Jessica Lynn WalkerCar and Driver
People fall in love with Porsches on curvy roads and in love with convertible Porsches on curvy roads under blue skies. When your first drive in the 2020 911 Carrera S cabriolet is in stop-and-go traffic on a rainy California day that appears committed to making up for the previous 364 or so dry days, a convertible 911 has to work harder to win you over. That it can do so, even without the charm of an open cockpit and a high-revving canyon run, is what makes the 911 so brilliant. It’s a lovely cabin in which to spend a rainy afternoon, and when the sun finally comes out, it’s top down and revs up.
Porsche’s internal designation for the all-new 2020 911 is 992. Porsche revealed the new 911 last year, and while the wheelbase is unchanged at 96.5 inches, the new car has a new structure that attempts to keep weight down by using more aluminum than before. The most notable dimensional change is the widened front track that helps improve handling. Despite the aluminum, the new 911 has gained 54 pounds versus a 911 S cabriolet we tested in 2017. However, the new convertible has coupelike rigidity and never gives any indication that the roof has been torn off.
To a newbie, sitting behind the wheel of a Porsche can be intimidating, but driving this car provokes zero anxiety. It certainly isn’t difficult to drive, and the power numbers don’t sound too outrageous, even if the acceleration it provides borders on lunacy. For the new model, revisions to the twin-turbo 3.0-liter flat-six yield 23 more horses and 22 more lb-ft of torque than last year. With 443 horsepower and coupled to an eight-speed dual-clutch automatic, the new Carrera S cabriolet ran to 60 in 2.9 seconds, two-tenths quicker than its predecessor. It passed through the quarter at 11.2 seconds at 125 mph. Not only is that staggeringly quick, it’s the same as the hardtop Carrera S.
2020 Porsche 911 vs. 2020 Mercedes-AMG GT
Testing Porsche’s New 911 in Germany
2020 Porsche 911 Excels Even in Base Form
Engaging the launch-control system revs the engine to a dizzying 5200 rpm before the clutch engages. When that clutch meets the flywheel and 5200 rpm of thrust reaches the rear wheels, the 911 just hooks up, shoots forward, and leaves your body to try to catch up. It’s deeply amusing and terrifying to an unprepared passenger, but manual fans who place the snick-snick experience over acceleration numbers need not panic. A three-pedal seven-speed manual is coming, although with the blazing fast shifts and always-in-the-right-gear mind of Porsche’s PDK, a big reason to choose the stick might only be to avoid the automatic’s dinky, knurled, nubbin of a shifter. That shifter and the shape of the bezel that surrounds it was the topic of less-than-flattering conversation in the car during a night out with friends. (Yes, plural. You can jam someone in the back seat as long as they are extremely small and you don’t like them that much.) The general consensus was that it looked like a body part that is a cohort of the body part most shifters look like. Perhaps this is equality in action.
Speaking of action, it is a rule that all convertibles drive best top-down, and the cabriolet is no exception. Why wouldn’t you open it up when it takes a mere 12 seconds—one second quicker than before—and can be raised or lowered at up to 31 mph? It was cold during our drive, but that’s why there’s an electric wind deflector, now-standard heated seats, and a toasty heater.
To further raise your temperature, press the accelerator and turn the steering wheel. Windchill is soon lost in the flush of adrenaline as the newly widened 911 whisks around corners like a pastry chef whipping meringue. Effortless, airy, and delicious. The steering is perhaps the best modern steering system; Porsche has somehow found feel where nearly everyone else finds Novocain. In our instrumented testing, the 992 pulled 1.07 g on the skidpad. It’s usable grip, too. There’s no spookiness or false moves, even as you approach the very high limits. Confidence builds with every corner. In addition to four-wheel steering, our car had all the PASM Sport Suspension options for stiffer springs, sportier dampers, and 0.4-inch lower ride height are now available to cabriolet buyers, too. There’s no convertible penalty anymore.
Well, there is one penalty. When it comes to looks, the droptop Carrera S lacks the classic roofline of the hardtop. The redesigned brake and taillights don’t visually work as well when paired with the convertible top. The Cab is elegant from the front, but the tall sides and rear end give it a lumpy and unflattering look, like a thick sweater tucked into slim-fitting pants. Lowering the top, something we were able to do once the sun came out, improves its looks, although it has a bit of a hunchback with a great deal of visual mass hanging out the back. Is it still a pretty car? Absolutely, just not the very prettiest.
All 911s are friendly faced sports cars, with wide eyes and a rounded rump first seen in 1963, and little has changed since then. Each new generation of 911 aims to maintain those distinctive looks inside and out. At first glance, the 992 interior seems rather spare. There’s no fancy pattern of holes or stitched decorating in the leather seats, and the center console is more piano-black plastic than you’d expect in a car starting at $127,450.
But slide inside and everything fits together beautifully. It fits you beautifully. It’s the difference between tailored and off the rack. The tachometer is the epitome of industrial chic, and its needle on the tach sweeps to its 7400-rpm redline with the grace of Ginger Rogers on the dance floor. It feels good to sit there, and it still has some properly Porsche touchpoints, such as the five-pod instrument cluster, and the left-side ignition switch. New features in the Porsche include a 10.9-inch touchscreen and a cupholder in the center console. Just about everything and anything is optional in a Porsche, including safety tech such as adaptive cruise control and lane-keep assist. Save your money; it’s far too nice to drive to turn it over to the robots. If you do splurge, go for the $2720 Sport Chrono package. You get a stopwatch in the dash and the silly but delightful Sport Response button on the steering wheel, which gives you additional driving modes and the ability to temporarily harness additional boost for all your sci-fi-fantasy traffic passing. It’s fun done fancy. Plus, it includes the brutally effective launch control.
Not everything in the 992 is perfect. The new flush door handles are unpredictable, occasionally requiring multiple tugs and designed in a way that is pinchy and eager to break a nail. Our wet-weather test uncovered another minor flaw, as rolling down a window to enter a parking garage led to a steady stream of water from the narrow roofline directly into the interior. The parking attendant at the UCLA gymnastics meet got a very damp $20 bill. And on the topic of dollar bills, it’s going to take a lot of them to put a Carrera in your garage. Our lightly optioned test car would eat 147,280 greenbacks. It’s not even close to a cheap thrill, but what other sports car can win your love as easily on a grocery run as it can on a mountain road? The 992 cabriolet is a worthy 911.
Source: Reviews - aranddriver.com
