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Is the Porsche 911 Turbo Cabriolet the ultimate 4X4?
With its Porsche-specific stability and traction system with all-wheel-drive and electric centre differential, the 2008 911 Turbo Cabriolet goes through snow like a SUV and all the while with the top down if you choose.
Wheels
Feb 23, 2008 02:48 PM
2008 Porsche 911 Turbo Cabriolet
By: Jim Robinson
So you’ve won the lottery and it’s time for some toys. Ferraris and Lamborghinis are okay, but they’re for posers and only good in the summer.
What you want is the ultimate 4X4. But Hummers, Escalades and Range Rovers are too common.
Well how about this - a twin-turbo charged, 480 hp engine, 4X4 technology evolved from Dakar Rally winners, the finest leather trim with topline Bose surround sound and, get this, it comes with a one-touch convertible top.
The 2008 Porsche 911 Turbo Cabriolet really is the car for all seasons and all reasons.
Think about it!
A 3.6-litre, four-cam, six-cylinder ‘boxer’ engine with twin turbochargers and Variable Turbine Geometry (VTG) powers the Cabriolet. With this new valve technology, the powerplant generates 480 hp and 460 lb/ft of torque at just 1,950 rpm.
With the optional Sport Chrono Turbo Package, (a $2,500 option and fitted to this test vehicle) there is an overboost function producing up to 500 lb/ft under full acceleration.
The manual transmission version can accelerate from 0-100 km/h in just four seconds. With the Tiptronic S transmission fitted to this week’s tester, that time falls to 3.8 seconds.
Both versions can reach speeds of up to 193 mph (310 km/h).
This is a very deceptive car. Even with snow tires (hey this is Canada), the acceleration is like a top fuel dragster. Considering it is capable of three times the legal speed limit in Canada, the urge to “try it out” is best kept under control.
Just joining the flow of traffic can see you in big-ticket country because the turbo muffles engine noise. You only have to nudge the gas pedal to get pressed-into-the-seat response.
According to Canada’s Energuide, fuel consumption is 14.0L/100 km (20 mpg) city and 8.4L/100 lm (32 mpg) highway.
The open version of the 911 Turbo only weighs 70 kgs more than the Coupe. The difference is due to the reinforcement of the convertible body and automatic extendable rollover protection behind the rear seats.
The light, three-layer soft-top, which can be completely automatically opened or closed in 20 seconds, also contributes to a low centre of gravity.
I don’t think I’ve driven a Porsche convertible that didn’t feel like it was hewn from one block of metal just like the coupe and the Turbo is no exception.
Together with the chassis tuned to convertible-specific needs, which includes Porsche Active Suspension Management (PASM) as standard equipment, the new 911 Turbo Cabriolet offers the spirited driving performance typical of a Porsche 911, as well as extremely high driving safety.
Porsche Stability Management (PSM) that integrates the anti-lock braking system and the managed all-wheel drive Porsche Traction Management (PTM) also contributes to its vivid performance. The PTM system, with an electronically controlled multi-plate clutch, can alternately shift the drive output from the engine between the front and rear axles according to grip levels. The clutch can perform shift intervals in under 100 milliseconds – quicker than the reaction of the engine to load changes.
Ask anyone who’s ever raced one and they will tell you nothing beats a Porsche when it comes to braking. All of this knowledge has found its way into the Turbo Cab with six-piston calipers at the front and four-piston calipers at the rear on 13.8-inch rotors.
My tester was fitted with the optional Porsche Ceramic Composite Brake (PCCB) system that costs $12,300 or about $4,000 per rotor.
They are very effective at even low speeds. For those coming from a minivan or sedan, they feel grabby and stop the car literally on a dime at speeds under 20 km/h. It takes experience and practice to start to appreciate that the ceramics are actually progressive, but on a plane few of us will ever experience, or probably even need in a daily driver.
With a drag coefficient of just 0.31Cd, the 911 Turbo Cabriolet cuts through the air with the ease of the Coupe models. Together with the rear spoiler, which automatically extends at speeds from 75 mph (120 km/h) extending 30 mm further than the Coupe, the Turbo Cab is claimed by Porsche to be the only standard series convertible that generates negative lift at the rear axle.
Along with its passive safety systems, including six airbags as standard equipment and the comprehensive rollover protection system (with steel tubing integrated into the windscreen frame and extendable rollover bars behind the rear seats) the 911 Turbo Cabriolet also fulfils all legal requirements for passive safety applicable in the worldwide sales markets.
Included in the extensive standard equipment of the 911 Turbo Cabriolet are Bi-Xenon headlights, 19-inch forged wheels, air conditioning, a wind deflector, a top tinted windscreen, the Porsche Communication Management (PCM) – with the satellite navigation module and colour monitor, the Bose Surround Sound System and a leather interior.
Driving the Turbo Cab during the biggest dump of snow we’ve seen in this part of the country in two years was something I was loath to do, except for the urging of Porsche Canada’s Rick (Ricky the Racer) Bye who said with four snow tires and the PTM system, it was a cinch.
The first clue he was right was pulling out of my driveway through a mound of snow piled up by the plow. With a slight dab of the pedal, the Turbo Cab sailed through. Then I turned hard right and gave it a little gas. With all that torque, the tail started swinging hard to the left as the PTM cut in, arresting the swing and snapped the whole car into shape faster than you can read this sentence. Despite the extreme lack of grip with wet snow on ice, the PTM recognized what was going on and corrected it.
Not trying to be a showboat, I drove the car with the top down in sub zero temperatures. With the windows up and the heat on, it was actually quite snug in the cockpit and proved the aero efficiency of the 911 shape with the air flow flowing over my head, not on it.
The best part was instead of people sneering; they were pulling up beside me at lights giving me the thumbs up.
Guys with Porsche Cayenne SUVs would come steaming up from behind and pass pretending not to notice me. What I would do was punch the deployable spoiler manual override button so it went into its biplane mode just before they motored by. The perfect squelch!
As the ultimate 4X4 (in my opinion) the exclusivity of the Turbo Cab does not come cheap, starting at $171,000 and topping out as tested at $196,435 with all the options like the ceramic brakes and Chrono package built in.
Expensive? Definitely, but if you have the money, or have won the lottery, and you want something that’s as much fun in the winter, the summer or the spring and fall for that matter, the 2008 Porsche 911 Turbo Cabriolet simply can’t be beat.
PORSCHE CARRERA 911 TURBO CABRIOLET 2008 AT A GLANCE
- BODY STYLE: Premium sports convertible.
- DRIVE METHOD: Rear-engine/all-wheel drive.
- ENGINE: 3.6-litre, twin turbocharger DOHC "boxer" six-cylinder engine (480 hp, 460 lb/ft of torque).
- FUEL ECONOMY: 14.0/100 km (20 mpg) city; 8.4L/100 km (32 mpg) highway
- PRICE: $171,000; as tested $196,435.
- WEB: porsche.com