Let's remove the period and the "entirely" because that is not accurate. Objective evidence shows that the 991.2 is faster in top speed and acceleration. It get's better gas mileage if needed and the PCM is much more modern.

We can debate the differences in appearance (which few people outside of rennlist can detect) or the sound of the engine, but there are some things that are not subjective.

I agree that for the street, the 991.1 base acceleration is fine for many people. On the track.....? No way. It is seriously under powered. Both are fantastic cars. I think that we can all agree.

 

Nope, it actually is accurate. I said which is the better car is entirely subjective. You can go on and say one car is objectively faster, but that absolutely does not make it into a "better car" for everyone. Some will like it better, some not as much.

"Better car" is down to what someone likes better. There are, after all, products built for enjoyment. If someone enjoys a 991.1 more than a 991.2, then the .1 is the better car for them, even if it gets smashed by a 991.2 on the track.

Case in point - I'd rather have a 991.1 S than a 991.2 Turbo S, even though the Turbo S is objectively MUCH MUCH faster and has a lot more equipment, bigger brakes, etc. For me, the 991.1 is the better car.

 

My choice? I don't mean to belittle the debate but I've driven them both and I like the front bumper on the 991.2. Nailed it. That how much I care about the difference in engines. They're both excellent Porsches. Period. It's insane to try and pick them apart. Now the front bumpers and rear tail lights? Now THAT'S something to talk about...

 

I like the .2 better

 

Ok. You are right and I get your point. I loved my 2001 Toyota MR2 Spyder. It had 138 HP and was a total blast to drive. 2000 lb car. I really wish I still had it.

 

My 991 is faster and objectively a much better car than my 360 spider, but the 360 is more fun to drive by a large margin.

 

All right, I'll bite.
I had a .1 C2S, PDK for a couple years. Loved it. Quick, fast, great sound and terrific driving through corners in the area canyon and mountain roads. On track, wow! So quick from corner to corner with immense braking and wonderful grip through the turns. Two years ago a buddy and I drove to RR V and the torque and power at sea level were a revelation. The car just ripped. You guys at low altitude have a tougher decision I think.
Then I drove a .2 C2, PDK. At my altitude it felt as quick as my C2S (and subsequent magazine testing proved it was quicker). After the drive, I just couldn't get it out of my head. It felt so much like my .1 at sea level. After a couple weeks discussion with my wife she thought I should a order a new 911!!
In the meantime, I had bought a GT4 on speculation and I completely fell in love with that car. It was such an exciting, charismatic car. I was ready to cancel the .2 C4S and keep and drive the GT4. Ultimately I sold it (at a profit I might add) and waited for the new Carrera.
It was worth the wait. The new car is better than the old one in nearly every area. In no particular order, ride, handling (I have SPASM and RAS), acceleration, refinement, steering, PDK, screen and interface and so on. It not only has the low end covered with torque, but it zings to redline with gusto. I love this thing. It's the second most exciting car I've ever owned (ooh, that GT4!). The sound isn't as good--but not as bad as some have made it out to be. I rectified that with Fabspeed headers and sport cats. There is a very little turbo-lag that was noticeable initially but has since faded to insignificance. Fuel economy? In real world driving, I'm getting a little less with the .2 compared to the .1. Small displacement engines with turbos is the big lie foisted on us by government regs. But as driver, I think the .2 has the .1 covered (admittedly not by a lot). The way the car turns in then accelerates off a corner is scintillating. I mean if the next iteration of the 911 isn't an improvement over the old one--what's the point? And it's not the engine I'm talking about, it's the whole car. I think subjectively there's a preference to NA or FI and that's an argument that will never be won by either side. But I can see why this debate is ongoing after my drive in CA, because a .1 C2S is considerably stronger at lower elevations than where I live.
My .2 C4S is a car that puts a smile on my face every time I drive it. But guess what? So did my .1--and had I kept it I would be loving it and grinning from ear-to-ear still. I hope this argument between .1 and .2 owners has hopefully run its course. Heck, for me I regret selling my '89 Carrera nearly every time I've climbed into the newer ones. I would be perfectly happy with the old Carrera. After-all it's a Porsche 911 and there's nothing like it. I think we can all agree on that.
Finally, to the point of the thread, do I regret buying the .2 and selling my .1? No, not in the least.

 

I wonder how many of us 991.1 owners could resist getting a new 911 with turbo when our .1s accumulate mileage, run out of warranty? Many of us will most likely be forced to accept the new norm and then enjoy the advances.

I recently test drove a 991.2 S in city traffic, I quite like the drive but was not able to push it. I felt the car somehow felt more agile, partly because of the higher low end torque, and partly because of the improvement in chassis tuning. After going back to my car driving home, I felt mine is more raw or less refined, a bit more clumsy to drive, but seems to be more exciting, and definitely sounds better. Overall, I think I would enjoy having a new 991.2, but I would miss my 991.1 too. My ideal is if Porsche could bring us a version of 992 that uses the 400hp NA 3.8 engine, and price it between the base and S model, and that's the exact flavor I would choose.

 

No regrets here. In the past, I had a 997 S, a 997 GT3, and a Turbo. Out of those 3, the turbo was the least enjoyable for me. I just didn't like the power delivery of the Turbo, so I was worried that I wouldn't like the turbos on the 991.2. However, I find the power delivery is much more linear and I love the mid-range torque.

Of course it doesn't sound as good as a NA engine, but I'm ok with that.

 

To answer the OP's question:
I previously had 997.1 C4 and currently own a 991.2 C4 so it may not be a fair comparison. I think that both are wonderful vehicles. I loved the high end power delivery of my 997, but not so much the low end power, which I thought was deficient. I love the low end torque of my current ride, but don't particularly care for the exhaust note, even with PSE. It sounds kinda wheezy above 6K rpm. All things being equal, I'd take a NA engine with the power of the current small T turbos, but that isn't happening anytime soon. (and I'm not ponying up for a GT3). I'm happy with my car and I would have been happy with a 991.1 S or GTS, but the price point of my 991.2 C4 was better than both for similar performance and with more modern tech. I definitely would have felt like I was missing out if I had purchased a 991.1 C4.

 

Very difficult to take your attempt at 'maturity' seriously when it begins with dropping babies on their heads. I don't find jokes about child abuse funny personally or see your post as anything resembling behaving like an adult.

I wrote both are are good in their own ways. I own a better naturally aspirated motor than the 991.1 Carrera or Carrera S flat-6 as well as a better and more modern 911 with a turbocharged motor.

It's ok to have more than one car and more than one flavor.

 

I believe you self-destructed in a thread where the 991.2 motor won engine of the year for the second straight year. This is a feat the 3.8 never achieved because it was not even the best 3.8 liter motor Porsche produced at the time. Having the third best naturally aspirated flat-6 in the Porsche lineup is nothing to be proud of.

The 991.1 is indeed severely underpowered. It is weak. What do you want me to tell you? The car can't beat your run of the mill Mustang or Camaro. A BMW M3, Mercedes C63, Audi RS4, and even SUV's are faster these days. It's slow. Throw a tune on the 991.2 and the 991.1 looks decades behind.

Car enthusiasts don't like turbo sounds? Really? I find that the design of the engine is more important than just the aspiration. A McLaren 6500S for example features a flat-plane crank revving to 8500 rpm and sounds far more exotic than the 3.4/3.8 flat-6 could ever hope to. Why is your analysis always so basic?

The 991.1 is quite simply the past and as 991.2's proliferate the marketplace will simply be forgotten just as the 997.1/997.2 Carrera models were. There is nothing special about the car/motor. If there was I'd own one.

 

You could say this about the majority of mid-engine V8 Ferraris compared to Carreras. Different price points too although I don't know who is still excited about a 360 these days. What is fun about driving a Ferrari from 1999? Just looks like you can't afford a new one.

 

The 991.2 is just a miniature Turbo. The 3.8 stands in its own and has character. If you want to compare 0-60 then a tesla is more of a sports car. Or GTR.

 

I heard "underpowered for track" ? 991.1 3.8 NA?

If by track, you mean 1/4 mile, 1/2 dragstrip or airfield or something, sure. You're not winning any Slipstream races with the 991.1.

But if by that, anybody meant a proper racing circuit/road course, you are hallucinating.

To be able to say that, you'd need to have the skills to drive the car to its full potential, which I doubt any of us here do. But, I did 4-5 track weekends this year with my 991.1 C4S, and I can tell you, I don't remember getting passed in my run group. Plenty of tuned M cars, AMGs at these events. The unfortunate fact is that 991.1 eats your tuned F80s, RS whatever Audis alive. There is no comparison. You can have all the power you want in the world, put down 1000 wheel hp if you want, the proudest guy at the dyno, you're not putting all that power down with a chassis that's designed to be a run of the mill midsize family car. Honestly, if the skill differential is not too drastic, you can probably keep up with quite a bit of the Turbo crowd.

I know it's hard to digest but, the reality of the driving cars on track is that nobody really needs more car than the 991.1. You just need to be a better driver.

Sorry to digress a bit there OP