Porsche 911 Targa 4 S

It's ironic that Porsche, one of the world's greatest sports car manufacturers, names one of its least sporty cars after one of the world's greatest road races. Yes, there's always been something a bit wishy-washy about the Targa.

This latest version is better, though. The 996 Targa felt baggy, the sliding roof rattled a little bit in the rails - it certainly wasn't what you'd expect of a 911. I can remember feeling that the whole experience wasn't as taut as I had been hoping.

But in this face-lifted 997, things are much better. The whole car feels as rigid as the coupe, which is impressive, given the size of the glass area in the roof. There's absolutely no rattle from it, and it doesn't feel like there's a lot of weight up there, despite the Targa being a whole 60kg heavier than the normal coupe.

Porsche tells us that the fabric roll cover that slides across inside the roof is new, but it's difficult to tell for sure. It still works fine, and it still blocks out most of the sunlight so you don't scorch your bonce. The 'new' roof still slides in the same way as the old one - a single button drops it below the rear window and completely obliterates your rear view. And the Targa is still the most practical 911 because the rear glass opens like a hatchback. There's 230 litres of luggage space with seats folded.

But then the Targa 4 S driving experience is where the Targa package falls apart slightly. The 4 S is missing too much of that 911 soul - you don't get that classic rear-engined squatting roll through a corner, for instance. The steering feels a bit dead in your hands.

The 4 S simply feels like a really fast car. The Porsche precision is still there, but some of the feel and delicacy that used to make these cars the sports cars to have has been knocked back. Granted, our 4 S has the counter-intuitive PDK gearbox and I'm nit-picking, but the general impression I get is not the ultimate drive that Porsches used to guarantee. Even if this is a Targa.

The engine note has also been tamed, so you can't really hear the classic flat-six noise behind you. It now sounds far better from outside.

All of this is a huge shame. Every Porsche enthusiast has moaned that the character has been taken out of them since the demise of the air-cooled engine, but that never used to matter because the driving experience was so spot-on. Now, though, it's less so with the new double-clutch gearbox. The Targa never had the Porsche perfection, but this variant is now simply the rule, not the exception.

Maserati Ghibli vs BMW 6 Series : Which Will You Buy?

When considering vehicles like Maserati Ghibli and the BWM 6 Series Gran Coupe, both reflect an effort toward blending dignified luxury with exhilarating performance. Though beholding vehicles of this caliber is always an exercise most fruitfully left to the natural eye, the image above serves as a simple example of each sedan’s inherent dignity. In lieu of experiencing each vehicle’s performance profile from behind the wheel, the table provided similarly works to demonstrate what both Ghibli and BMW’s 6 series have been engineered to accomplish. Comparing the Maserati Ghibli vs. BMW 6 Series in this regard yields a number of important emphases. Local clients will notice that both vehicles develop their identity around six-cylinder engines with a pair of strategic turbochargers. Yet regardless of identical displacement and analogous induction technology, Maserati serves its Ghibli clients with significantly greater quantities of horsepower and torque. In addition to t...

Mercedes-Benz SL550

Of all the Mercedes-Benz models that could be accused of being born with a silver spoon in its mouth, the SL arguably tops the list. Unlike many grand-touring cars, the Mercedes SL has never been forced to compromise its blue-blood personal-luxury/sport ideals with feigned attempts at practicality to please executives or attract buyers. It has, more or less, remained an unapologetic take-it-or-leave-it proposition since it debuted nearly six decades ago, and the 2013 SL550 does nothing to alter its course. Cool, Quiet Confidence Every move the 2013 SL550 makes is steeped in a competent, laid-back confidence; pin the throttle, and the car takes a moment to gather itself, as if saying to the driver, “Okay, dude, you ready? This is gonna be pretty awesome.” And with that, the seven-speed automatic downshifts, the twin turbos gorge themselves on air, and the whole shebang takes off, pulling hard to an observed 159-mph top speed (Mercedes claims an electronically limited 155). Life in th...

Porsche 913

Forgetting the Panamera, Cayenne and Macan, Porsche offer a pretty well-rounded sports car range. Starting with the Boxster and Cayman, and moving up the multitude of variations of the Porsche 911, all the way up to the 918 Spyder supercar. But there is a HUGE price gap between the top of the range 911 Turbo ($250,000 will all the options ticked), to the 918 Spyder ($800,000). Somewhere in that range Porsche could surely offer something to compete with the likes of Ferrari and Lamborghini. Something like the 913 possibly? Conceived by the fertile mind of Rene Garcia, a professional 3D modeller who has created conceptual vehicles and highly detailed models for some of the biggest movies of the past decade, including the Matrix Trilogy, Transformers, the latest Star Trekthrillers and The Avengers, the Porsche 913 is an exquisitely rendered design in every detail. It has a bit of the 918 Spyder about it, but there’s also a lot of originality to the design. It looks like a Porsche, ...

Road Strikers

Search This Blog