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By Jonathan Crouch

This 992.2-era model is Porsche's fastest-ever 911 Targa. Jonathan Crouch takes a look.

Ten Second Reviewword count: 54

You'll either think the 911 Targa offers the best of both worlds when compared to a 911 Coupe or a 911 Cabriolet. Or you'll think it's neither one thing nor the other. This rare glass-roof variant gets the same 992.2 updates as the rest of the range and comes only in T-Hybrid 4WD form.

Backgroundword count: 193

It's a hard decision isn't it, when you're choosing a Porsche 911 - Coupe or Cabriolet. And for those who can't decide, Zuffenhausen has another option, this car, the 911 Targa. This car's unusual roof format is part of the brand's history - dating back to a model unveiled in September 1965 at the Frankfurt Motor Show. The name 'Targa' was borrowed from the famous Targa Florio road race and that first car featured a fixed rollover bar, a removable folding roof and a hinged rear window. It evolved over the years, via a pop-out hard top roof panel with a fixed rear glass window, to a full-length sliding glass roof, but the theme was much the same; namely one of 'semi-open' motoring. Porsche knows that amongst 911 customers, the market for this Targa variant will be a small one, so restricts this variant to the 4WD powertrain it thinks likely buyers will want and to the mid-range GTS engine. As part of the mid-term changes made to this 992-series car, that engine is now Hybrid. A variety of other small but significant updates have been made too. Let's take a closer look.

Engines and Tech Specword count: 256

If you're able to discern any handling changes between the 911 Targa and the Coupe or Cabriolet models it's based on, you're obviously a very dialled-in driver indeed because the differences are vanishingly slight. With a weight penalty of just 20kg over the Cabriolet, you'd expect they would be. The only time you might notice the extra mass is under heavy braking, so it's just as well that this 992-era model is fitted out with the uprated brakes from the 911 Turbo. The Targa comes only with the 4WD version of the powertrain from the 911 GTS, which with this 992.2 model means it's gained a T-Hybrid system that bolsters the 3591cc 24v flat six turbocharged engine out back with a 53bhp e-motor. Total output is 534bhp, with 62mph in 3.1s en route to 194mph. The end result of the Hybrid installation is that everything is even more instant as the electric turbo spins at up to 120,000rpm. To the accompaniment of a rather pleasing selection of gurgles, whistles and wines. There are the usual drive modes and the engine is happy to rev out to 7,500rpm to the accompaniment of a satisfyingly loud sports exhaust flare in 'Sport Plus'. Four-wheel steering is now standard, as of course are PASM adaptive dampers (now revised). Plus the braking system's now borrowed from the 911 Turbo. The 400V hybrid tech energises all kinds of drive systems, including the starter, the alternator, the nose-lift set-up and an optional electrohydraulic roll-stabilisation PDCC set-up you'll probably want to pay extra for.

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