| First Drive | Palm Springs, USA | Porsche 911 Carrera GTS Cabriolet |

With a specification that's not far off the limited edition, mega-money 911 Speedster, the new Porsche 911 Carrera GTS Cabriolet is the best open-topped 911 money can buy.

In the Metal

It's a Porsche 911 Cabriolet, so in certain parts of town it's as familiar as the branding on your paper coffee cup. Only the GTS looks different, subtly admittedly, but different enough to stand out from the 911 Cabriolet norm. Being the GTS there's the wider body of the Carrera 4 models (though it's only rear-wheel drive) and the larger wheelarches are filled by single-nut RS Spyder alloy wheels.

There are no back seats, either (unless you really want them, in which case Porsche will put them back in for free), while a reshaped front bumper, a unique panel between the 'nano-coated' exhausts, GTS scripting on the doors and side skirts from the super-rare GT2 RS complete the GTS make-over.

What you get for your Money

In addition to all the styling changes on the outside there's a revised interior. Sports seats are standard, as is Alcantara finishing on all the contact points - including the smart sports steering wheel. The most significant changes are unseen though. The suspension has been thoroughly re-worked, so the GTS's is closely related to the fine-riding set up that we experienced in the Porsche 911 Sport Classic.

There's a standard sports exhaust too, while the engine's cylinder head has been reworked to smoothen and fatten the 3.8-litre flat-six's torque curve, with power being boosted as well. The specification isn't far off that of the 911 Speedster, but the GTS does without the lowered windscreen, full leather interior and double bump rear hood cover. It also does without the Speedster's preposterous price tag - indeed, you could have a GTS coupé and Cabriolet for the price of the limited edition Speedster.

Driving it

If you've just jumped out of a GTS coupé then the 911 Carrera GTS Cabriolet is going to feel a bit disappointing. The sweet feel and feedback of the coupé is slightly numbed in the Cabriolet, its responses not quite as incisive or involving. Viewed in isolation though it's impossible not to enjoy the GTS Cabriolet. The suspension rides well despite its greater focus, and while the steering isn't quite the delight of its coupé relative's it's still quick to react to inputs, loaded with feel and well weighted. Drop the roof and it's easier to enjoy the deeper, more purposeful note from the sports exhaust too; if anything it could do with being a little more vocal, as wind noise quickly drowns it out.

With the GTS's 3.8-litre flat-six engine having had its intake system fettled, power swells to 402bhp. It's not the small increase in the pony count that defines the engine update though; instead it's the changes to the torque curve. The peak remains unchanged, but the means by which the engine's torque is delivered is more linear, creating greater flexibility and less need for high revs. Use all the power and the GTS Cabriolet reaches 62mph in 4.8 seconds - or 4.6 seconds with the PDK automatic gearbox.

Despite the 911 having one of the sweetest manual shifts out there the PDK feels like a more natural fit for the Cabriolet. It's smooth and effortless, suiting the slightly more relaxed gait of the Cabriolet better. Don't write off the Carrera GTS Cabriolet as a cruiser though, as it's only fractionally slower than its coupé relative - even if it lacks that final layer of precision behind the wheel that makes its fixed-head relative such an enjoyable drive.

Worth Noting

Spend time with a conventional 911 Carrera S and Porsche's car configurator and you'll quickly surpass the list price for the GTS. That makes it worthwhile in itself, but the addition of some GTS-only specification bits and pieces do add some appeal. As does the availability of a larger 90-litre fuel tank as a no-cost option (giving the GTS more grand touring ability), while the choice to bin the rear seats to save some weight pleases us, too.

Summary

If you're after a Porsche 911 Cabriolet then buy the Carrera GTS; it's the best drop-top 911 you can buy. It looks like decent value beside a highly specified Carrera 2 S, while alongside the 911 Speedster it's conspicuously inexpensive.