2009 Porsche 911 Targa: Fat free for Speed
"The new Porsche 911 Targa doesn't have a spare ounce of fat on its body," noted one of the designers at the recent preview in Garda Lake, Italy.
Ahh.... I thought. I want the body of a Porsche 911 Targa. Lean, fast and well.... you can guess the rest.
Yes, yes and yes. It is all that. Just to mention: a glass roof that slides quietly into the trunk for open air driving; an LED band of lights that flank the rear; polished aluminum trim bars that skim the roofline and side windows that sail to the rear in a crisp angle. Yes, the 2009 Porsche 911 Targa is all about slim. And a slim yet powerful body is usually quick. The 0-60 for the top-performing PDK Porsche 911 Targa is 4.3 seconds.
But with all that lean muscle, there's also room for shopping. The tailgate opens (by key fob) to 8.1 cubic feet of space behind the front seat. Of course, I managed to fill the back with a load of Italian purchases (groceries, jeans and tops). The 911 Targa, true to form, also has a front boot.
Coined an open air sports car when it debuted for 1967, the early 911 Targa featured a removable roof panel. Its name Targa came from from the Sicilian Targa Florio racing event. The Targa even passed the "hair test for ladies of the 60's" because it was a convertible with a protective shield.
Our open air drive took place in Northern Italy in the vicinity of Verona, the home of Romeo and Juliet. The itinerary took us through stunning roads in the surrounding hills and vineyards. The roads had enough hair-pin turns to give even the most seasoned drivers a thrill. If you know anything about me, I am always shy on turns but I did get the feel of the Targa. It was flat, fast and made the distinct hum of a precisely-tuned engine built without compromises.
And then there was the new PDK double-clutch gear box. AWESOME. You can shift (into seven gears) manually with paddles or with the center sports shifter. Or drive in automatic mode. Even in automatic, you got that blip--that rev-matching that in a full manual transmission comes from expert heel-and-toe downshifting, which is not easy to do. Believe me, I've tried it on the racetrack. When you hear/ feel the PDK blip it's like the sound of a tennis ball hitting the racket in the sweet spot.
On another note, at the press conference I asked the questions that no one else would.
What percent of your buyers are women?
Less than 10% women are the audience but back home it's the wives who sign the contract.
What was a big design moment?
We realized that we had to find something that makes the Targa unforgettable. We sketched a few quick pictures and saw that it needed a trim bar along the roofline. Thus, the chrome strip that follows the roofline from the A-pillars to the bottom of the C pillars.
What colors are popular?
America and the Middle East likes white and cream; black is very popular in Europe. White still has the highest growth rate but we've become bolder in design because our customers want that. BTW, I drove a curry colored one.
And that all glass top the Targa sports? It was designed to open and close 30,000 times. The average purchaser only opens and closes the top 500 times a year. I guess they assume that the Porsche 911 Targa buyers are a bit type A.
Ok, dial me compulsive... I opened and closed mine at least five times in one day.
- Posted by
- Holly Reich October 6, 2008, 7:36 AM
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Call me crazy, but a Porsche seems to look great in any color. In recent memory, I haven't seen cream, but I think that would lend a sort of classic last-century charm to this timeless automobile.
hmmm.... i didn't see the cream-colored in italy but you are right. it would look charming in cream.
I generally dislike cream or beige or white, preferring actual colors. But we got to sit in a cream Boxster with chocolate brown leather at an auto show a couple years ago, and that was pretty awesome.
Yeah, the richly-colored leathers look great in a sporty car. Brown and that orange/saddle color are probably my favorites.