Highlights

Standard: the electrohydraulic roof

The folding roof on the new 911 cabriolet opens – and closes – automatically within just 20 seconds. And it can be “told” to do so not just by a switch in the centre console, since Porsche offers the option to open or close the roof automatically by remote control from the ignition key (not available in all countries) or from the key in the door lock.

Standard: rollbars moving up automatically

In the event of a rollover two rollbars will efficiently protect all four occupants in the 911 cabriolet. These two bars are forced up by a spring as soon as a roll sensor determines that the car is about to roll over, and are then held securely in position by a mechanical arrest mechanism.

Standard from Porsche: side airbags also suitable for a convertible

Porsche has developed special side airbags for the new 911 and the Boxster. Thanks to their extra size and geometry, these side airbags ensure efficient protection at both head and chest level, even when driving with the roof and the side windows down. Porsche offers these side as standard on all models.

Drive system of your choice

The Carrera cabriolet is available either with rear-wheel or permanent four-wheel drive, that is the same drive technology as the Carrera coupé or Carrera 4 coupé. And Porsche Stability Management (PSM) is naturally standard also on the Carrera 4 cabriolet. PSM, finally, is also available as an individual feature on the cabriolet with rear-wheel drive.

Supreme performance

The 911 cabriolet is one of the fastest open sports cars in the world. Displacing 3.6 litres and developing maximum output of 235 kW (320 bhp), the new six-cylinder horizontally-opposed power unit gives the 911 cabriolet a standard of performance only very few production sports cars are able to match. Acceleration to 100 km/h comes in 5.2 seconds, top speed is 285 km/h or 177 mph.

Rear window made of “real" glass

The 911 cabriolet now comes for the first time with a heated rear window made of “real" glass improving not only visibility to the rear, but also motoring comfort in cold and wet weather. The new rear window is also less likely to form scratches when the driver removes ice in winter. A further remarkable feature is the roof's folding system: Like on the Boxster the roof of the 911 cabriolet folds up like a letter Z. The upper side of the roof therefore faces to the outside even when the roof is open, protecting the roof liner from dirt.

Aluminium hardtop at no extra cost

The easily removable hardtop is included in the price of the car. Despite its very stable doubleshell configuration, the roof including the heated glass rear window weighs a mere 33 kg, allowing easy handling by the driver and his passenger.

Extra luggage space for travelling in style

With its large luggage compartment at the front able to accommodate the usual commercially available suitcases and ample storage space at the rear with the backrests tilted down, the 911 cabriolet also outperforms most comparable sports cars in terms of its storage capacity.

Sporting, Open, Safe

As on the previous model, two rollbars fitted as standard protect the occupants of the 911 Carrera cabriolet should the car ever roll over. Normally discreetly concealed behind the rear seats, the rollbars are actuated by spring pressure and move up immediately as soon as a sway sensor determines the risk of the car rolling.

The body structure offers not only a very high standard of stiffness, but is also designed from the start for specific deformation travel in the event of a collision.

Apart from full-size frontal airbags for the driver and front passenger, the cabriolet comes as standard with side airbags. The particular forte of these airbags is the comprehensive protection they offer at head, chest and arm level, even with the roof and side windows down.

“Topless” in 20 seconds

The Carrera cabriolet features a fully retractable roof folding away neatly into its own compartment when open. Opening and closing the roof is electrohydraulic and takes a mere 20 seconds, together with the side windows also opened and closed in the process. And the operation can be initiated in three different ways: by a button on the centre console, by remote control from the key (not in all countries) or by turning the key in the lock beyond the usual locking position.

The soft roof of the 911 Carrera cabriolet naturally comes in top quality featuring a very elegant but virtually indestructible exterior material called “Sonnenland”, a word which appropriately translates as “Sun Country” and helps to reduce wind noise to a minimum. An entirely new feature is the solid, electrically heated glass window in the soft roof improving not only visibility to the rear, but also road comfort in cold and wet weather.

Hardtop fitted as standard

Yet a further standard feature of the Porsche 911 cabriolet is the hardtop made of aluminium, also coming complete with a glass rear window heated electrically. Built as a double-shell structure, the roof with its aluminium parcel shelf ensuring extra stiffness and stability is particularly strong, reduces wind noise to a minimum and weighs a mere 33 kg or 73 lb, meaning that two persons are able to fit and remove the roof with ease. And with just a few minor operations, the roof fits firmly and reliably on to the body of the car, the electrically heated rear window being linked up automatically in the process.

A wind deflector for open-air motoring without any annoying turbulence is available as an option. When not required the deflector fits perfectly into a bag within the spare wheel cover. In its basic technical features the cabriolet is virtually identical to its coupé counterpart, sharing the same main body components, the chassis with its light-alloy suspension, the water-cooled flat-six power unit and power transmission provided either by a six-speed manual gearbox or Tiptronic S five-speed automatic transmission. Accordingly, the new cabriolet offers all the benefits and fortes of the current 911 model series:

• The 3.6-litre flat-six power unit develops maximum output of 235 kW (320 bhp).
• The new VarioCam Plus engine management system helps to further reduce fuel consumption and harmful emissions.
• Driving safety and motoring comfort benefit significantly from consistent improvement of the chassis once again on the new model year of the Carrera.