2015 PORSCHE 911 CARRERA 4S open hood

Design 21
Design of the 911 Targa and
911
Cabriolet.
A legend of the 911 range, a classic, a
sports car dream – ‘the Targa’ always
will have a special place at Porsche.
Conceived 50 years ago as a ‘safet y
cabriolet’, the Targa gained its reputation
as a design icon thanks to its st yle-
defining roll bar. With the innovative fully
automatic roof system now in its seventh
generation, our engineers have seen the
Targa idea mature into a technical
masterpiece.
The roll bar, adorned with the ‘targa’ logo
underneath the side gills, and the
gracefully rounded rear screen bestow
the new 911
Targa 4 models with a
timeless elegance. Their engineering hallmark is the
inclusion of all-wheel drive as standard.
For added driving stability, reflected also
in the design, the body is 44 mm wider –
an impression accentuated by the
seamless light strip on the rear end.
Roof closed, the new 911
Targa displays
the profile of its 911
counterpart, whilst
offering the comfort of a Coupé. Open
the roof and the 911
Targa comes into its
own: a st yle icon that transcends fashions,
rich in tradition – even richer in future.
The new 911
Cabriolet models have also
always been characterised by open
virtues. Made for civilised cruising on
the coastal road, but also for some
sport y corner chasing in the mountains. Here, just like there, they excel with
powerful forward thrust, great agilit y,
and anticipation aplent y on every inch of
tarmac.
What does that have to do with design? A
great deal, because not only does the
innovative fabric hood capture the
elegance of a 911
Coupé silhouette, the
low drag coefficient and use of light weight
materials also mean that the 911 Cabriolet

models come uncannily close to matching
the performance of a closed-top 911.
Form and function once again working as
one. In a particularly aesthetic way.

Roof system.
The fully automatic roof system of the
n e w 911
Targa 4 models is innovative –
and extremely robust. With the vehicle
stationary, the roof opens and closes
fully automatically in around 20 seconds.
And it folds away behind the rear seats
elegantly and with visual perfection. The roof materials are as pioneering as
the overall concept. Two magnesium
elements provide optimum tensioning of
the fabric hood, while the heatable rear
screen is made from laminated safet y
glass. Together with the soundproofed
interior lining of the hood itself, this
selection of materials ensures an
incredibly low level of driving noise with the roof closed. An extendable wind
deflector is integrated into the
windscreen cowl surround.
The roll-over protection of the Targa roll
bar fulfils the most stringent requirements
for safet y. And all the more so in terms
of design. It takes cues from the classic
form of the original Targa: with gills on either side, a surface finish in aluminium
and the ‘targa’ logo left and right.
In short, the roof system offers the driving
feel of a 911
Coupé and the driving
experience of an open-top sports car.

Design 23
Hood.
The fabric hood of the 911 Cabriolet
models has a fixed glass rear screen and
three integral elements manufactured
from magnesium. Together, these make
the hood highly robust and, yet,
particularly lightweight. It’s also smooth
and firm, the fabric is kept taut, and the design line is elegant. The hood opens or
closes in around 13 seconds, up to a
speed of 31 mph.
The interior hood lining is made from a
heat-insulating and sound-absorbing
material, resulting in perceptibly
consistent interior temperatures and an effective suppression of wind noise.
Thankfully, however, even the hood’s
soundproofing properties are no match
for the resonant Porsche sound.
The new 911 Cabriolet models are also
equipped as standard with an electrically
powered wind deflector, which offers practically draught-free driving and
minimal wind noise with the top down.