Bare-bones 992 Carrera vs Carrera S: A Smart Move?

By Patrick Morgan - December 28, 2020

While the Carrera S gets all the headlines, you can save cash and still get a great car in the basic 911.

Harry Metcalfe knows a thing or two about the 992 Porsche 911. He’s recently reviewed a Carrera S, so when given the opportunity to review the Carrera, he jumped at it. “What is it like to drive the absolute base car without all the extras on it,” he ponders.

“Don’t think this is a slow car either. This has 385 horsepower instead of 450… but it’s still a 182 mile per hour car. Four seconds to 60 or thereabouts,” he notes. He also points out you’re also not laking for features, either. A high quality interior is part of the deal, with all the tech and gadgets that you’d expect from a Porsche. Not even a chrono package is present in this model. Bizarrely, you also only get one transmission choice. PDK. For the base model car, it seems almost unthinkable that Porsche would opt not to include a manual transmission. We suppose that if you’re looking for the engaging Porsche, you’d go for the Carrera S anyway. Still, PDK is an extra cost option in some cases.

You may also think the base model would be a bit ‘softer’ than the S. Assume that, and you’ll be sorely mistaken. Metcalfe’s biggest gripe with the Carrera S was how loud it was. Road noise, tire noise, wind noise all permeated into the cabin and made for a rather tiring experience. The Carrera has a chance at addressing that issue. Smaller wheels give the tires some extra cushioning through taller sidewalls. And a less track oriented suspension will soften up the suspension a bit. Plump sidewalls and all, the Carrera gets into the 80 decibel range, which Metcalfe points out makes phone conversations “Almost impossible.” But here’s the important part. With the Carrera, you do save 11,557 GBP. Roughly $15,500 over here state-side.

But the Carrera does have redeeming qualities. All of those nuances that make the car a bit of a bear on rough roads work wonders elsewhere. Metcalfe opines that Porsche is “obsessed with Nurburgring times.” Which may account for stiffer suspension bushings and hard engine mounts. And while that doesn’t help with noise, he said he would like to have this car for the environment where it would feel at home: a track day. Probably at the ‘Ring.