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Porsche 911 Carrera S Cabriolet brings 443 hp to Geneva Motor Show

The new Cabriolet starts at $126,100 in the US.

Steven Ewing Former managing editor
Steven Ewing spent his childhood reading car magazines, making his career as an automotive journalist an absolute dream job. After getting his foot in the door at Automobile while he was still a teenager, Ewing found homes on the mastheads at Winding Road magazine, Autoblog and Motor1.com before joining the CNET team in 2018. He has also served on the World Car Awards jury. Ewing grew up ingrained in the car culture of Detroit -- the Motor City -- before eventually moving to Los Angeles. In his free time, Ewing loves to cook, binge trash TV and play the drums.
Steven Ewing
2 min read
Andrew Hoyle/Roadshow

We loved our first crack at driving the new 992-generation Porsche 911, and now the automaker is offering up a version with more wind in your hair. The 2020 Porsche 911 Cabriolet -- the droptop variant of the Carrera S and 4S models that debuted at the Los Angeles Auto Show in November -- made its debut at the Geneva Motor Show.

The new Cabriolet retains all the new styling elements as the 992 911 Coupe, including the slightly reworked front end, flush-mounted door handles and slim, full-width taillights. In a nod to previous 911 Cabriolet models, it also retains the sort of hunchback rump -- a love-it-or-hate-it bit of design that puts emphasis on the rear-engine layout of Porsche's iconic sports car. Like the Coupe, the 911 Carrera S Cabriolet uses the same wide-body design from the previous-generation Carrera 4 and GTS models.

2020 Porsche 911 S and 4S Cabriolet boast 443 horsepower

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Raising and lowering the fabric roof is a super-quick event. Thanks to new hydraulics for "smoother and quicker operation," the top can open or close in a scant 12 seconds, according to a Porsche statement released Tuesday. As before, the top can be operated at speeds up to 31 miles per hour, and an electric wind deflector automatically pops up when the roof is lowered.

The Carrera S/4S Cabriolet's engine is the same as the Coupe's: A twin-turbocharged, 3.0-liter flat-6, producing 443 horsepower and 390 pound-feet of torque. Despite the droptop's (unknown) added weight, Porsche says that, when equipped with the eight-speed, dual-clutch transmission, the 2020 911 Carrera S Cabriolet can sprint to 60 mph in 3.7 seconds. The all-wheel-drive 4S shaves a tenth of a second off that time. In each case, the new Cabriolet is 0.4 seconds quicker in the 0-60 sprint than its predecessor.

Inside, the Cabriolet is the same as the 911 Carrera Coupe, with Porsche's latest PCM infotainment system housed on a 10.9-inch touchscreen. A number of driver assistance systems are also on hand, including the Wet Mode that helps the 911 behave better on slick surfaces.

We'll be getting our first taste of the new 911 Carrera S Coupe in the coming weeks, and we expect the base model, as well as more-powerful GTS, Turbo, etc. variants to follow. Porsche says the first Cabriolet models will hit US showrooms in "late summer," with the S and 4S priced at $126,100 and $133,400, respectively.

The 2020 Porsche 911 Carrera S hits the Hockenheimring circuit

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