New Porsche 911 Cabriolet review

For those who prefer a sports car served with a splash of fresh air, the Porsche 911 Cabriolet has long been a superb choice. And much of its success is down to the fact that Porsche has never messed too much with the recipe.

That’s not to say that every new variant doesn’t get some significant changes. In fact, the most recent facelift brings some of the biggest updates, including – as with the hardtop Porsche 911 – a mighty new 3.6-litre flat-six engine with a single turbocharger and a mild-hybrid system for the GTS. 

The rest of the range, meanwhile, still gets a 3.0-litre twin-turbocharged flat-six unit (with some extra power for good measure) but with some new kit and new styling. 

Should you choose a Porsche 911 Cabriolet over rivals such as the Mercedes-AMG SL? To help you decide, this review covers everything from what it’s like to drive to how practical it is and how much it will cost you to buy and run.

The 911 Cabriolet weighs 80kg more than a coupé Porsche 911 due to the stiffening needed to make up for the loss of a fixed roof – but you won’t feel it in the way it accelerates. The car's ability to pin you back in your seat when you put your foot down is nothing short of crushing, and that’s not even the most impressive thing about it.

Most 911s come with a 3.0-litre twin-turbocharged flat-six and, unlike so many modern turbocharged engines, it loves to be revved out, all the way to its 7500rpm red line. Power ranges from 389bhp to 473bhp, depending on the version, but even the entry-level Carrera’s 0-62mph sprint of 4.1 seconds is pretty impressive.

For the first time, the GTS now comes with a 534bhp 3.6-litre turbocharged flat-six engine. Its mild-hybrid system adds a small battery and two electric motors (one within the turbocharger) solely to make the GTS faster. It’s successful too, making the GTS feel naturally-aspirated and reducing the 0-62mph time to just 3.1 seconds.

As standard, the entry-level Carrera and Carrera T come with 19in wheels at the front and 20in at the rear, while the S and GTS get 20in at the front and 21in at the rear. Regardless of which you go for, the 911 Cabriolet does an impressive job of cushioning you from battered road surfaces – as long as you avoid the firmer Sport setting.

True, it’s no magic carpet, but for such a focused car it’s surprisingly comfortable. Confronted by a series of challenging crests and dips, it remains remarkably flat and stable when many rivals would throw you around in your seat.

The smoothness is even more impressive when you consider that so far we've only tried the car with the optional sport chassis, which drops the ride height by 10mm.

A long, twisty road is where the 911 Cabriolet really stands out from rival convertibles. Body lean is virtually non-existent, and its beautifully weighted and communicative steering means you can push right up to the limit of adhesion with utter confidence. You can't say that of the Mercedes-AMG SL.

For even more confidence, you can have the GTS with four-wheel drive, but we find the two-wheel drive versions slightly more engaging. Their steering is a little smoother, and with no driven front wheels pulling you out of corners as you pile on power, they’re also a bit more playful if you slacken the stability control’s grip.

Does all that mean the 911 Cabriolet drives every bit as well as the coupé version? Well, not quite. Really rough roads send slight shudders through the Cabriolet’s steering wheel, but it really is as rigid as a convertible car with four seats gets.

While the 911 Cabriolet’s wide tyres give it epic traction off the line and out of corners, there is a downside: considerable road noise, especially on coarse roads. 

More positively, there’s very little buffeting with the roof down and the windows up. If you add the optional sports exhaust, you're treated to a full-blooded and thrilling noise when you put your foot down. When you’re not in the mood, you can switch it off to ensure the engine never gets too boomy or intrusive.

Most 911 Cabriolets come with an eight-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox, which is lightning fast when you’re pushing on and really smooth as you drive around town. The Carrera T, meanwhile, swaps that for a six-speed manual gearbox – and it's arguably one of the most feelsome gearboxes on sale at the moment.

"With the roof down, the GTS’s new engine and sports exhaust sound truly excellent when you press the accelerator pedal hard. Amazingly, though, as soon as you turn the exhaust off, even the GTS doesn’t drone along." – Dan Jones, Senior Reviewer

Most people will be able to find a driving position that suits using the Porsche 911 Cabriolet's standard fit four-way electric seat adjustment. However, we recommend making the step up to the 14-way electric sports seats, which provide adjustable lumbar support and a memory function.

You sit close to the floor, which gives a suitably hunkered-down feel from behind the steering wheel. And, while the seat is quite narrow, it offers plenty of support, so you remain comfortable even on long trips.

In its most recent facelift, the Cabriolet lost its traditional dials and has gained a 12.7in digital driver's display. It gives you a digital version of the same dials, but also gives you a few other lay-outs, including a full screen map. The picture is really clear and impressive, but it’s a shame the physical dials have gone.

Driving a sports car usually involves making serious sacrifices in usability, but the 911 Cabriolet is surprisingly easy to live with.

Forward visibility is excellent, thanks to slim windscreen pillars. And the bulges around the tops of the headlights give you a clear idea of where the front wheels are, making the car easier to manoeuvre than rivals including the Mercedes-AMG SL.

Only rear visibility disappoints, because the fabric roof creates big blind-spots that aren’t present on a Porsche 911 coupé. What’s more, even when it’s stowed, the structure behind the rear seats is high enough to limit what you can see. You’ll be grateful that all-round parking sensors and a rear-view camera come as standard.

The 911 Cabriolet comes with all the infotainment kit you're likely to need. An excellent sat-nav unit is included in the price, as is a decent eight-speaker stereo and DAB radio. If you really like your music, you can upgrade to a Bose or Burmester sound systems.

All of the above is controlled through a pin-sharp 10.9in infotainment touchscreen. It's quick to respond to inputs and is placed within easy reach of both the driver and front passenger.

Being a touchscreen means it can still be a little distracting to use on the move, but it’s one of the best systems of its kind and includes Android Auto and Apple CarPlay smartphone mirroring.

All the buttons and switches on the Cabriolet's dashboard are well damped and sturdy, and look classy. Most frequent contact points are made from metal or covered in leather, and where plastics have been used, they feel pleasingly dense and squidgy.

This incredibly high standard of fit and finish sets the Porsche 911 apart from all its key rivals, but it can look a bit bland as standard. As such, you might want to take a look through the extensive options list to add a bit of personalisation.

"I think being able to fold away the roof in just 12 seconds and at speeds at up to 30mph is ideal, because it allows you to enjoy having the roof off but without you needing to pull over when it rains." – Dan Jones, Senior Reviewer

The seats in the front of the Porsche 911 Cabriolet slide back a long way, and there’s a decent amount of roof-up head room. The centre console, though wide, is well padded, so it’s not uncomfortable to rest your knee against.

Storage space is not so good. The glovebox is deep but quite narrow, making it hard to fit more than a few documents inside, while the door bins are quite small.

You get two cup holders and a storage area under the central armrest. It's shallow but has space for a wallet or phone.

The 911 Cabriolet’s lack of rear knee room means the back seats are really only suitable for smaller adults, children or as a place to put coats and bags. You can just about fit an Isofix child seat on either side of the wide transmission tunnel. The backrests are very upright, which further limits long-distance comfort.

Still, the rear space it does have makes it much more usable than most rivals, which either have two seats only or are so cramped in the back that they might as well have.

Adjusting the height or backrest angle of the front passenger seat is just as easy as it is on the driver’s, thanks to a pair of switches on the side. However, unless you specify the optional full electric adjustment, you have to return the front seats to their original position manually after you've moved them forward for rear-seat access.

The back seats split and fold down flat and allow you to carry long items of luggage, such as a set of golf clubs, fairly easily.

The Cabriolet's main luggage area, which is in the nose of the car, is big enough for a carry-on suitcase, a soft weekend holdall or a few shopping bags. 

At 135 litres, it’s more of a case of some boot space is better than none, and it's less generous than front-engined rivals including the Aston Martin DB12 Volante (206 litres) and the Mercedes-AMG SL (213 litres, unless you go for the SL 63 E hybrid).

"It’s interesting that the hard-top 911 is now a two-seater as standard, with rear seats as a cost-free option, while the Cabriolet is a four-seater. I quite like the extra storage afforded by having no rear seats." – Dan Jones, Senior Reviewer

While the 911 Cabriolet will cost you more than the equivalent coupé Porsche 911, it’ll cost you around the same to buy outright as the Mercedes-AMG SL and plenty less than a Aston Martin DB12 Volante.  

A long options list means it’s easy to add thousands of pounds to the price, and discounts are non-existent. However, the lack of discounts – along with how tightly Porsche controls the number of cars built – helps to keep resale values very strong.

The cheapest version to run is the rear-wheel drive Carrera Cabriolet, which averages a respectable 27.4mpg, although you’ll be lucky to get anywhere near that if you make the most of its performance.

Most people will be fine going for the entry-level Carrera Cabriolet because it gets loads of standard equipment, including matrix LED headlights, electrically-adjustable and heated front seats, a heated steering wheel, keyless entry and start, wireless phone-charging and dual-zone climate control.

Even so, we’d be tempted to step up to the Carrera T Cabriolet because it doesn’t add that much to the price but you get some extra kit and that fantastic manual gearbox. Going for the Carrera S Cabriolet, meanwhile, adds more power, the larger wheels, the sports exhaust system, some bespoke styling and performance upgrades including a torque vectoring system.

The top-of-the-range GTS Cabriolet gives you the larger mild-hybrid engine and the option of four-wheel drive (if you go for the GTS 4 Cabriolet). On top of that, the GTS makes everything sportier and adds lowered sports suspension, bespoke exterior styling, sportier interior styling with a suede steering wheel, sports seats and rear-wheel steering.

Porsche as a manufacturer placed 21st out of the 31 brands included in the 2024 What Car? Reliability Survey. That’s one place above Mercedes but still not that impressive. 

Meanwhile, while the 911 Cabriolet as a model wasn’t included in the survey, the 911 coupé was, and placed towards the bottom of the 15-strong field of coupés, convertibles and sports cars.

Porsche gives you a three-year, unlimited-mileage warranty and three years’ European breakdown cover.

The safety experts at Euro NCAP haven’t tested the 911 Cabriolet, but it comes with lots of safety equipment. That includes automatic emergency braking (AEB), a sophisticated stability control system, lane-keeping assistance and lots of airbags. 

If you want even more kit, you’ll find it in the options list, which gives you the ability to add things like lane-change assist and even a system that can sense pedestrians and other hazards at night, way beyond the range of headlights.

An engine immobiliser and an alarm are standard, but if you want more protection you can pay for Porsche’s vehicle tracking system, which makes it possible to trace stolen vehicles across most of Europe.

"While it’s true that the 911 Cabriolet costs more than its hardtop stablemate, it’s the one I’d have because of the added experience you get with the roof down." – Dan Jones, Senior Reviewer

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