Porsche 911 Cabriolet 2019 review: snapshot

Launch pricing, before on-road costs, for the Porsche 911 Cabriolet starts at $286,500 for the rear-wheel drive Carrera S, stepping up to $302,600 for the all-wheel drive Carrera 4S version

And aside from the new 911’s comprehensive safety and performance packages the standard features list is an impressive roll-call.

It kicks off with partial leather trim, complete with chequered flag style cloth inserts over heated 14-way electrically-adjustable sports seats (with memory package), a leather-trimmed sports steering wheel, dual-zone climate control air conditioning, ‘Porsche Communication Management’ (audio, navigation, communication and assistance systems), 12-speaker Bose Surround Sound-audio (including digital radio), Apple CarPlay (no Android Auto), keyless entry and start, rain-sensing wipers, LED auto headlights, the characteristic ‘4-point’ LED daytime running lights plus LED tail-lights, the ‘Carrera S’ alloy wheels, active cruise control, the 10.9-inch multimedia screen, and twin 7.0-inch digital instrument screens.

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The all-wheel drive Carrera 4S Cabriolet launches at $302,600.

Aside from the new 911’s comprehensive safety and performance packages the standard features list is an impressive roll-call.

The 911’s rear-mounted, all-alloy 3.0-litre, twin-turbo flat six-cylinder engine now features high-pressure piezo injectors and bigger turbos for more power (+22kW) and torque (+30Nm), with outputs reading 331kW (444 horsepower) at 6500rpm and 530Nm from 2300-5000rpm.

Although the new 911 hasn’t been given a safety rating by ANCAP or Euro NCAP, you could argue its exceptional dynamic ability represents one giant, five-star safety feature.

With the optional Sport Chrono package the roughly 1.5-tonne C4S will accelerate from 0-100kmh in just 3.4sec. Even in its ‘slowest’ non-Chrono CS form that number only drops by three tenths.

In designing a modern sports car, who’d hang the engine over the back wheels? This layout just shouldn’t work in the way it does, but Porsche has continued to evolve and hone the 911 to an incredibly fine point. It’s a simply superb sports car experience.