February 19, 2007 - Whether you've seen the original play, the feature film or just the television movie of A Man for All Seasons, you know that Sir Thomas More, the 16th century Lord Chancellor of England, is portrayed as a man of principle. Refusing King Henry VIII the chance to drop one of his six wives to run off and play castle with one of countless mistresses not only amplified More's courage but also made the good Chancellor the envy of political rivals and a hero of the people.

By sticking with a drivetrain configuration that went away with the introduction of the transistor, Porsche's vaunted 911 has never been criticized for lacking character. And when it comes to trying to please as many as possible -- at least since the latest generation of the 911 was introduced in 2004 -- whether its hardtops or convertibles, rear- or all-wheel drive, manual or automatic trannys, naturally aspirated or turbocharged engines, Porsche practically guarantees a 911 to satisfy your sports car needs.

Regardless of this variety, for some rear-engine Porsche geeks, the question might be, "Where's the new Targa?"



The original 1967 911 Targa -- named after the Targa Florio road race in Sicily at which Porsche cars won several times -- had a removable front panel and plastic back window sandwiching a stainless steel-clad "Targa" rollover bar. Introduced to deal with the threat that the United States was going to ban convertibles, the Porsche semi-convertible spawned copies from the Corvette to the Ferrari Dino to the Acura NSX to the Suzuki X90. With the return of the proper convertible in the form of the 1989 Mazda Miata, Targa-type roofs started to disappear from the option sheets in favour of traditional cloth convertible tops. But the safety and security of a hardtop, combined with the potential wind-tussling experience of a ragtop, is the primary reason why Porsche endures with the Targa today.

Unlike said original, the 2007 911 Targa 4 (the "4" indicates all-wheel drive, which also means the requisite wider rear wheel arches that all AWD 911s come with) has a powered glass roof panel that slides beneath the back glass window, which can open hatch-like, a system introduced on the last-gen 911 in 2002.

When opened to the skies, the Targa 4's cabin-wide front panel generates a generous amount of wind noise. Conversely, when closed, it's almost as quiet as the Carrera hardtop.

There's a mesh screen for shade or privacy, but the real advantage is that with all the Targa 4's glass, even on a cold, winter day, it has a much brighter cabin compared with a closed Carrera coupe and delivers a sense of security the Cabriolet simply can't muster.



Mechanically, the Targa 4 is identical to the Carrera 4 hardtop. The non-S Targa 4 comes with a 325-horsepower, 3.6-litre flat-six. The Targa 4S tester mimics the Carrera 4S with a 355-hp, 3.8L version of the six, along with larger wheels and tires and electronically adjustable shocks. A six-speed manual is standard, but the Targa 4S test car came with an optional Tiptronic S five-speed manumatic with shift buttons on the three-spoke steering wheel.

Starting at $119,100 and $133,200 respectively, the two Targa 4s are priced between the Carrera 4 hardtops and the cloth-topped Carrera 4 Cabriolets.

Let's see: a heavy glass roof, all-wheel drive and an autobox -- not exactly the option boxes a driving zealot would check off in building his dream 911. So, does the Targa 4S, sans Tiptronic, uphold the 911's supercar driving standards?

First off, Porsche claims the extra 60 kilograms the Targa roof adds to a standard Carrera 4 coupe only blunts performance a titch. Zero to 96 kilometres an hour is only a tenth of a second slower (4.7 seconds) and the top speed of 288 km/h is the same. What is different is road feel.



You'll notice a slightly softer suspension setup that doesn't rear its head in corners but in vertical movements when the adjustable shocks are set in normal. And the four-wheel drive doesn't allow you to play drift meister on a snowy day. Harumph!

As for the five-speed manumatic, the Sport setting sharpens up shifts, but the very nature of an autobox doesn't provide the aural thrill of running a Porsche flat-six through the gears to the same degree a stick would. The Porsche grapevine suggests the Volkswagen/Audi DSG box is coming in 2008, which may be worth the wait for the shiftless out there.

Are these all nits that only a 911 esthete would pick? Perhaps. Because, underneath the see-through roof, the AWD and the slushbox, the Targa 4S is still a Porsche 911.

That means steering response that's an extension of your cerebral cortex, a fruitier exhaust note and sharper throttle response with punches to your backside from the more powerful S mill and an all-around sense of solidity and build quality that few makes can match.

Thomas More's struggles with identity and conscience thematically drive A Man for All Seasons. Living in the thin space between a 911 Carrera coupe and the cloth-top Cabriolet, the 2007 Targa 4S doesn't have that dilemma. It's resolutely Porsche's 911 for all seasons.

- John LeBlanc, Publisher, www.straight-six.com



Just the facts...
Build quality
Features 
Performance
Fun-to-drive
Overall value

Type of vehicle All-wheel-drive sports car
Engine 3.8L DOHC flat-six
Power 355 hp @ 6,600 rpm; 295 lb-ft of torque @ 4,600 rpm
Transmission Six-speed manumatic
Tires P235/30ZR19 (front), P305/30ZR19 (rear)
Brakes Four-wheel disc with ABS
Price: base/as tested $133,200/$150,840
Destination charge $1,115
Fuel economy L/100 km 12.8 city, 8.7 hwy.
Standard features Anti-theft system with immobilizer, central locking with remote control, heated and electrically adjustable side mirrors, enhanced Porsche Stability Management (PSM), rain-sensing windshield wipers, heated washer nozzles, bi-xenon headlights with dynamic levelling and headlight washers, tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS), automatic climate control with carbon filter, AM/FM radio with in-dash CD player with nine speakers, cruise control


© National Post 2007. This article originally appeared in The National Post's Driving.