In many ways, the 911 Cabriolet 4 or 4S is the Porsche of your dreams (hot looking in yellow or red with that Jennifer Lopez rear end) and your reality (the four-wheel-drive system might stop you from losing control and making a fool of yourself like Ben Affleck).
The fact that Porsche Cars North America wants you to pay many, many thousands of dollars (US or Canadian) more than the Yanks pay is up to you and your accountant.
Whether you buy one here or in the U.S., you can be sure that the all-wheel-drive ragtop will draw attention and lots of envy from your friends. The people who think buying a Porsche is a pathetic effort to shore up a struggling ego are beyond contempt anyway, so what does it matter?
To Porsche's way of thinking, the new Carrera 4 and Carrera 4S Cabriolet "offer a unique synthesis of open-air motoring and driving pleasure of the highest calibre further enhanced by two ultra-powerful and dynamic engines."
That would be the horizontally-opposed 3.6-litre six in the Carrera 4 developing 325 hp and the same engine bored out to 3.8-litre in the Carrera 4S providing 355 hp. That drives the slower model from 0 to 100 kmh in 5.3 seconds and the faster one across the same range in 4.9 seconds on the way to top speeds of, respectively, 280 and 288 kmh.
All of that power is delivered to whichever wheels can use it for "superior roadholding and stability at all times."
For the most part, of course, the rear wheels do all the work, but if necessary the viscous multiple-plate clutch sends anywhere from five to 40 percent of the engine power. The result is said to be "extra driving stability and roadholding in bends and even better directional stability at very high speeds, as well as enhanced traction on slippery surfaces."
To help deal with the structural demands of four-wheel-drive and a body without a roof, specific reinforcements were used to "give the bodyshell of the car a very high standard of stiffness and safety at all times." Together with the soft roof weighing only 42 kg and keeping the car's centre of gravity appropriately low, "the robust structure of the body enhances the car's driving precision to an unprecedented standard."
To cope better with the four-wheel-drive, Porsche created a braking system featuring four-piston fixed calipers and a tandem brake servo as well as an extra-large master cylinder.
As an adjunct to this system, Porsche Stability Management (PSM) comes with two new functions -- pre-filling of the brake system serving to build up brake forces "even more spontaneously," and hydraulic brake force support acting like a brake assistant and helping in an emergency to build up full brake pressure even faster than usual.
On top of that, Porsche Ceramic Composite Brakes are available as an option for even more money.
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| 2006 Porsche 911 Cabriolet 4S (photo: Porsche Cars North America) |
Whether you buy one here or in the U.S., you can be sure that the all-wheel-drive ragtop will draw attention and lots of envy from your friends. The people who think buying a Porsche is a pathetic effort to shore up a struggling ego are beyond contempt anyway, so what does it matter?
To Porsche's way of thinking, the new Carrera 4 and Carrera 4S Cabriolet "offer a unique synthesis of open-air motoring and driving pleasure of the highest calibre further enhanced by two ultra-powerful and dynamic engines."
That would be the horizontally-opposed 3.6-litre six in the Carrera 4 developing 325 hp and the same engine bored out to 3.8-litre in the Carrera 4S providing 355 hp. That drives the slower model from 0 to 100 kmh in 5.3 seconds and the faster one across the same range in 4.9 seconds on the way to top speeds of, respectively, 280 and 288 kmh.
All of that power is delivered to whichever wheels can use it for "superior roadholding and stability at all times."
 |
| 2006 Porsche 911 Cabriolet 4S (photo: Porsche Cars North America) |
To help deal with the structural demands of four-wheel-drive and a body without a roof, specific reinforcements were used to "give the bodyshell of the car a very high standard of stiffness and safety at all times." Together with the soft roof weighing only 42 kg and keeping the car's centre of gravity appropriately low, "the robust structure of the body enhances the car's driving precision to an unprecedented standard."
To cope better with the four-wheel-drive, Porsche created a braking system featuring four-piston fixed calipers and a tandem brake servo as well as an extra-large master cylinder.
As an adjunct to this system, Porsche Stability Management (PSM) comes with two new functions -- pre-filling of the brake system serving to build up brake forces "even more spontaneously," and hydraulic brake force support acting like a brake assistant and helping in an emergency to build up full brake pressure even faster than usual.
On top of that, Porsche Ceramic Composite Brakes are available as an option for even more money.