2023 Porsche 911 Targa 4 Review: Laid-Back Doesn't Mean Soft

When it looked as if safety legislation in the USA might outlaw traditional open-top convertibles, Porsche introduced a 911 Targa in 1966, retaining a full-width roll bar behind the seats while still allowing you to remove the roof section. It proved popular and became a permanent part of the range. A new Porsche 911 Targa 4 was again available from 2020 in the 992-generation 911, the "4" denoting that this time, it would only be offered with AWD. The Targa serves as an in-between semi-convertible, still with the trademark silver roll bar of the original, but now with a complex electric hard-top roof mechanism that stows in 19 seconds. It's not a T-top like an old Corvette, but not a full convertible either, so you get something unique that competes with targa tops such as the RWD C8 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 Convertible and soft-tops such as the new AWD Mercedes-AMG SL55 and SL63. One engine, a 3.0L twin-turbocharged boxer six-cylinder, is available in three power levels - 379 horsepower for the base car, 443 hp for the S, and 473 hp for the GTS - and a seven-speed manual gearbox is offered on the S and GTS. Could its unique roof and slightly more comfortable approach set the Targa 4 apart as the most charming 911 in the lineup?

New for 2023

The 2023 911 Targa 4 continues on essentially unchanged. Android Auto finally connects wirelessly this year, as Apple CarPlay has since last year, and that's about it. The only other notable change is that the base price of the 2023 Porsche 911 Targa 4 has increased by around $5k.

2023 Porsche 911 Targa 4 Price: Which One to Buy

The MSRP of the Porsche 911 Targa 4 is $126,200, followed by the Targa 4S at $143,100, and the Targa 4 GTS at $162,700. The limited-run Targa Edition 50 Years Porsche Design, of which only 750 examples are produced, is still available this year at $198,250 - a whopping $14k more expensive than before - and this doesn't include the special Porsche Design timepiece that accompanies it at an additional cost of $12,050. None of these prices include the $1,460 destination fee.

The mid-range 4S is easily our preferred trim. It has more power than the base car, looks nicer on its larger wheels, and gives you a choice of manual or automatic transmission. The rather aggressive GTS treatment suits the coupe better than the more laid-back Targa, while it's a lot more expensive and hardly any quicker than the 4S. At over $143k, it's hardly cheap, and you still have to add items that should have been standard at the price, such as the superb adaptive 18-way power front seats and a host of driver aids, at the very least, which will see you nearly breach $150k.

Interior and Features

A solidly constructed and upscale interior, but relatively simply styled. The standard feature count isn't very high, so you'll need to peruse the options list.

Step inside, and you're greeted with a dashboard that is straight-laced and businesslike, without any of the emotive styling cues found in Italian cars. It might not look terribly exciting, but it's stylish and solidly screwed together, using top-quality materials. Dual seven-inch digital driver-information displays flank the center-mounted analog rev counter, and a 10.9-inch touchscreen is seamlessly integrated atop the center stack. Standard equipment isn't overly generous; for example, at the base level, you only get partial leather upholstery and four-way power front seats. It's quiet and refined on the move, though, and wind noise is suppressed a lot better than in a traditional convertible, so open-top driving is on the cards even on the highway.

Space

Interior space is plentiful in the first row, and even tall drivers will find a comfortable seating position. The basic seats only offer four-way electric adjustment, and the adaptive 18-way power front seats are a welcome - and recommended upgrade - that not only adds adjustability but are extremely comfortable as well. They're standard on the limited edition only. We don't know why Porsche bothered with rear seats because the second row is no place for human beings to be, no matter how small they are. Legroom is virtually nonexistent, and not even small children will fit. Worse, whoever drew the short straw and landed back there will be baked by the sun underneath the huge curved rear window. Rather just flip the rear seats down and use the space to stow cargo. On the positive side, that huge rear window makes for excellent over-the-shoulder visibility compared to the coupe.

Cargo

Two-door sports cars aren't expected to offer lots of cargo space, and the Targa 4 is no exception. Just 4.6 cu-ft is provided in the frunk, and unlike in a mid-engined 718, additional space isn't provided in the rear. However, fold down those useless rear seats, and you have quite a bit more space to store things, though Porsche doesn't provide a figure for it. For comparison's sake, the volume of the coupe with the rear seats folded is 9.2 cu-ft, and we don't imagine the Targa will offer notably less. Not much small-item stowage space is provided in the cabin. The glovebox and door pockets are small, but you get a lidded center-console storage compartment and two cupholders. However, the cupholder in the center console is almost impossible to use with the manual gear shifter, and the passenger's cupholder is hard to reach for the driver, so it's hardly an ideal situation. An optional Storage package adds a storage net to the passenger side of the center console.

Materials and Colors

The base car and the S come with partial leather upholstery and an all-black interior. Slate Grey is a no-cost option, but Black/Mojave Beige will add $700 to the bill. It gets a lot more complicated from here, and various levels of extended leather or the even more upscale Club leather can be added to the cabin for different amounts, and in a variety of interior colors, with or without contrast stitching. Pricing varies by trim and spans from $2,830 to $6,040. The GTS exchanges the leather for Race-Tex upholstery, but you can still have leather if you add ventilation to the seats for $840. Leather/Race-Tex combinations, additional contrast stitching, extended leather, and Club leather are once again available, varying in price to over $6,000. The 911 Edition 50 Years Porsche Design trim comes only with a black leather/Sport-Tex interior with Slate Grey stitching and checkered Sport-Tex on the seat centers in Black/Cool Grey. There are various other opportunities for personalization, such as seatbelts in different colors for $540.

Features and Infotainment

Porsche isn't overly generous with standard equipment, and you have to make do with front seats that feature only four-way electric adjustment and are only partially covered in leather. At least they're heated, but to get access to the 14-way or 18-way adaptive power seats, you have to start ticking options boxes. Standard features include dual-zone climate control, keyless access and go, regular cruise control, and a HomeLink transceiver. The standard cloud-connected infotainment system features a 10.9-inch touchscreen, and the wireless Apple CarPlay is finally joined by wireless connectivity for Android Auto this year. Other than that, you get Apple Podcasts, Apple Music, navigation, Bluetooth, and an eight-speaker audio system, which can be upgraded to Bose or Burmester setups for anything from $1,600 to $5,560.

Performance

The automatic-only Targa 4 is a comfortable cruiser, while the 4 S and 4 GTS have access to a manual gearbox for driver interactivity and significantly more power.

The same twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter flat six-cylinder engine is used in all the Targa 4 trims, in three different states of tune. In the base car, it develops 379 hp and 331 lb-ft of torque, while the S dials those numbers up to 443 hp and 390 lb-ft. The GTS gets the full-fat version with 473 hp and 420 lb-ft. All-wheel drive is standard on all Targas, with no RWD option available. There is a choice of two transmissions - the base car gets an eight-speed PDK dual-clutch automatic only, while the 4 S and 4 GTS add the additional option of a seven-speed manual gearbox. The automatic Targa 4 reaches 60 mph in as little as four seconds with the Sport Chrono package, along with a top speed of 179 mph. The 4 S dials up the performance figures significantly, improving these numbers to 3.6 seconds (3.4 with Sport chrono) and 188 mph, respectively. The seven-speed manual is quite a bit slower, with 60 mph coming up in 4.2 seconds. The 4 GTS is only a touch swifter than the 4 S and clocks in with figures of 3.3 seconds (Pdk and Sport Chrono) and 190 mph - or 4.1 seconds with the manual gearbox.

The Targa 4 has a more laid-back character than other 911s in the lineup, which perhaps makes it the most pleasant daily driver of the bunch. Adaptive Porsche Active Suspension Management is standard, but it's the standard variety, not PASM Sport used in more hardcore 911s, making the ride very supple, even on broken tar. Thanks to its roof mechanism and standard AWD, the Targa 4 also carries more weight, so its responses are more measured and less athletic, with agreeably low noise levels on the highway. It's far from soft, and the differences are only noticeable in a direct comparison with the coupe. It's still a sports car, with a unique rear-engined 911 feel, remarkably talkative steering for an electric setup, and prodigious cornering grip even on wet roads, thanks to the AWD drivetrain. It's sharpened up by the $2k optional rear-axle steering, but the system can feel strange until you're used to its responses. The 4 GTS is the quickest and sportiest, especially with the wonderfully slick seven-speed manual gearbox, while the base car with the brilliantly smooth and instantly responsive PDK automatic transmission does a convincing impression of a boulevard cruiser.

Fuel Efficiency

The Porsche 911 Targa 4's gas mileage is very good for a rapid sports car, with the most economical trim being the base Targa 4 with the eight-speed PDK automatic, boasting EPA estimates of 18/24/20 mpg for the city/highway/combined cycles. The figures for the S PDK are identical, except for its highway consumption, which is 1 mpg worse, while the manual S's city consumption is 1 mpg worse instead. The GTS trims return 16/23/19 mpg for the manual and 17/22/19 mpg for the automatic. The Targa 4's combined figures are way better than its Corvette and SL 55/63 rivals, which can do no better than 16 mpg. The fuel capacity of every Targa 4 is 17.6 gallons, which means a range of between 334 and 352 miles should be possible on a full tank.

Safety

The Targa 4 has the basic safety features, but is thin on driver assists, with forward-collision warning and automatic braking the only notable ones - and others costing extra.

There is no NHTSA or IIHS safety review of the Porsche 911 Targa 4, as low-volume sports cars such as these aren't crash-tested in the US. There shouldn't be any reason for concern, as the 992-generation 911 is only three years old and has a modern crash structure and various passive and active safety features, including six airbags, ABS, stability control, a backup camera, and tire-pressure monitoring.

The only other standard driver assists are automatic LED headlights, an auto-dimming rearview mirror, rain-sensing wipers, forward-collision warning, automatic emergency braking, and parking sensors front and rear. Additional driver-assistance features such as adaptive cruise control, lane and blind-spot sensing, traffic-sign recognition, adaptive LED-Matrix headlights, and a surround-view camera cost extra.

Reliability

The JD Power rating for the Porsche 911 Targa 4's reliability is included in the 911 range, which received an excellent 2023 score of 85 out of 100 for quality and reliability. This is underscored by the fact that there has so far been only one recall for both the 2022 and 2023 911 Targas, both times for an airbag that may deploy improperly. The 2021 model was recalled three times, for an incorrect passenger seat that may affect airbag deployment, improperly tightened suspension components, and a seatbelt locking-retractor malfunction.

The standard warranty for the 2023 Porsche 911 Targa range runs for four years or 50,000 miles, and includes a 24-hour roadside assistance program.

Warranty

Design

In terms of styling, 911s have always been about not meddling with the traditional profile. That also means that some people are a bit underwhelmed by a design that is cautiously evolutionary rather than revolutionary. And while the Targa model retains the classic satin-silver roll bar that Targas have always had, this is no bad thing, as it makes the Targa stand out against other 911s. The dramatically curved rear window bakes rear-seat passengers to a crisp in direct sunlight, but it looks amazing, and the way the entire ensemble becomes unstuck in a precarious ballet to stow the roof (in 19 seconds) never fails to elicit stares.

There's an auto-deploying rear spoiler, Targa badging, and staggered 19/20-inch front/rear alloy wheels on the base car, along with LED headlights. It looks squat and purposeful on its short 96.5-inch wheelbase, especially so on the larger 20/21-inch wheels of the 4 S and 4 GTS. The base car has dual single-outlet exhausts, the 4 S gets twin dual outlets, and the 4 GTS comes with a sports exhaust with dual oval outlets. Optionally, the exterior can be customized via the Sport Design package, a black high-gloss exterior package, different wheel choices, color-coded alloys, upgraded LED-Matrix LED headlights, and more.

Verdict: Is The 2023 Porsche 911 Targa 4 A Good Car?

The Porsche 911 Targa 4 is yet another brilliant rendition of the evergreen 911, but it dances to the beat of its own drum. It's a slightly more relaxed and comfortable 911, but no less capable, with resolute traction in all weather thanks to standard AWD and that unique semi-convertible hard top that turns it back into a properly insulated coupe when winter strikes. It's the most charming and interesting 911 in the lineup, and it's ideal for people who want to enjoy all the traditional 911 strengths but in a slightly more comfortable and individualistic package. But is it better than the brilliant 670-hp Chevy Corvette Z06 Convertible that's also $13k cheaper? That will be for you to decide.