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I doubt you are a good enough driver to use all of the performance that is packed into the Base, let alone the S.
I know I am not.
But I still want an S.
Stupid Marketing.
...or clever marketing, depending on your point of view. Porsche aren't one of the most profitable car makers for nothing, and they probably make a higher margin on 911s than any of their other cars. I.e. more profit per car for 911s, although obviously Macans & Cayennes etc sell in bigger numbers.
I drove a 991.2 Base Carrera Coupe for a year and a half and I just trade it for a new 991.2 Base Carrera Cabrio. When purchasing both cars, off course my non rational side told me to go for the S versions because of the additional horsepower, but when I started looking at the numbers, there was no way I could justify the decision.
In my country, the difference between both versions is around US$ 24.000 and since I use my car as a daily driver and not as a track car, the big difference didn't make any sense. The other advantage was that my local dealer specs the base cars with a lot of options (including 20" wheels, Bose System, PDK, PSE, Cooling for Seats, etc....) so no huge difference in the buildup.
I would have loved to have the S or even the GTS version, but I simply couldn't justify the cost difference. If in the future I want to have more horsepower, there are several tunes that are coming out for a fraction of the cost that you would pay for the S so that would be my choice.
By the way, both cars have been a pleasure to drive but for some reason the Cabrio seems to be smoother in every aspect. I don't know if there's been changes to the 991.2 during the last year and half, but the difference in the ride is amazing. It could be that in the Coupe I had the Pirelli P-Zero's and now in the Cabrio I have Michelin Sport 4S. What a difference......
Anyway, nothing wrong with the base. Great car and I saved some money to be able to change my wife's car (Cayenne Hybrid).
I have test driven nearly all "categories" of the 991.2. I initially wrote "versions" but unless you work at a dealer that is just not possible. All of them were impressive and each had different personalities. If any of them felt like "THIS is the one!"I would have driven it home.
A little surprisingly that in street driving I didn't feel that much of a difference between the S and Turbo. However, the PDK transmission somehow made these cars feel like daily drivers to me. I had to constantly remind myself that I was driving a high-performance machine. This is both good and bad. Five seconds of fun could get one in a LOT of trouble. In the 7MT base car I always felt like I was driving a 911. A very quick refined 911. It always felt fun, and it came closest to going home with me. Except it was silver, classic for sure, but doesn't get me going. If it was chalk or graphite blue I'd probably include pics of it in my driveway. I drove my 996 Turbo home that day instead. A fun drive? Yes, as smooth and confident as a base car? Nope.
I guesstimated the cost of ownership was about $15k more for the S, accounting for increased depreciation and higher resale. I couldn't tell a difference with 7MT on the street. But I didn't drive back to back, so YMMV.
The base .2 units offer great 911 value, if that is such a thing. I found the .1 base to be power deficient, but the 9A2 engine has changed everything. Before the .2 I would have never considered a C2 (owned 2 x 997 "S"s previously). I also prefer 19" wheels. The 9A2 also offers the ability of an effective, not too expensive ECU tune.
I Think there us a workflow that first starts with getting a #1 or a #2 car. I'll address my thoughts on the Base #1 3.4 NA car.
First - It has more power and is lighter than previous generation S trim cars. I know that with the #2 cars out there is a lot of peacocking about how relatively slow everything was compared to the new cars... remember that the 911 has always been the benchmark and has never been referred to as underpowered. Even against an M4, a pro driver has commented on the torque in the 3.4 base. So, yes - a base is still awesomely quick by big picture standards.
Second - many would testify the 3.4 revs a lot free-er and is a lot more fun in that regard, even if it has to work a little harder than the S - it's arguably more fun.
Third - more fun to drive a slow car fast than a fast car slow. You can push and drive this car a lot more and that is a lot more fun!
I have always preferred to drive a fast car slow Then when I want to go fast it's really fast! Over the year and a half that I have owned my .2 C2s I tend to drive it aggressively less often than I did right after I bought it, but here and there I get in situations where the time is right and off I go. Other times in warm weather I head out for some back roads with the radar detector mounted and have some fun. So most of the time I am not using the handling and power potential of the car, but then all of a sudden I am, and it's great. Of course for ANY 911, to get the max out of the car you need to be at a track and be a professional driver! I did a lot of track days on OMG fast sport bikes and would be riding at my limit and be passed like I was standing still by the real racers. Humbling and informative. Of course a lot of those guys walked with limps too
Just as others have said , the performance accessibility for street driving is greater in the non S versions ... The non S is about driving a 911 in it's most pure form and the 911 was never intended to be muscle car but rather the perfect blend off all attributes where none overpower the other....
These threads crack me up. The reason Porsche makes so many variations, is because individuals want to choose exactly what they want. You can configure a car thousands of different ways today, enough for everyone at RL.
For me, the base car is plenty fast for the street, has slightly "sweeter", less boosty engine characteristics (an opinion, to be sure), and the difference in price will pay for PCCB, 20s, a GT steering wheel, and Sports Seats Plus (for instance). In my case, I would much rather have those things and PCCB than +50 hp.
The downside? No Sport PASM availability on the base car. Don't really mind the lack of LSD/PTV+ on the street, and PCCB is a big upgrade over the red S brakes.
YMMV!
pete
I wonder how many base Carreras there are with PCCBs.
And a base car with PCCBs and a MT might be a true unicorn.
I nearly ordered a manual Carrera T with PCCBs, but have finally decided to keep it simple.
I've no doubt that the standard brakes on the T will be up to the job, as I am unlikely to be tracking the car.
After much consideration, have stuck with the 'simple' ethos of the T.
Am confident that SPASM, LSD, PSE, Sport Chrono et al will make the T a very entertaining and enjoyable daily driver, without the additional gilding of PCCBs and/or RAS.
If you are not going to track your car regularly, the standard T brakes should be more than capable.
Even that my Base Carrera is my daily driver, I have used it a couple of times for going to the track and I have never had any problems with the brakes. Even when I used my car for a Porsche Driving School session and I spend almost the whole day pushing the car as hard as I could, the brakes seemed to be OK. I guess it would be a different story if you are going to be constantly tracking your car or if you would like to have some really long track sessions.
The last time I was able to track my car, I was with other couple of guys driving the 991.2 S and I must say that even that the S recovered a little bit faster after coming out from a curve, I was always able to stay with them. I would always catch them at the braking point.
Here is a link with a poor video of one lap done with my son. Base car is fast enough for me.....
01-15-2018, 08:13 AM
Porsche aren't one of the most profitable car makers for nothing, and they probably make a higher margin on 911s than any of their other cars. I.e. more profit per car for 911s, although obviously Macans & Cayennes etc sell in bigger numbers.
Then when I want to go fast it's really fast! Over the year and a half that I have owned my .2 C2s I tend to drive it aggressively less often than I did right after I bought it, but here and there I get in situations where the time is right and off I go. Other times in warm weather I head out for some back roads with the radar detector mounted and have some fun. So most of the time I am not using the handling and power potential of the car, but then all of a sudden I am, and it's great. Of course for ANY 911, to get the max out of the car you need to be at a track and be a professional driver! I did a lot of track days on OMG fast sport bikes and would be riding at my limit and be passed like I was standing still by the real racers. Humbling and informative. Of course a lot of those guys walked with limps too
