Hi this is Joe Bruzek from cars dot com this is
the 2013 porsche 911 now we tested the
911 a few times since it was redesigned
2012 but this one is unique
this is the all-new carrera 4 and the
four is all-wheel drive model more
specifically this is the 4s with the
more powerful 400 horsepower
six-cylinder engine now it also
differentiates this from the others who
test it is this has the manual
transmission the seven-speed manual
transmission while the others we've had
our automatics the very quick shifting
pdk automatic now you can also see this
is a convertible the Cabriolet let's put
all that together this is the 2013
porsche 911 carrera 4s cabriolet
in addition to all wheel drive the fours
rear wheels are wider the rear fenders
are wider as well in the rear track is
wider now in addition to that there are
minor styling changes in the back
there's a light strip that connects the
rear taillights and upfront the grills
are a little different on the inside
there's an all-wheel-drive indicator
that shows where the power is going
between the front and rear wheels now
the main bias is towards the rear and
power center of the front when needed
porsche says that the all-wheel-drive
system in the four has increased limits
of handling compared to the two-wheel
drive
the 911 cabriolet is drop-top experience
is amazing for many reasons most of all
this is still the same sports car as the
coop it drives very similar you have the
great dynamics the great chassis amazing
engine sound it's just a really good
convertible package and adding on top of
that is the power cloth roof which
lowers and 13 seconds as well as the
automatic wind deflector that pops up at
the press of button there's no fussing
around with a manual one that requires
multi-piece configuration just one
button and that's it sooner or later you
have to put the top up now that's not a
bad thing because this top of experience
is pretty good the soft-top keeps out a
lot of wind and road noise and almost
better than some hardtop convertible is
like the mercedes SL 550 now with a lot
of South tops you have decreased
visibility out the back and that's no
different with the 911 the rear
visibility the roof is very intrusive
and it takes a lot of second glance is
to make sure that that blind spot is
clear but of course to solve that
problem just put the top down enjoy the
sweet sweet sounds of that optional
sports exhaust most convertibles are
touring oriented so you won't see many
manual transmissions and convertibles
this is obviously an exception in the
seven-speed manual transmission is
something unique
now the new 2014 Corvette will also have
a seven-speed manual transmission but
the 911 headfirst and it works really
well
7th gear is up into the right of the
normal six-speed clear pattern and it's
not as a dramatic Rev reducer like you
would think you know I initially thought
you put it in 7th gear in the car would
just fall on its face it's all for fuel
economy that's not the case at all
it's a very natural progression from six
to seven gear and that 7th gear is
actually blocked out when you go from
4th to 5th so you don't accidentally
shipped in 27
the Porsches automatic option is really
fast it's actually a few tenths of a
second faster than the manual
transmission and 0 to 60 miles an hour
but this is still good 40 to 60 miles an
hour in 4.5 seconds for the career for
us
chevrolet also unique to this 911
compared to others that we've tested
this had winter tires now I'm sure the
winter tires would have been great with
all-wheel drive in about that much snow
but we really want to test this with
summer tires now it probably contributed
to how smooth of a ride this head it
seemed a little smoother than other 911
we tested and it gave that kind of
touring feel to it even though we know
the 911 is a genuine sports car we
tested a base carrera with summer tires
in the Cabriolet form that proved to be
just as sports car like as the coop
convertibles are more often than not
more about the Turing experience of
driving through the countryside with the
top down going to the beach going for a
picnic and all of that it's rare that
you find one that's convertible and as
much as a sports car as the 911 it bucks
that trend that convertible can't be a
sports car
it also takes a lot of bucks to get to
that point