Porsche 911 Turbo S Cabriolet | 991.2 @itzkirb

The 911 991.2 Turbo S… A classy rocket that just takes your breath away is somewhat of an understatement…

It’s hard to start an article about a Turbo S, because there’s so many things we would want to address and there’s so many things that we need to cover and it’s simply overwhelming to start. On one hand we want to start with the engine, which is obviously the center piece here, but at the same time we want to give everyone a perspective on the history of the Turbo S and how it all started.

The idea of a turbo charged car wasn’t new in the ‘70s, but it was limited to the race cars and most car makers did not think that a turbo charged engine can be tamed enough to be viable in a road car. And then comes Porsche with their 1974 reveal of the first incarnation of what we know today as the 911 Turbo. This was largely based on the original 930 911, best known as “The Widowmaker”. Back then it was a 911 Turbo 3.0, clocking an impressive 250 KM/H. By the end of the ‘70s Porsche was already on their second iteration of the Turbo and they had already upgraded the engine to a 3.3L flat six. Let this settle in for a while… this is the ‘70s after all. Let’s factor also factor in the energy crisis affected the world with the US suffering significantly in 1974 and one could argue that the rest is history, but Porsche has made it part of their DNA to rewrite history.

The Turbo line-up evolved over the years along with the regular 911. Just by saying “regular 911” is not fair, but hey, this is all about the Turbo S after all. Going back to the history lesson, we got the first Targa and Cabriolet models in the ’80s and of course the engine was upgraded once again… to a 3.6L this time. Now there’s a trend here you could argue that in the ‘90s, Porsche should’ve already been on a 3.9L engine, but then environmental regulations somewhat ruined the trend. And yes, we will get backlash from the Greta Thunberg fanbase, but let’s be honest, there aren’t that many 911 Turbos out there. We’re talking about a relatively small number over the course of almost 50 years. Oh and most of these aren’t daily drivers.

Onto the 991 version of the Turbo and Turbo S. The 991 generation has a bigger chassis compared to 997, but its predominantly aluminum construction made it significantly lighter than its predecessor. The 991.2 Turbo was introduced in 2016 and in true Porsche fashion they fine tuned based on customer feedback from the 991.1 model. We didn’t get the 3.9L engine in the ’90’s, but Porsche did give us a flat-six twin-turbo 3.8L in the 2010’s. The “regular” Turbo produced 540 HP while the Turbo S was sitting comfortable at 580HP. While the Turbo could be paired with a manual transmission, the Turbo S could only be paired with the signature 7-speed PDK transmission.

To put it mildly, the Turbo S has the pedigree of a hyper car, packaged in a classy shape that will comfortably fly under the radar, while comfortably keeping up with Ferrari’s 812 and McLaren’s 765LT. It’s also part of a rather exclusive club with its 0-60 mph time sitting at 2.9 seconds. This value is up to debate, since that’s what Porsche claims, but there are 0-60 mph times out there in the 2.5 – 2.6 second area.

And now to Kirby’s 991.2 Cabriolet Turbo S in Yachting Blue Metallic. Pictures don’t do this PTS color justice, but we’ve done our best to capture its improved shine. Along with the GT4RS these are the only two Yachting Blue Metallic we’ve ever worked on. And while the car is stored in a garage, it definitely needed attention.  The devil is always in the details and this is even more obvious in detailing. The undercarriage and the engine bay benefited from some dry ice detailing, while the interior got special treatment along with the space under the convertible top. Everyone likes a pair of clean shoes, right? In the same manner, the OEM BBS wheels got some much needed attention. The PCCBs generate a lot less brake dust than their steel counterpart, but the wheels still received a new layer of ceramic coating to help with the harshness of the elements. The exhaust tips got their fair share of attention, along with the custom Sharkwerks exhaust. The undercarriage work didn’t stop, since the front lip also needed some cleaning. The rubber and plastic trims received special treatment and there’s probably details we’re forgetting (pun intended), but we’ll let the pictures do the talking.

Porsche knows a good recipe when they see one and they kept it consistent with the Turbo line-up, in the sense that history does repeat itself in the form of evolution as opposed revolution… revolution that’s present in the GT3RS line-up. The 911 Turbo is a prime example of Porsche consistency and class being repeated over generations and generations.

See you soon itzkirbz’s Turbo S!

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