2012 Porsche 911 Carrera / Carrera S Cabriolet

The first volleys of what will soon become a crushing salvo have landed. Following the introduction of the 2012 911 at the Frankfurt auto show, Porsche is starting the rollout of the full 991 family with the Carrera and Carrera S Cabriolets.
Aside from the retractable fabric top, the cabriolet differs little from the 911 coupe. When raised, the softtop even mimics the hardtop’s roofline better than past 911 cabrios. To cut down on wind noise and help the cloth top maintain its shape, Porsche fitted a hard composite panel between the layers of cloth above the front seats. The new softtop may be somewhat sleeker, but the outgoing car’s bustle butt remains—there’s only so much room behind the passengers for the 911’s engine and a lowered roof.
Fraternal Twins
Mechanically, the Carrera and Carrera S cabriolets are identical to their roofed counterparts. That means the Carrera gets a 350-hp, 3.4-liter flat-six and the S a 400-hp 3.8-liter. In both cars, a seven-speed manual transmission is standard and Porsche’s seven-speed, dual-clutch PDK unit is optional. Porsche claims the Carrera cabrio can hit 60 mph in 4.4 seconds on its way to a top speed of 177 mph, while the S drops that time to 4.1 seconds and can reach 187 mph. Both cars’ stated performance figures are just a hair or two off of those of the coupe, and we predict they’re somewhat conservative based on our first drive in a 2012 Carrera S coupe. When Porsche launched the coupe, it made a big deal about the car’s enhanced fuel efficiency. It did the same for the cabriolet, but official EPA numbers aren’t yet available; figure on 19 to 20 mpg in the city and close to 30 on the highway, the latter figure abetted by the newly available seven-speed manual transmission.
The topless 911 Carrera will start at $94,650 and the S at $108,950, increases of $3600 and $5000 over last year’s models. Furthermore, both base prices are $11,600 more than an equivalent hardtop’s. At least cabriolet fans won’t have to wait too much longer than coupe buyers to get their hands on the new car—it will hit dealerships in the spring, not long after the hardtop goes on sale in February. A plethora of 911 variants is sure to follow: Turbo, Turbo S, all-wheel-drive Carrera 4 and Carrera 4S, harder-core GT models, you name it. Brace yourself. View Photo Gallery