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2011 Porsche 911 Carrera GTS Cabriolet Review

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Rob Rothwell
The perfect road trip wheels
Perhaps it was the precision of the Porsche’s steering or the immediacy of power underfoot, but the 911 Carrera GTS Cabriolet was a sheer delight on the secondary highways of southwest BC. My 16-year old son and I embraced the opportunity to take this week’s tester on an overnight road trip to Savona, B.C. from Vancouver, focusing on routes less traveled. The only criteria: they had to be paved.

The 911 Carrera GTS Cabriolet was a sheer delight on the secondary highways of southwest BC. (Photo: Rob Rothwell/Auto123.com)

GTS – more power and greater performance
Greater torque and twenty-three additional horsepower – for a grand total of 408 – set the 911 Carrera GTS apart from the 911 Carrera S. The optional Sport Chrono Package Plus, which my tester was fitted with, provides what Porsche describes as “an even more dynamic tuning of the chassis and engine setup”, making this Carrera a more capable track companion than most other Carrera variants.

Add the optional Porsche Doppelkupplung (PDK) 7-speed transmission to the performance-enhancing engineering, and the GTS Cabriolet will shoot to 100 km/h in just 4.4 seconds, howling like a manic banshee all the way.

PDK gear changes take place in milliseconds without interrupting the relentless push from behind; in fact, the swapping of cogs in Sport or Sport Plus mode is akin to a swift kick in the backside. The hit from gear to gear is sharp and forcefully punctuated.

Boxer punch
Sitting somewhere startlingly close to the backside of the GTS driver is a force to be reckoned with that knows little civility. Displacing 3.8 litres, Porsche’s famed 6-cylinder, horizontally opposed, boxer engine generates 310 pound-feet of torque in addition to its 408 horsepower – and it does so with plenty of auditory aggression.

The inductive scream of a rear-engine Porsche is something to be experienced. That terrorizing howl is part of what makes this lineage of sports cars so visceral and appealing. The GTS epitomizes those attributes while clawing itself out of the hole with tremendous force and tenacity – especially when its Launch Control program is utilized.

The wealth of power is available from any speed, and in pretty well any gear. The deep well of low-end torque enables the GTS to fulfill most chores without breaking a sweat or needing to gear down. But when instructed to do so by a sharp jab to the throttle, the PDK transmission responds instantly while adopting much more aggressive shift mapping.

Displacing 3.8 litres, Porsche’s famed 6-cylinder, horizontally opposed, boxer engine generates 310 pound-feet of torque in addition to its 408 horsepower. (Photo: Rob Rothwell/Auto123.com)
Rob Rothwell
Rob Rothwell
Automotive expert
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