2020 Porsche 911 Carrera S and 4S Cabriolets Take the Top off the 992-Generation 911
By now, it is expected that each successive 911 Carrera generation that Porsche bestows upon the world is quicker and better than the sports car it replaces, no matter how little the styling changes. Beneath the 911's constant, nearly timeless veneer hides a lot of fevered engineering work balancing modern vehicle regulations with lush dynamic characteristics and speed. So consider it refreshing that, in pulling the sheet off its redesigned 911 Carrera S and 4S cabriolet models, Porsche chose to highlight the speed of the cars' . . . power-folding cloth roofs.
Buy a 2020 911 cabriolet, and you can look forward to brief 12-second intervals between roof positions; as before, the power-operated top can raise or lower itself at vehicle speeds of up to 31 mph. When it comes to convertibles, zero-to-full-roof times are as critical as, if not more than, zero-to-60-mph acceleration times.
Of course, when it comes to Porsche, dynamic performance always finds a way of coming up. Like its hardtopped sibling, the 911 Cabriolet is making its debut in zestier S and all-wheel-drive 4S trims. (We expect that, later, base non-S iterations of both will become available, along with a veritable cornucopia of other variants.) Relative to the previous-generation 911 Carrera S and 4S Cabriolets, the new models boast a 23-hp advantage, the twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter flat-six engine shared between them now producing a healthy 443 horsepower out of the gate. Peak torque goes up, too, by 22 lb-ft, to 390. Porsche says the rear-drive S Cabriolet is capable of reaching 60 mph in 3.7 seconds, while the all-wheel-drive 4S takes that time down to 3.6 seconds. As usual, we anticipate that, in our testing, both cars will be significantly quicker than that.
Every cabriolet, regardless of the number of driven wheels, now wears the wider bodywork previously reserved for the sportier GTS and all-wheel-drive 4 trims, just like the coupes. Also like the 2020 911 S coupes, the topless variants ride on 20-inch front and 21-inch rear wheels. In an obvious show of confidence in the latest cabriolet's body stiffness, Porsche for the first time ever is offering a sport suspension on the S and 4S models. The option brings a lower ride height and a stiffer state of tune for the springs and anti-roll bars.
The rest of the 2020 911 Cabriolet's package shades the coupe's, right down to the new full-LED exterior lighting, a 10.9-inch touchscreen that replaces the old 7.0-inch unit, and forward-collision warning system and automated emergency braking as standard. Porsche is taking orders now for the S and 4S cabriolets, which will start at $127,350 and $134,650 when they arrive stateside at the end of summer 2019. Save the Manuals fans might want to wait, however: Early 2020 models will ship solely with the new 911's eight-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission. The manual option will be added later.
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