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"         Old or new, whatever the series, a Porsche 911, open or closed, turbocharged or not, always remains a Porsche 911, a car of unique character.   Drive the new 997-series Carrera Cabriolet with the soft top in place on a motorway, and you soon forget that this car is a convertible, a type of car whose maximum speed is often limited by unbearable wind noises rather than performance. Drive it on bad roads and the expected rattles and shaking just don&amp;#039;t happen.   It would be impossible to give the rear-engine 911 a retractable rigid top. So Porsche knew the soft-top model had to be as comfortable, as air- and watertight and as elegant as the coupe. Wind noise had to be comparable too. Not easy, but they have done it. Opening and closing is achieved electrohydraulically, and all it takes is to hold a switch on the central console for 20 seconds, even with the car rolling \u2014 up to a speed of 30 mph. Porsche says the entire soft top and system weigh only 93 lb.   Nevertheless, the Cabrio weighs 187 lb. more than the coupe, mainly due to reinforcements but also for driver and passenger protection. The reinforced A-pillars, the two strong pop-up roll-over hoops and their mechanism, and two additional side bags for head protection all add weight. But the added weight makes little difference, an extra 0.3 second in the 0-160-km/h (0-100-mph) sprint, which the Carrera S Cabrio achieves in 11.0 seconds; the base Carrera, in 11.4.   Below the waistline, the body interior is identical with the coupe&amp;#039;s, except that the rear seats are even more &amp;quot;emergency-use only&amp;quot; because of the space taken up by the hoops. When the soft top is closed, the three-quarter rear view is rather poor, but the view through the rear heated glass window is good.   The driving position has benefited from the new scuttle design of the 997 series, the steering column now being adjustable for height as well as for reach. Tall people will appreciate that the bottom position of the seat height adjustment is now lower, and that the pedals have been moved forward.   For this first drive, which took place near Seville, Spain, I sampled two models, a 3.8-liter, 355-bhp Carrera S with standard brakes, and a 3.6-liter Carrera with PCCB carbon-ceramic discs. Both had 19-in. wheels, a manual 6-speed gearbox and PASM actively controlled shock absorbers, which are standard on the S and optional on the 3.6. To be frank, I can hardly notice a difference in the performance of the basic Carrera and the S. Both are impressively fast, both engines respond instantly but smoothly to the slightest movement of the accelerator pedal and emit a beautifully tuned sound.   The electronic programming of PASM in the &amp;quot;N&amp;quot; (normal) position covers such a wide range of requirements, from &amp;quot;sporty&amp;quot; comfort at low speeds to the best handling/comfort compromise you could ever wish for on the road, that I never felt the need to switch to the &amp;quot;S&amp;quot; (sport) mode. I did try it, but benefits are felt only if you decide to have a real go on a deserted road or on a racetrack, in which case the PSM yaw control can be switched off, though the traction control remains active.   Comparing the standard with the PCCB brakes, one notes that the PCCBs respond marginally sharper. They are known to last longer and be completely immune to fade, but for road work this is also the case of the highly efficient standard brakes. The PCCB&amp;#039;s biggest advantage is the 50-percent lighter unsprung weight of the discs. The reshaped internal vented vanes and revised carbon material have eliminated the squealing problem of the early PCCB discs.   Some drivers have criticized the new variable-ratio steering of the 997 (and 987 Boxster) series, complaining that the response around the central position is not as sharp as in the 996 models, yet I cannot perceive any difference. On the other hand, I really appreciated the progressively quicker ratio when I drove on a mountain road with its many sharp corners, most of which were taken without moving my hands on the wheel. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.roadandtrack.com/new-cars/first-drives/reviews/a10875/porsche-911-carrera-carrera-s-cabriolets/>