Look, I know we’re splitting hairs here, but when an automaker produces a million versions of the same car, the spec race has got to come down to the wire. And the new 2021 Porsche 911 Targa’s roof deployment time is borderline unacceptable.
Porsche already makes a 992-generation 911 convertible, available in whatever powertrain configuration you want, with a roof deployment time of 12 seconds. Would 10 be better? Of course, but 12 isn’t bad. The F-Type can do it in just under 11 seconds.
But now the 992 Porsche 911 Targa 4 and Targa 4S have been unveiled, touting all the same specs as the regular car—except for one. That fancy roof comes at a cost of 7 seconds. That’s a whole 19 seconds of your life wasted every time it goes up or down—on a smaller roof area—versus the 12 seconds for the full cabriolet.
That’s 7 more seconds spent thinking about something other than the stock market, or feeling sorry for your oil buddies who aren’t invited to the Templar meetings anymore. You know, important stuff.
With the bad news out of the way, the rest of the car comes in mostly the same flavours as the other 992 911 models you’ve come to love. The Targa 4 comes with a 3.0-litre twin-turbo flat-six tuned to 379 horsepower and 331 lb-ft of torque. The 4S comes with the same engine tuned to 443 hp and 390 lb-ft of torque. Both cars come with a PDK automatic, though a seven-speed manual is available on the 4S.
The reworked rear-end design brings in a little more of a Beetle shape to the silhouette, which I welcome as it makes the awkward layer-cake rear-end seem a little less weighty compared to the rest of the car. I’ve been hit or miss on the new 911 since it dropped, but I think the Targa with a stick could be the key into my heart—if I’ve got the time for it.