The 911 C4 GTS is huge fun despite its tech-laden specification, and a return to form for the GTS line of Porsches
LUX gets up to speed with the latest Porsche 911 C4 GTS Cabriolet
No car brand attracts quite as much debate as Porsche, and no Porsche attracts as much conversation as the 911, the iconic model introduced 63 years ago that is still the North Star for sports cars. The 911 of 2026 is, of course, a very different car even to that of 20 years ago, let alone that of 60 years ago, and each iteration attracts some controversy from diehards who say it is not as involving or sporting as the previous one.
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It’s true that the latest generations of the 911, the 991 and 992 series from around 2011 onwards, are significantly bigger and easier to drive than before, partly driven by safety regulations, and partly by chasing a bigger market than the enthusiasts who want an edgy experience at the expense of day-to-day comfort.
But there is a 911 for almost everyone if you look hard enough, and the GT models are still focused on delivering serious driver experiences with much less consideration for comfort or luxury.
‘Some might criticise the car for being too comfortable and luxurious inside’
Somewhere in between those and the regular models for the past 15 years has been the GTS model, which is a sharper version of the normal 911 that now floods every city with a significant finance bro population (the children, presumably, of the original yuppies who drove 911s in the 80s – see, not that much has changed).
The latest GTS has also attracted its own fair share of controversy, as it is no longer a “pure” petrol-engined car but a petrol electric hybrid. What would it be like? And would it be more like a compromised everyday car, losing some of its unique character?
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In a word – no. We drove the GTS over a series of wet winter days, taking it out into the empty lanes of the English countryside to drive it as Porsche intended. There is a little dial on the bottom right of the steering wheel that you can set to different modes to suit your driving style, and when we switched the GTS to “Sport”, we found it recreated the thrill of early 911s quite brilliantly, allowing the back of the car (the engine of the 911 is in the boot, allowing a pendulum effect as you swing around corners) to slip out most engagingly, challenging you as a driver, although the difference between this and early 911s is that if you don’t quite manage to have the driving skills to catch the car yourself as it lets go, the electronics will do so (unless you switch them all off).
‘We found it recreated the thrill of early 911s quite brilliantly’
It’s also very fast, the hybrid electric motor filling in the gaps before the turbos on the engine kick in and, more importantly for us, the new engine has a real character and edge to its sound and feel that the 3.0 litre twin turbo engine these cars have had in various guises for the past 10 years simply did not have. It feels gruffer, tougher, more 911. We also liked being able to whip down the roof electronically as soon as the sun came out briefly, and the snug but spacious feeling when the roof was up.
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Some might criticise the car for being too comfortable and luxurious inside – although it’s no limousine, and there are better cars for highway cruising – and because the hybrid also means the GTS does not come with a manual gearbox option. Still, we enjoyed it immensely, and, rather unexpectedly, it might just be our favourite 911 GTS since the original, introduced in 2010: in fact, we may even prefer it, which is high praise indeed from Porsche diehards.
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