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At Witz’ End: What’s an American Car?
So what is an “American” car? If it is simply one built inAmerica, as most foreign makers and... Read More
At Witz’ End: What’s an American Car?
So what is an “American” car? If it is simply one built inAmerica, as most foreign makers and... Read More
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VW Unveils Touareg, Finally by Jim Burt (4/29/2002)
DEARBORN, Mich. – Porsche brought its traveling road show to Detroit this past week for journalists to sample its two newest entries, the 911 Carrera 4S and 911 Targa. The former sports the wide-body stance and most of the style and content of the vaunted 911 Turbo at a much lower price. The latter updates Porsche’s sliding glass roof panel concept first offered in 1996.
The $80,200 Carrera 4S looks like the $115,000 Turbo, minus the Turbo’s side air intakes and rear wing – and, of course, its 415-hp twin-turbo engine. Still, the enlarged 3.6-liter, 320-hp horizontally-opposed six common to non-turbo 911s for 2002 provides plenty of punch. Not only is this latest development of Porsche’s venerable rear-mounted “boxer” engine up 20 hp over last year’s, its peak torque is boosted 15 lb-ft to 273 and available lower in the rev range at 4250 rpm vs. the previous 4600 rpm. This results in more available torque at lower rpm for stronger acceleration in any gear, impressive 5.0-sec. 0-60 performance and a top speed of 174 mph, according to Porsche.
Replacing the 911 Carrera 4 Coupe, the 4S also share’s the Turbo’s all-wheel drive system, which sends 5-40 percent of available torque forward to the front wheels depending on traction and power applied, and its Porsche Stability Management System (PSM), which detects a loss of traction front or rear and applies braking to individual wheels and can alter engine power momentarily to enhance stability. Other luxury features shared with the Turbo include fully power-adjustable leather seats (with a driver’s side memory feature), programmable remote entry and no-cost metallic paint choices.
