2025 Porsche 911 Carrera GTS Cabriolet First Test: There’s Magic in the (Open) Air

At wide-open throttle, the open-top Carrera GTS exudes the same blistering performance as its coupe sibling, but with an extra dose of adrenaline.Miguel CortinaWriter

ManufacturerPhotographerSep 18, 2025

Pros

• Precise steering
• Never-ending power
• Gets the looks

Cons

• Suspension is a tad stiff
• Serious wheelspin at launch
• Lack of interior room

When you’re cruising around town in the 2025 Porsche 911 Carrera GTS Cabriolet, it’s easy to feel like a million bucks, maybe even two, as the open air swirls about the cabin and the sun beams down on your face. Mix in the 911’s iconic silhouette and undeniable panache with its low-slung stance and sporty dynamics, and you have a recipe for pure driving joy. And if that’s not enough, when you find an open stretch of road, engage launch control, and unleash all 532 hp and 449 lb-ft of torque, what follows will include giggles and maybe even a few screams.

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The 911 Carrera GTS may have gone hybrid, but its mission hasn’t changed. It continues to deliver a thrilling drive, one that’s traditionally split the difference between entry-level 911s and the super GTs and Turbos. Only now, it’s doing it with an additional electric-powered punch. We spent a week with the Cabriolet version of the new GTS—tackling canyon roads, stretching its legs on the freeway, and cruising through city streets—to find out what it’s really like to live with the new electrified version of Porsche’s iconic sports car.

Drop the Top

After spending some quality time with the 911 Carrera GTS Coupe, we called it “the most capable, complete, and best Carrera model for real-world and daily-driving duty—and it absolutely rips on racetracks, too.” That’s no exaggeration. The way the Carrera GTS performs is nothing short of remarkable. It’s an experience that’s elevated to near magical levels when the top comes down and the Cabriolet’s cabin opens to the outside world.

Whether you’re blasting down a straight or carving up a twisty road, like the coupe, the Carrera GTS Cabriolet serves up endless thrills. Its 3.6-liter flat-six teams up with a rear-mounted electric motor to deliver a surge of power that never gets old. Go wide open, and the sound, the shove, and the lightning-fast eight-speed gearbox working in perfect rhythm will have you grinning from ear to ear, especially so when you have the top down and the flat-six is wailing out back.

There’s no drama, just pure adrenaline coursing through your veins. Anyone riding shotgun will feel it, too. Porsche has long been known for dialing in razor-sharp steering, and the 911 Carrera GTS Cabriolet is no exception. Tiny inputs translate directly to the front wheels with pinpoint accuracy, and the steering’s feedback is spot on—firm without being fatiguing and offering a crystal-clear sense of what’s happening on the road surface.

The suspension leans toward the stiff side, which can be exacerbated by Los Angeles freeways that aren’t exactly known for their smooth pavement. While that’s par for the course when it comes to super sports cars like the 911 GTS—and not something we’re really complaining about—during our drives to and from Santa Barbara, there were a few moments when a bit more comfort would’ve been welcome. Customers do have the option of having the standard suspension from the Carrera S, which offers softer springs for more comfort over stiffness.

Hit the canyons, though, and it’s a completely different story. The 911 GTS Cabriolet practically begs you to push it harder into every challenging corner given its immense traction and minimal body roll. It inspires confidence in mere mortals—letting you brake later, carry more speed into turns, and trust that the car is working with you. Instead of wrestling with the wheel, you feel like the car is amplifying your abilities.

The only time you might find yourself in a dicey situation is if you try anything wild before you get the car’s rubber up to temperature. At the track, once the tires were properly warmed, we were able to rocket the GTS from 0 to 60 mph in just 2.7 seconds, and it broke into the 10s in the quarter mile with a 10.9-second pass at 127.3 mph. Try something similar on cold tires, though, and you’ll likely be sliding sideways in an instant—forcing you to make some very quick corrections to keep the car’s rear end in check.

As you’d expect, the 911 Cabriolet is also pretty good at doing convertible stuff. The top can be opened and closed in just 12 seconds at speeds of up to 31 mph, and while that’s relatively fast, we wish our tester had the option to open or close it remotely. While the soft top makes the cabin relatively quiet, the engine sound still finds its way inside, just like in the Coupe models. But most important, the 911 GTS Cabriolet is 201 pounds heavier than the 911 GTS Coupe we last tested, yet its 0–60-mph and quarter-mile times are only 0.1 second and 0.2 second slower, respectively. In other words, the Cabrio doesn’t lose much in terms of straight-line acceleration, despite its added weight.

Wow, How Much?

All that performance, agility, and heritage doesn’t come cheap, however. At $206,970 all in for the car we tested, the 2025 Carrera GTS Cabriolet is getting way up there in price for a 911 that doesn’t have Turbo or a number after its “GT.” Then again, the GTS is now more than just a middle-ground model. As Porsche’s first ever hybrid 911, it’s become something truly unique, and the cabrio only adds to the experience.

With the top down on a canyon road, we’re betting the GTS Cabriolet will make its owners feel like it’s worth every penny, thanks to its hybrid power and precision that delivers ever more of the pure driving joy we’ve come to expect from every 911—not to mention one with that open-air magic at your beck and call.