaddies of the Porsche 911 family, madly desired since their introduction in 1974. They came close on the heels of BMW’s 2002 Turbo, which was the first street-legal sports car with then-newfangled turbocharging technology. The 911 Turbos have been setting the pace ever since.
A high price ... and high reward
Today, the 911 Turbos are faster than the standard-issue Carreras and more elegant and polished than the track-oriented GT3s. (Those are nigh impossible to get your hands on, anyway.)
Last week in New York, I tested the Cabriolet version of the 911 Turbo S and found myself looking for more excuses to hop into it than I do my favourite pair of jeans.