Porsche 911 Targa 4S will Renew Your Love of Driving
New 911 Targa is a great vehicle, if not a little pricey, says L.A. Times.
Fresh off his review of the 2017 Boxter, Los Angeles Times writer Charles Fleming is back with his thoughts on the brand-new 911 Targa 4S. The short story is that the Targa renewed his interest in driving. However, it’s not for the frugal.
Porsche has upgraded the 2017 911 Targa 4S by turbocharging it and adding a few extra bells and whistles under the hood. New additions to the vehicle include the brand new 3.0-liter six-cylinder twin-turbocharged boxer engine that puts out 420 horsepower and 368 pound feet of torque. Also included are a new exhaust, the Sport Chrono Package, a GT-style steering wheel and rear axle steering, previously used in the 911 GT3, GT3 RS, and Turbo.
While the exterior of the vehicle remains pretty much unchanged, that doesn’t matter to Fleming. He said, “The resulting vehicle may look the same as previous iterations, but it sounds better, feels better and handles better, with a tighter turning radius at slow speeds and more stability at high speeds.”
He goes on to describe the ride of the vehicle by saying, “The car, sprinting from turn to turn, is so fleet-footed and fluid that it seems almost to drive itself.”
After taking the car out for a week, going to work and back, and occasionally on the highway, Fleming fell in love with the new Targa. Now, it wasn’t a flawless week in the vehicle for the reviewer. He did manage to find a few complaints.
“There was also a mild but persistent rattle coming from somewhere behind the passenger seat, and a squeak in the driver’s side door. These are almost too minor to mention. But when a company sets the bar so high, and has perfection so nearly within reach, the little things can stand out,” said Fleming.
At the end of the day, he says the Porsche 911 Targa 4S is a great sports car for those willing for fork over the $149,970 that his model goes for. While that’s not the most expensive sports car on the market, far from it in fact, it’s still a big-ticket item that people who buy the Cayenne and Macan.
“But for the sports-inclined driver desiring around-town comfort paired with performance and the option of the open air, the Targa 911 4S may be just the ticket. It could be just the speeding ticket, too,” Fleming said.
