Used Porsche 911 Targa 2014-2019 review

Sensibly, Porsche hasn’t reinvented the roof when it comes to creating this generation of Targa. At a stroke, it has given the 911’s third bodystyle a new lease of life by reintroducing the distinctive roll hoop while saving itself the trouble of creating a mechanism for sliding a roof panel back by, effectively, using the one from the 911 cabriolet.

But whereas the 911 cabriolet has a rear deck that lifts while the hood origamis itself into the nook left beneath the panel, the whole Targa shebang — rear window, rear panel and all — rises to allow the roof to fold into the space left behind.

That it’s a sizeable roof panel is perhaps one reason why the 911 retains only four-wheel-drive transmission and the requisite wider bodywork. That it adds yet more weight behind the passenger compartment is potentially another reason. The official one is that this is an all-weather topless 911.

All of this gubbins sits atop some very familiar Porsche 911 hardware. The Targa is available with four-wheel drive only and is tested here in the more powerful Carrera 4S guise rather than its base 4 or range-topping GTS forms.

Powering the Targa range and driving all four wheels, is a twin-turbocharged, six-cylinder 3.0-litre engine, and the only real difference between the three variants is the slightly bigger compressors, which means the base Carrera 4 gets 364bhp, Carrera 4S gets 414bhp and the GTS 444bhp.

Where a Targa does split from other 911s is that, in creating a car that is 110kg heavier than the coupé (and 40kg more than the cabriolet), Porsche has chosen to modify the suspension to cope.

That’s to Porsche’s credit, because there are plenty of manufacturers who wouldn’t bother with fitting rebound buffer springs, meant to restrain body movements while cornering.

Added to which come the benefits of that softer chassis for rolling refinement. No 911 is ever likely to be a refined car in the strictest terms. The Targa’s wide rear tyres create plenty of road roar, and the cloth roof doesn’t entirely keep out wind rustle.

But the added long-wave absorbency of the chassis tune is welcome over British roads, at times when comfort matters more than perfect handling precision.

Set to one side any sort of prejudice that might put you off a 911 Targa, if for no other reason than this: when push comes to shove, it’s as quick around a track as a Porsche 911 should be — and that means a good deal quicker than anything else in the ballpark.

The lap time of the Targa 4S on the dry handling circuit proves beyond doubt that this car is to be taken seriously. We’re confident that a like-for-like Carrera 4S would have been a shade quicker, but a Mercedes-Benz SL500, BMW 650i convertible and a Jaguar F-Type V8 S are all markedly slower — and by full seconds, not tenths.

The Targa grips, goes and stops hard up to a high threshold, and when it does begin to run out of adhesion, it does so as you expect: from the front end under power and from the rear under brakes. It gives you some power-on understeer to contend with — but brake right up to the apex, settle the front end and drive in time-honoured Porsche style, and it’s poised and adjustable.