Quest 4 More Traction
New four-wheel drive 911s join local product line-up
By Nick Syn
LOCAL PORSCHE DISTRIBUTOR, Stuttgart Auto, launched four new four-wheel drive versions of the latest 997-model 911 at Fort Canning Park yesterday evening.
The Carrera 4 and 4S, available in coupe and cabriolet variants, continue Porsche’s long association with four-wheel drive. This brings the total number of new 911 variants to eight.
Prices for the Carrera 4 start at $428,888 without COE for the Coupe with six-speed manual transmission and range up to $535,888 without COE for the Cabriolet model equipped with a five-speed Tiptronic.
OUR SPOTTER’S GUIDE TO THE CURRENT 911 RANGE
911 Carrera & Carrera Cabriolet
The Carrera is the standard, or base model, if such a term can be applied to a Porsche. It’s powered by a 3.6-litre flat-six engine that develops 325bhp. 0-100km/h comes up in 5.0 seconds flat for cars equipped with the manual and 0.5 seconds longer for the Tiptronic variant.
The Cabriolet is mechanically similar to the Carrera, save for the reinforcements made to preserve structural rigidity. The roof has a glass rear windscreen, is fully-lined and electrically operated. It can even be opened and closed by remote control, and at speeds of up to 50km/h. Performance from 0 to 100km/h takes 5.2 and 5.7 seconds for the manual and Tiptronic versions respectively. On the safety front, the Cabriolet features head airbags that deploy upwards from the door panels in the event of a collision.
911 Carrera S & Carrera S Cabriolet
Porsche used to distinguish its S models with wider bodies. In both the 993 and 996 model ranges, S versions of the Carrera and Carrera 4 used their respective Turbo variants’ wider bodyshells. This time Porsche has released the S model for the 997 range without adopting the Turbo body. However, the latter car is still roughly a year or so away from being production-ready.
The new Carrera S boasts a larger engine (3.8-litres), which develops 355bhp. The S also comes with Porsche’s Active Suspension Management system or PASM as standard. The Carrera S Cabriolet, as with the Carrera Cabriolet, is mechanically similar to the coupe.
911 Carrera 4 & Carrera 4 Cabriolet
Both 4 and 4S models sport a chassis that is two inches wider at the rear than the two-wheel drive models.The Carrera 4 uses the same 3.6-litre engine as the Carrera, and adds a newly-developed four-wheel drive system. Like the two-wheel drive variants, the Carrera 4 and 4S is also available in either manual or Tiptronic guise.
A viscous coupling ensures that anything from five to 40 percent of the engine’s power can be transferred to the front wheels if surface conditions require. Performance is very slightly down on the equivalent Carrera models, mostly due to the weight of the extra hardware.
The Carrera 4 Cabriolet’s convertible roof is essentially the same as that on the two-wheel drive
Carrera Cabriolets.
911 Carrera 4S & Carrera 4S Cabriolet
The 4S models come with PASM as standard. The 0-100km/h sprint for the coupe takes is 5.1 seconds, and the Cabriolet, 5.3 seconds.
