New Porsche 911 Carrera 4: The ‘Affordable’ 4WD 911 arrives

The entry-level 4WD new Porsche 911 arrives as Porsche launches the new Carrera 4 in Coupe and Cabriolet styles with prices from £88,101.

Is a Porsche 911 with 4WD a real Porsche 911? Of course it is, and in the UK, with its wet weather and slippery winters, it’s really the most sensible route to go. And now there’s a new 4WD Porsche 911.

The new 911 Carrera 4 arrives as an entry-level 4WD 911 for the latest 992 range, the cheaper option for those who don’t want to stretch to the 911 4S, sitting at the bottom of the 911 range alongside the new Carrera. And they’re both probably the pick of the new 911 range.

The new Carrera 4 get a 3.0 litre boxer engine with 380bhp, mated to an eight-speed dual-clutch ‘box sending power to all four wheels and, if you opt for the Sport Chrono Package the Coupe will hit 62mph in 4.0 seconds (the Cabriolet a couple of tenths behind).

The Carrera 4s come with a limited slip diff, four-pot brake calipers, 13″ discs, a water-cooled clutch (more ‘water’ to wind up Porsche anoraks) and adjustable dampers, with 19″ alloys on the front and 20″ on the back, although you can option bigger.

Porsche has also beefed-up the clutch and diff to cope with the added strains of 4WD, and the latest chassis control system giving greater traction and including the new 911 Wet Mode.

Inside it’s the same very good interior as the rest of the 911 range, and this time round the only real way you can easily tell the Carrera 4 from the Carrera 4S is by the tailpipes – on the Carrera 4 you get a pair of rectangular pipes instead of the 4S’s four round pipes.

The 911 Carrera 4 and 911 Carrera 4 Cabriolet are now on sale at Porsche’s UK dealers, with the Carrera 4 starting at £88,101 and the Carrera 4 Cabriolet at £97,746. First customer cars will arrive late next month (Octoner 2019).