Porsche 911 Turbo Cabriolet

Meet the new kings of Porsche drop-tops: the new 911 Turbo Cabriolet and Turbo S Cabriolet. The turbocharged soft-top 911s are the fastest and yet most economical of the breed yet, sporting the same twin-blow 3.8-litre flat six as the coupe models, and a 195mph+ top speed.

What’s the spec of the new Porsche 911 Turbo Cabriolet?

Thanks to a 514bhp output, the all-wheel drive 911 Turbo Cabriolet hits 62mph in 3.5sec – that’s 0.3sec slower than the coupe, but a 0.2sec improvement over the old drop-top 911 Turbo. That's not the fully story though: stick your 991 Turbo Cabriolet in Sport Plus mode (why wouldn't you?) and the 0-62mph dash is dusted in just 3.3sec. Top speed is 195mph.

The 552bhp Turbo S is faster still: its 3.2sec 0-62mph sprint is a scant 0.1sec slower than its fixed-head stablemate. Porsche claims the new 911 Turbos are 15% more efficient than their predecessors too: claimed fuel economy is 29.1mpg, and CO2 emissions bely the cars’ ballistic performance, at just 231g/km. The Turbo S has a top speed of 197mph.

As with the coupes, four-wheel steering and a paddleshift PDK dual-clutch are standard-fit – there’s no manual transmission option. The 28mm stretch in body width is carried over too, making the 911 cabrio the widest soft-top 911 yet, and the active front and rear aerodynamics reappear too. Find out more about the new Porsche 911’s techno tricks by clicking here.

Anything special about the roof?

Like lesser soft-top 911 models, the 991 Turbo Cabriolet’s roof uses thin, solid panels in a lightweight magnesium frame. This preserves a coupe-like roofline when the top is raised, negating the ugly ‘hungry horse’ ribbing appearance created when the canvas starts to sag. Porsche claims this panelling method also makes the car more aerodynamic with the roof raised.

For maximum posing effect, drivers can lower the roof on the move at speeds of up to 31mph. The entire process takes 13sec, with the folded roof being stored in a compartment aft of the tiny rear seats.

Deep breath: how much?

Christmas bonuses at the ready: it's the priciest 991-gen 911 yet. The regular Turbo Cabriolet will set you back £126,766: that's almost £12,000 more than the 997 Turbo Cabriolet we tested back in 2010. Won't settle for anything less than the priciest Porker this side of a 918 Spyder? Then the Turbo S Cabriolet is yours for £149,511: both are on UK sale in time for the least drop-top-friendly weather possible, in December 2013.

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, but a

Lamborghini Canto – What the Murcielago could have been?

Back in the late 1990s, when Lamborghini were starting to realise they needed a replacement for the ageing Diablo, they started reviewing design proposals from various automotive design firms. Zagato’s offering was the Zagato L147 SuperDiablo, or as it was to be later known, the Lamborghini Canto. The Lamborghini Canto first appeared in 1998, it arrived only two years after another Zagato designed Lamborghini concept had been unveiled, the Diablo-based Raptor. The cars shared a number of similar features, including the wraparound windows, triangular lateral air intakes, and trademark double-bubble roof. However of the two, the earlier Raptor was probably the better looking. Clearly Ferdinand Piech – head of the Volkswagen Group – thought so too. After VW bought Lamborghini in 1999, one of his first decisions was to review the Canto’s development and redesign the concept. The car was re-engineered and the rear extensively restyled to include smaller air intakes. The engine was also up

BMW GINA

The BMW GINA changes the design rulebook concept which features clever use of materials and technology. The GINA acronym stands for 'Geometry In "N" Adaptions'. The 'N' stands for infinite. Quite logical really... While at first glance the BMW GINA appears to be nothing more than a modified and stretched BMW Z4. As soon as the doors are opened it reveals its true nature. Covering the lightweight spaceframe of the BMW GINA are not conventional metal bodypanels, but instead an elastic, rubber-like material is stretched across the structural members and wire frame to form an attractive design which follows BMW's flame surfacing styling philosophy. This elastic material has given BMW's designers more options when designing various moving parts of the GINA concept. The doors for example have no shut line along their front edge as the material just moves with the door. At the rear the electro-hydraulic adjustable spoiler rises and lowers under the skin of

Road Strikers

Search This Blog