Road test: Porsche 911 Cabriolet Carrera 4S
The word icon is hugely overused in today’s hyperbolic society, but the Porsche 911 truly is a motoring icon. With a design that has remained broadly unchanged for over 40 years, the 911 is as close to a perfect driver’s car that money can buy. The drop-top version, the 911 Cabriolet, isn’t the purist’s choice, but if you are in the market for a sporty cabrio, there’s not much need to look any further. It drives brilliantly, looks classy and offers all the performance – especially with the bigger 3.8-litre engine – you could need on a public road.
The 911 Cabriolet is not a cheap car – the base price of our test car was £86,651 and with the options added it came to £94,018. However, if you can afford one, owning a Porsche is a highly enjoyable experience and something serious car fans (with serious money) should try at least once. And the chances are, once bitten by the Porsche bug, you’ll become a serial buyer. Running costs are high, but they have been improving slightly in recent years, so official fuel consumption on the combined cycle is now 26.4mpg (which will translate to the upper teens or around 20 in real-word driving) and CO2 emissions are a polar icecap-melting 251g/km, so vehicle excise duty will be punishing £425. Then again, if you can afford a Porsche… Demand for second-hand Porsches is always strong and Cabriolets are also very popular, so residuals will hold up well if you come to sell it: expect to get around 52% of its value back after three years and 60,000 miles.
Read the full Porsche 911 Cabriolet Carrera 4S road test on RoadTestReports.co.uk
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