Porsche 911 Carrera 4 GTS Cabriolet 2023 Review

The Porsche 911 Carrera 4 GTS Cabriolet is an acquired taste, albeit with a devilishly morish and alarmingly powerful flavour. To pull the trigger on a coupe of this calibre requires a certain level of braggadocio – the convertible even more so. But as we discovered after a week behind the wheel, the fiendishly fast yet easy-to-live-with German drop-top left us grinning from ear to ear, especially on crisp and clear days.

From 50 paces away, one of the most expensive Porsche 911 Carrera sports cars that money can buy looks fairly ordinary – at least viewed through a supercar lens.

With its cloth roof and absence of lairy bodywork or a rear wing you can see from orbit, passersby might assume the 2023 Porsche 911 Carrera 4 GTS Cabriolet is just another ‘entry-level’ 911 optioned with big wheels.

But those assumptions would be way off the mark, for this vehicle is a $406,600 (plus on-road costs) engineering masterpiece that’ll reliably dash from 0-100km/h in 3.5sec – roof on or off.

And how’s this? The daunting $400K-plus price tag is only an indication of just how expensive this ballistic Porsche 911 convertible can be, with an options list to make mere mortals weep and significant on-road costs adding another hit.

Rivals? There’s a few. The Ferrari Portofino M (from $455,000 plus ORCs) and the Lamborghini Huracan Evo Spyder (from $515,493) both have similar 0-100km/h sprint times and overall performance, but do not have two occasional seats in the back. You could also lump the new Mercedes-AMG SL 63 (from $373,370) in there, although it’s not as rapid.

Like all Porsche 911s, the GTS drop-top is covered by a three-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty while service intervals are set every 12 months or 15,000km, whichever occurs first.

Standard features on the 2023 Porsche 911 Carrera 4 GTS Cabriolet include four-way power-operated leather and suede-like Race-Tex sports seats with GTS logos, dual-zone climate control, keyless entry/start, brushed aluminium door sills, a potent 12-speaker Bose surround sound system and a large central touch-screen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto functionality.

The fully automatic folding roof system is a very impressive piece of kit that includes a heated rear glass window surrounded by a fabric hood and roof shell supported by a metal framework with magnesium elements to keep weight down.

Driven during inclement weather, wipers on maximum slap, the roof was excellent in terms of acoustic and thermal insulation and is testament to Porsche’s reputation for engineering precision.

The whole shebang can be operated at speeds of up to 50km/h, taking around 12 seconds to tuck away or unfurl. A powered wind deflector is part of the package.

Performance gear includes 20-inch front and 21-inch rear alloy wheels shod with staggered 245/35ZR20 and 305/30ZR21 Pirelli P Zero tyres respectively gifting the car those beautiful wide hips at the back.

Massive brake rotors borrowed from the 911 Turbo fill out the alloy wheels nicely, measuring 408mm up front with six-piston callipers, and 380mm at the rear with four-pot callipers, while a 10mm lower ride height delivers a fairly tasty stance.

Some basic features are not included, such as a wireless phone charger, and there’s only two USB-C ports concealed in the central storage bin. And in the rarefied upper echelons of the car world, nothing comes cheap, with adaptive cruise control adding $3570, the Crayon grey exterior paint job of our test car raising the price by $5700.

Chuck another $6620 on top for the (admittedly lush) carbon matte interior package.

In total there’s a whopping $44,960 worth of extras on this vehicle, including 18-way adjustable adaptive sports seats ‘plus’ ($5910), a GTS interior package ($8350), and black-painted brake callipers ($1720), to name only a few.

If you were to opt for exclusively pragmatic options, the front axle lifting system ($5070) would be top of the list.

The 2023 Porsche 911 Carrera 4 GTS Cabriolet is fitted with six airbags and a strong passenger cell influenced by the German car-maker’s motorsport endeavours.

The 911 hasn’t been assessed by independent safety authorities such as ANCAP or Euro NCAP, and the C4 GTS is missing a number of key driver assist features found on mainstream cars such as any form of lane keeping assistance.

However, the car does come with autonomous emergency braking (AEB), blind spot monitoring, rear cross traffic alert and a 360-degree parking camera.

What technology does the Porsche 911 Carrera 4 GTS Cabriolet feature?

While the 2023 Porsche 911 Carrera 4 GTS Cabriolet isn’t a technological tour de force and misses out on things like a head-up display, it’s great to see Porsche blending tradition and technology on the driver’s instrument panel.

The C4 GTS retains an analogue tachometer (which takes pride of place smack bang in the middle), flanked by twin configurable digital screens with a range of settings, from AWD torque vectoring displays to maps and g-force meters.

The day that Porsche finally succumbs to progress and ditches the analogue tacho will be a sad one indeed.

A wide central touch-screen with high-resolution graphics has Apple CarPlay (wired/wireless) and Android Auto (wired) functionality, and if you don’t want to use smartphone mirroring, the native operating system is pretty good once you get used to it.

The voice control system, instigated by saying “Hey Porsche”, works very effectively across a number of feature sets, such as satellite navigation directions and climate controls.

The 3.0-litre twin-turbocharged flat-six mechanical beating heart of the 2023 Porsche 911 Carrera 4 GTS Cabriolet is a truly delightful powerplant.

It doesn’t create the most endearing acoustics (to put it mildly), but the way it propels the curvaceous AWD sportster inexorably forwards is utterly compelling, and the engine’s location over the rear axle provides unique handling dynamics that have been a point of difference since the 911’s inception more than four decades ago.

Displacing 3.0 litres (2983cc), the all-aluminium engine takes advantage of a dry sump, two turbochargers and twin intercoolers to pump out 353kW of power at 6500rpm and 570Nm of torque at 2300-5000rpm, thanks to a higher state of tune than other 911 Carrera sports cars.

Only the eight-speed dual-clutch automatic ‘PDK’ transmission is available with the cabrio (coupes can option a seven-speed manual), but this isn’t a major problem, given it’s probably the best self-shifter on the market.

The automatic cog-swapper transfers the engine’s reserves to all four wheels and filters it through a torque vectoring ‘PTV’ system that can apportion motive force to either the left or right rear wheel via an electronically-controlled rear diff.

And it’ll rip from 0-100km/h in 3.5 seconds, which is a bit slower than the 911 C4 GTS Coupe’s 3.3sec dash, chiefly because it’s 70kg heavier (1665kg vs 1595kg), but hardly anything to complain about.

The extra flab comes about via reinforcements to the underbody and doors to make up for the loss of structural rigidity the lack of a fixed roof brings about.

Top speed is 307km/h, down 2km/h on the coupe.

Despite its prodigious performance, the six-cylinder turbo boxer engine in the 2023 Porsche 911 Carrera 4 GTS Cabriolet can be quite efficient when you’re trundling along in eighth gear on the freeway, using around 8.0L/100km.

This makes for a theoretical range of almost 840km from its 67-litre fuel tank.

But to put things in perspective, we travelled around 800km and used not one, but TWO tanks of 98RON fuel…

Can you blame us? The official combined-cycle fuel consumption is claimed to be 10.6L/100km.

It’s always a pleasure driving a Porsche 911 and, during the first few days of testing, this C4 GTS convertible specimen was driven mostly in the ’burbs – something that few supercars can do as seamlessly and deftly as the Porker.

Even on its ultra-large alloy wheels and super-sporty Pirelli rubber, the 2023 Porsche 911 Carrera 4 GTS Cabriolet is fairly docile over speed bumps; the damping is hard to fault.

It can feel a little stiff over corrugations and repetitive cracks and fissures on the road but, for the most part, it’s a relatively comfy car.

The roof system is impressive as well and can operated at the traffic lights or even while taking off which is pretty handy, especially when testing it in Melbourne’s unpredictable weather.

You can also operate the roof remotely from the key fob which is a nice touch, and the ultimate ego booster when you’re sauntering up to or sidling away from the car.

The wind deflector works well, and thanks to the snug, low-slung seating position things don’t get too blustery in the cabin even at triple-digit speeds – assuming the side windows are raised.

Speaking of high speeds, when you flick the drive mode switch on the steering wheel to ‘Sport’, the revs instantly jump a little higher, the standard-fit GTS sports exhaust employs loud mode and a little shiver runs up your spine. Especially when the roof is folded away.

Open the taps and the sound that booms out is a combination of gravelly, raspy, clattery blather, interspersed with pops and barks between gearshifts and – my favourite – aggressive race car-inspired crackles on the overrun.

Acceleration is wicked, pushing you into the form-fitting sports seats with assertiveness, and when you throw all that acoustic and physical drama together across a challenging stretch of bitumen, the endorphins begin to well and truly flow.

Simply put, it’s a joy to drive – yes, even the convertible version. Blasting the 911 along winding roads through old-growth forests reveals a beautifully composed but incredibly eager sports car.

The connection between car and driver is almost as profound as a one-on-one interview with the Dalai Lama (one would assume…), as the steering becomes an extension of your body, your mind able to control its direction as precisely and promptly as Elon Musk’s Neural Link brain tech.

Meanwhile, the expertly tuned suspension, all-wheel drive system and huge Pirelli tyres deliver astonishing levels of grip, the likes of which will rarely be fully exploited on public roads.

The massive brakes are the icing on the cake, allowing you to brake late and deep into corners before turning in, apexing, then blasting out at full noise, the Porsche’s off-kilter battle cry and unique rear-biased weight distribution making for a very memorable experience.

Even without a fixed roof, the howling rear-engined Porsche is a dynamo, delivering the sort of mid-corner confidence that’ll make you laugh with wild abandon.

Indeed, it’s a euphoric experience that stays with you long after you’ve thunked the door shut and walked back to the daily grind.

The cabin in the 2023 Porsche 911 Carrera 4 GTS Cabriolet is a no-fuss, highly-focused workstation whose steering wheel, pedals and seat are the real drawcards.

The steering wheel and pedals have been fashioned to deliver a superlative degree of input while the seats form an assured foundation for the whole undertaking.

The rest of the interior blurs into insignificance when you’re going at it hammer and tongs, but commuting or travelling between board meetings at more provincial speeds sees the rest of the cabin come into focus – and it’s not half bad.

Just like the ergonomics for primary inputs, most other controls are within easy reach and sensibly laid out, with simplified but large climate controls, toggle switches just above the stubby gear shifter and secondary car functions – exhaust flaps, suspension mode, stability control, etc – protruding underneath the touch-screen.

Sure, the cup holder is almost useless, there’s no wireless phone charger and storage solutions in the cockpit are virtually non-existent, but in hindsight the under-bonnet storage can swallow a fair bit and a pair of very small rear seats are more likely to be used for luggage than human beings – full-sized ones anyway.

The 992-series 2023 Porsche 911 Carrera 4 GTS Cabriolet is a tremendous vehicle in so many ways.

It’s a hugely capable apex shredder, breathtakingly fast off the mark and the open-air thrills it delivers are fabulous – and have left a lasting imprint on yours truly.

Indeed, the GTS moniker has once again delivered the goods here and will continue to occupy its position as one of the most-wanted 911s on the market.

Perhaps the biggest problem with this vehicle is that most drivers will never need – or perhaps even want – to use its full power on the road. In some respects, it would pay to test one of the many more affordable and less intense versions of the 911 Carrera drop-top before settling on the C4 GTS.

But if you’ve got talent and money in equal measure, and like the idea of a sleeper that can flip its lid at a whim, this vehicle is most definitely worth the purchase.

2023 Porsche 911 Carrera 4 GTS Cabriolet at a glance:Price: $406,600 (plus on-road costs)Available: NowEngine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder twin-turbo-petrolOutput: 353kW/570NmTransmission: Eight-speed dual-clutch automaticFuel: 10.6L/100km (ADR Combined)CO2: 242g/km (ADR Combined)Safety rating: Not tested

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