Porsche 911 Cabriolet (997 Series) (2004 To Date)
BY ANDY ENRIGHT
Its a little odd to think that a good quantity of classic Porsches are soft tops whereas these days a 911 with a fabric roof is seen by some purists as decidedly infra dignitatem. Let the elitists mutter. Any 911 is enormous fun and the dynamic sacrifices made in bringing the Cabriolet models to market are a good deal smaller than many of the naysayers realise. Besides, anything that gets you a bit closer to that intoxicatingly breathy engine note has to be a good thing.
Right?
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In order to ensure torsional rigidity, soft-top conversions need a degree of additional reinforcement and this often adds to the weight to such a degree that performance is blunted. No such issues with the latest 911 Cabriolet. It tips the scales at a mere 85kg more than its hard top sibling. Even accounting for all the strengthening and electric motors for the roof, thats less than the weight of an average chap.
911 purists will be glad to see a return to the 993-style round headlamps, the so-called runny-egg smeared on lamps of the 996 being consigned to history. The wheelarches are pumped up to accept the Carreras 18-inch wheels and the 19-inch wheels of the Carrera S giving this 911 a voluptuous coke-bottle profile. The wheelbase of the car remains unchanged at 2350mm but its slightly shorter and a few centimetres wider. The easiest way to tell the two models apart is that the Carrera has a pair of oval tailpipes whereas the S model sports a quad set of exhausts.
That and the badge on the back.
997 Cabriolet prices start at £52,000 which will net you a 54-plated Carrera 2 with a manual box. The 3.8-litre S version of this car starts at £57,500 , again in a 54 plate. Opt for the security of all-wheel drive and youll need from £60,000 for a manual Carrera 4 or £61,000 for a Tiptronic S equipped model.
The Carrera 4S drop top can be yours from £65,000. Prices for the Turbo have yet to settle.
Porsche claims to have solved the cylinder liner problem that sporadically afflicted the 996 and has also made changes to the design of the big ends and Variocam system other potential fault points. No significant faults have yet to develop with the 997 but its worth seeking out a Porsche Approved car as even apparently trivial faults can be very expensive to rectify without warranty protection. The 19-inch alloys fitted to the 997 Carrera S are very prone to kerbing damage so check these over individually. Check the bodywork, especially the bonnet, as this can easily be damaged by owners slamming them onto protruding items in the front boot.
997s are very colour sensitive and white and black cars are currently in vogue with the ubiquitous silver now starting to fall from favour. The hood mechanisms tend to be a lot more reliable than rival folding hard top systems although its worth checking for vandal damage or discolouration from bird lime which can affect darker hoods.
(Estimated prices, based on a 2005 Carrera S) Consumables for a 911 are almost laughably cheap. Youll pay £15 for an air filter, £4 for each spark plug, £10 for an oil filter, £16 for a alternator chain, and £15 for a fuel filter. Offset these costs by running any 911 exclusively on synthetic oil. Other parts are rather pricier.
Youll need to put by £300 for a replacement tinted windscreen, £450 for a clutch kit and do try not to damage your xenon headlights as Porsche will charge you £556 each for replacements.
Under that sleek bodywork comes a bigger, punchier engine than the 996 predecessor. Its still a flat six and its still hung out at the back but Carrera 4 buyers will get a 321bhp 3.6-litre powerplant while Carrera 4S customers will be treated to a 350bhp 3.8-litre unit.
Its a naming convention that mirrors the Boxster and Cayenne ranges and is easy to comprehend. All the cars feature a drag coefficient of just 0.29, ranking them at the top of their respective market segments. One feature unique to the Cabriolet is the rear spoiler that extends an additional 20 millimetres further than the Coupes appendage.
Porsches aerodynamicists discovered that the Cabriolets marginally different shape caused changes in the way it cleaved the air and made small adjustments to the front and rear downforce levels. Bar perhaps that intoxicatingly breathy engine note, Porsche steering and brakes do more than anything else to differentiate the marque in terms of sheer excellence. Down the years, 911s have always had a linear steering rack that delighted in the amount of feedback it supplied to the driver. The 997 departs from this system and adopts a variable ratio set-up that gets quicker the further the wheel is turned.
Getting rid of the old 17-inch wheels also allows Porsche to fit bigger and better brakes to the 997. The S gets brakes similar to those fitted to the 996 Turbo and the truly well heeled can even opt for ceramic discs. The straight-line performance of the 997 Cabriolet is only a smidgeon off that of the Coupe. The top speeds of the Carrera and Carrera S Cabriolets are exactly the same as the Coupe variants at 177 and 182mph respectively.
The Carrera will accelerate to 60mph in 5.2 seconds while the same benchmark will detain the Carrera S for just 4.9 seconds. Theres very little penalty in terms of performance or fuel economy when you opt for the Carrera 4 or 4S four-wheel drive models.
The Turbo is sickeningly rapid. Just 3.8 seconds is all thats required for the standard 0-60mph sprint and the Tiptronic auto version is even quicker, shaving a tenth off that time. Stopping the clock just 0.
1 seconds later than the Coupe version the small penalty for a 70kg weight disadvantage. Overtaking? Well only 3.8 seconds are required for the most powerful series-built 911 model of all time to accelerate from 5075mph in fifth gear.
The Porsche 997 Cabriolet is as good as open-topped sportsters get without blowing ridiculous money. Once the poor relation of the 911 range, anyone who knows their onions will be able to tell you that the modern 911 Cabriolet has really come into its own.
