Driving the 2022 Porsche 911 Targa 4 GTS, a Car with History
The 2022 911 Targa 4 GTS is a superb driver’s car.
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Porsche doesn’t make it easy for the non-knowing. There are something like 22 different versions of the 911, and five versions of the 911 GTS. Put an array of historic 911s in a row and it will take a true expert on the brand to correctly identify all of them. The 911, with a flat-six engine mounted in the rear, was introduced as far back as 1964. They were all air-cooled until the 996 in 1998.
The model tested is a 2022 911 Targa 4 GTS with a lofty bottom line of US $ 175,030. That’s a far cry from the ’65 911 — with a list price of (expensive for the period) US $ 6,490. But then the ’65 offered only 148 horsepower (plus 140 pound-feet of torque), and made it to 60 miles per hour in (fast for the period) seven seconds. This 2022, with twin-turbocharging, has 473 horsepower and 420 pound-feet of torque, and needs only 3.1 seconds to 60. How much is a total adrenaline rush worth?
On the road, there’s a fair amount of wind noise with the windows up, and less with them down. The engine is a lot louder outside the car than it is inside. A summer night’s cruise with the heated seats on is ideal. The best thing about the 911 has always been driving it, and that hasn’t changed.
Visually, this Targa represents a throwback to the original, first shown in Frankfurt in 1965. It looked both ultra-modern and ingenious back then and still does, combining the convenience of a removable top to let the sunshine in with a fixed roll bar for safety. (Some of the early models had plastic rear windows.) And the Targa also looked great. The 2022 retains the basic appearance of those early Targas, but now the roof is fully automatic, folding under a hard cover. Be careful, though, because it wants you stationary when putting the top up or down.
The view from the 911’s cockpit, with a vintage Targa beyond.
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Everything about the Porsche feels right, including the manual transmission and the precise electronically assisted steering and brakes. The driver sits low down and falls into place, which makes up-down seat adjustment useful. The car has preternatural roadholding, in part because of the active torque-vectoring all-wheel drive system, and it would take a lot to unstick the big Pirelli P-Zero tires (20 inches front, 21 inches rear).
That said, this is a seven-speed Porsche, and that plethora of shifting options takes a period of adjustment. Shifting from fifth to sixth, it’s easy to catch fourth instead because of the spring loading. But once you know about that, it’s fine. Seventh doesn’t seem strictly necessary, because the engine is lazing at 2,200 rpm on the highway in sixth. But an extra gear is always nice. At stop signs, the start-stop function is somewhat intrusive.
The cabin is snug but comfy for two. On a weekend road trip, storage initially seemed tight, but the Porsche had hidden recesses. There’s a deep (but not wide) bin in the “frunk” with 4.6 cubic feet, and since this is a 2 + 2 the rear seats offered more options. The cloth seat releases are tricky, but two days of gear can easily be stowed. A good location for larger smartphones would be useful — the cupholder in the console is too small.
An aerial view of the 911 Targa 4 GTS.
Porsche photo
The forward view hasn’t changed a great deal since the ’70s. The pilot still faces clearly readable white on black gauges and vents / knobs that appear to date from the Nixon presidency. It’s a driver’s layout, and anyone who buys a 911 expecting the infotainment to take center stage is shopping in the wrong dealership. The connectivity via a 10.3-inch screen is secondary but there (though Apple CarPlay encountered difficulties) and the Bose sound quality is quite reasonable.
The Targa 4 GTS has a US $ 156,800 list price, so the list of options on the car wasn’t long. Choosing Aventurine Green metallic paint cost US $ 840, and truffle brown leather seats with chalk stitching was US $ 6,040. The other significant options were the premium package adding the Bose, folding mirrors and a few other amenities) at US $ 3,760, rear axle steering (US $ 2,090) and front axle lift (US $ 2,770).
Fuel economy is an issue today, and the Porsche offers 19 miles per gallon combined (16 city / 23 highway). The 1965, with a five-speed manual, managed just 14.4 mpg.
The Porsche Targa is likely to be a second car, for sporty weekend cruises and summer drives. It’s hard to fault in that context, though there are certainly more affordable options — including the Mazda Miata or the new Nissan Z.
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