The extra mass of that folding roof doesn’t seem to weigh the 911 Targa down at all – either subjectively on the road, or objectively against the stopwatch.
Our PDK-equipped test car was aided by Porsche’s launch control system, but even once away from the line, it continued to go hard enough to satisfy all but the most demanding sporting purposes and tastes.
Hitting 60mph from rest in 4.3sec and 100mph in 9.8sec makes the car faster on both counts than the considerably more powerful Mercedes-Benz SL 500 and fully 2.3sec quicker to three figures than a F-type coupé V6 S. Not bad for Zuffenhausen’s softer option. The new twin-turbo engines give the 911 Targa even more flexibility meaning it may not rev as freely as before but its powerful is far more exploitable lower down.
Porsche’s bigger flat six gets going much sooner than the 3.4 we sampled in the standard 991 coupé two years ago. It has enough torque to make the Targa 4S feel as fast as most will ever want in give-and-take situations and, at the same time, it sounds deliciously pure and unfettered at medium and high crank speeds.
It’s one of a dwindling number of quality-over-quantity powertrains left, even among true sports cars, but that said, it’s a true hard-hitter as well.
