New year, new 911

Come March 3, the new convertible 911 Carrera will be on sale and it looks like yet another sexy machine from Porsche, albeit not as goggle-eyed as the classic early models of the 911 kind.

Priced from £79,947 for the 911 Carrera Cabriolet and from £89,740 for the 911 Carrera S Cabriolet, it offers a fine choice of two rear-mounted flat-six engines. There’s a 3.4-litre with 350bhp or if you are in a real hurry; a 3.8-litre 400bhp.

While topless motoring is all well and good (here’s hoping for another unseasonably warm October and November next year), the convertible mechanism can add weight but these two have a new lightweight design for the roof to keep it supermodel-slight. Also keeping these two bad boys out of Weight Watchers is the new aluminium-steel body which not only helps with the power-to-weight ratio but improves fuel economy. Both models offer fuel economy around the 28mpg mark.

The Cabriolets share the longer wheelbase, wider front track and electromechanical power steering of the Coupe variants with shorter front and rear overhangs that are ever-so 911. It should go without saying that these cars are rear-wheel drive - and comes with a seven-speed manual gearbox as standard or the seven-speed double-clutch transmission as an option, which drops the fuel consumption and acceleration times even further. We just like to say the double-clutch gearbox name in its entirety - the Porsche Doppelkupplungsgetriebe - better known as the PDK.

As well as being a helluva lot of fun, there’s a fine security system as standard, the Porsche Vehicle Tracking System, just in case someone tries to make off with it. And if you have the bank balance to buy one, you get a free course at Silverstone’s Porsche Experience Centre for good measure.

www.porsche.com






































By Georgia Lewis

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