New Porsche 911 Targa launched at Detroit

Porsche has based the Targa on a four wheel drive just like 911 Carrera 4 bodyshell with four engine choices just like the Carrera’s.

There have been lots of new car unveilings at the 2014 Detroit Motor Show and Porsche is not lagging behind. Porsche has revealed a new 911 Targa 4 and 911 Targa 4S with prices starting from £86,281 for the entry level Targa and £96,316 for the high spec Targa 4S. The new car will make its first delivery to UK shores in May.

Porsche has based the Targa on a four wheel drive just like 911 Carrera 4 bodyshell with four engine choices just like the Carrera’s. The Porsche Targa engines are: a 345bhp 3.4-litre flat-six and a 395bhp 3.8-litre. Sprint times from 0-62mph are 4.8 and 4.4 seconds respectively.
According to Grant Larson, who heads special projects for Porsche Style, a manual roof was considered, but “People who buy these cars expect electric operation, so manual operation was out of the question.”

The new retro style roof was also considered for the facelift of the previous generation 997 model 911. “Back in 2005, work hadn’t even started on the new 991 and the idea of a classic Targa came up,” said Larson. “We thought it was working really well, but timing wasn’t right to make it work for the 997 facelift, so we left it for the 991.” The roof is made from lightweight magnesium and is cleverly hidden behind flaps in the wrap-around Targa bar.

The windscreen, doors and side windows are all the same to the Cabrio, but the complex rear glass has four different types for different markets and also with the option of a rear wiper. However, the folding of the roof cannot be carried out when the car is moving, unlike in the Cabrio. The standard equipment is also the same as the 911 Carrera 4 models, adding on the powered roof.