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911 Carrera Black Edition
The 2016 Carrera and Boxster Black Editions add some extra niceties for a value-adjusted price. And as the names suggest, both cars come in any color scheme you want so long as it’s, yes, black on black. Or black on black on black in the case of the ragtops. Available in coupe and convertible forms, with rear- or all-wheel drive, each powered by the base 350-hp 3.4-liter flat-6 engine, the 911 Carrera Black Edition adds other design treats too.
The GTS coupe starts with the wider Carrera 4 body, with the rear fenders pushed out 1.7 inches, and the rear track widened 1.6in. Up front is the new SportDesign front fascia with its lower front spoiler and larger cooling air intakes. Standard wheels are 20-inch center lock items and 0.5 inch wider than standard Carrera S rims, finished in satin black. There are splashes of black elsewhere, too. The changes run more than skin deep. Bigger turbos pump up to 18psi of boost pressure which helps deliver not only 30 extra horses at 6,500 rpm, but 405 lb-ft of torque between 2,150 rpm and 5,000 rpm, up from 368 lb-ft. This is the sweet spot.
The open-top 991 Carrera S Cabriolet requires an $11,600 premium over a comparable coupe; ta not-cheap $108,950 price point for those shopping. For that, you get the best overall open-top sports car around. With the 400-hp, 3.8-liter six and the benefit of the PDK automatic’s launch control, the Carrera S cabriolet should hit 60 mph in 3.8 seconds and cover the quarter-mile in the low 12s. Performance is on-par with the coupe on backroads so any fears that this is a soft-911 are thrown out the window. This is a serious sports car, sans roof.
To the untrained eye, the Carrera T may appear to be a bare-bones and sparingly equipped 911 at first glance. The purpose of the T is to create a driver-focused 911, equipped with only the necessities required to appeal to those of a purist’s ilk. The Carrera T employs the same power plant used in the current base Carrera - a twin-turbocharged 3.0L flat-six with 370 horsepower and 331 lb-ft of torque. A 7-speed manual transmission comes standard with the T, along with a shorter final-drive ratio and the limited-slip differential. Porsche Sport Exhaust (PSE) is also standard. PASM sport suspension comes standard in the T, which lowers the chassis by 0.4 inches relative to the base Carrera and allows for two modes of dampening.
The 991.2 Targa did get some mild design changes, but they are all inline with the rest of the 991.2 changes. Despite the mild styling revisions, it’s a dramatically different car in terms of its engine. The iconic and highly regarded naturally aspirated 3.4-litre flat-six engine has been ousted for a more environmentally friendly twin-turbocharged 3.0-litre. It keeps its all-wheel drive system and is still an all-weather 911. A sports car with all-wheel drive is the first choice for more than one in three Porsche 911 buyers. It is sporty and comfortable, the turbo engines more powerful and consume less, with the improved all-wheel drive.
Porsche 911 Targa 4 GTS (991.2)
The 911 Targa 4 GTS isn't the fastest or best performing 911. It is heavier, softer and not as fast as every other GTS model. But we still love it. The Targa 4 GTS has amazing performance coupled with the sexiest body in the business. In GTS trim the Targa body looks even better. This is the car you get when you can only choose one 911 and you need it for fun weekends, daily driving and taking the wife out to a fancy restaurant. With 450 hp and 405 lb-ft from 2150 to 5000 rpm, it also has more than enough street performance than you could ever need. Buy one.
This is the open-top model for those who don’t want the full convertible experience – and it’s only available in the wide-hipped four-wheel drive bodyshell. The new Targa is a striking design, echoing the 1965 original with its fixed rollover bar. The Targa 4S, gets you the more powerful 3.8 engine from the Carrera S. It mixes regular Carrera 4S go with a sense of style and everyday usability (those occasional rear seats, the real possibility of 30mpg in everyday driving). Great car.
So what else do you get when you buy a 991 Carrera 4 GTS Cabriolet? First of all you get a  30 hp bump over the Carrera 4S to 430 hp from the 3.8L naturally aspirated flat-six. You get forged centre-lock black 20-inch wheels, dynamic engine mounts, the Sports Chrono Package, PASM adaptive damping with a lowered ride height, an interior swathed in Alcantara, a sinister front fascia with black intakes and custom rear apron with black tailpipes that broadcast the goods through an uber-nasty sport exhaust system. Other trim details include black lettering and smoked headlights.
This was the fourth version of the 991 RSR - the first two came with the rear engine, then the first mid-engine version was launched (all 4.0-litre) and finally the mid-engined RSR 4.2 with the largest 911 engine ever made. The increase in the engine capacity is a question mark as on production models the capacities are decreased and turbochargers are used. The 991 RSR 4.2 didn't have anything in common with the production cars anymore. No change in terms of power-to-weight ratio.
The new Porsche 911 Carrera 4 unites the excellent performance and efficiency of the new generation of the 911 Carrera with the dynamic benefits of the latest version of the active all-wheel drive system PTM (Porsche Traction Management). The typical Porsche all-wheel drive with rear-focused layout in this latest 911 version guarantees maximum vehicle dynamics on a wide variety of road surfaces and in all weather conditions. The new 911 Carrera 4 models deliver traction and dynamic performance the power of four.
The rear of the world’s most-produced GT racing car now houses a 4-litre, six-cylinder flat engine for even more drive. Thanks to thoroughbred motorsport technology, the compact engine with direct fuel injection delivers peak performance of 357 kW (485 hp). A range of innovative details also improve efficiency in addition to engine performance, ensuring even better durability of the naturally aspirated engine in racing mode and reduced maintenance costs.
Porsche will only build 30 examples of the Clubsport 25. Mechanically, it's similar to the regular GT2 RS Clubsport. It makes the 691 horsepower from a twin-turbocharged 3.8-liter flat-six. But it gets many, many changes to the exterior and even the cooling system. As you can clearly see, the body has been lengthened, and it has also been widened. The latter is necessary to house the wide, low-offset 18-inch wheels taken from the Porsche 935, though without the aerodynamic covers.