reacher

The kid who bought it was a major tool, yes. But so was the guy that sold it to him. That guy had no idea what he was doing and was completely unprofessional. If you're going to upgrade your turbos and tune your car, I would go through legitimate tuners and stay far away from amateurs like him.

Aatish

I got a base and have no complaints.
Might not have the performance bits or pedigree of the GTS, however for what I mainly do (drive a lot) this thing is more than adequate.
Less power than the GTS, however this make driving the thing fun. Gotta push it the car harder to get it to move quicker, which makes daily commutes more interesting. Not to say the base is a slow car, it isn't.
Kinda reminds me of a comp F80 without any mods.
The platform is also really nice for modding imo, so I'm looking forward to that.

koala

With the new turbo cars I'd go base model for sure. Carrera T to be specific.

Even the new base model is pretty darn fast.

PJ Cayenne

About a month ago, my friend in his 2002 C4S was following me to the local Caffeine and Carb event. I had a huge cup of coffee in my cup holder and only accelerated in a slightly spirited fashion on to the local parkway. He stated he really had to work to keep up. So no, the base isn't slow and big trouble is less than a second behind the big dogs. BTW, I would go GTS if I didn't want to limit the spend.

PCA1983

Porsche does not mention the base engine for an X51 upgrade. There might be more subtle differences or unmentioned differences in the engine, oil system or cooling that preclude this, like radiators, house diameters, intake and exhaust flows, internal reciprocating parts and material, and turbo design and connections.
I don't know this answer. But it is typical of Porsche to have numerous other unmentioned changes and differences between the usual models, that make upgrades less than attractive. The X51 Power Kit seems to be an exception to what Porsche usually offers aftermarket.

subshooter

A base 911 in pdk form is as fast as the fastest production car sold in the 1980s in the US. It is seriously fast.

I have a C4 (wide body for the looks only). I wouldn't want anything faster unless I was tracking the car or lived in Germany.

JustBud

I am perfectly happy with my base C2. I like the narrow body, black brake calipers (which do just fine for me) and I optioned it up with the things I wanted. Only thing I wish I could have ordered, houndstooth seats.


GTS is one heck of a car though.

PCA1983

The PDK 991.2 C2S coupe has been timed at 3.1 seconds 0-60 by Auto mags. That is right there with both 991.1 and the 991.2 PDK GT3s. Seriously fast! In muscle car territory! And 11.4 seconds in the 1/4 mile. The base isn't much slower either. The X51 and GTS can only be faster. All the 991.2 twin turbos are very impressive! Grins galore! :-)

4 Point 0

+101.

I debadged my GTS. Even took the side GTS off for the decals. After going on a canyon run with a car club, I had a guy in a Cayman come running up to my car when we stopped for a brake, and he exclaims, "OHHHH It's a GTS, now that makes more sense." Hahahaha, He couldn't keep up.

groundhog

I can't see why someone wouldn't be happy with a base 911 - its a great car, plenty of get up and go. However, if you want even more get up and go and a more nimble, planted driving experience its hard to go past a GTS with rear wheel steering

I went with the GTS and also took the "debadged" route.

4 Point 0

I got the GTS, but perhaps I should have just got the base model........SAID NO ONE EVER!

SCPgrom76

PCA1983

When I was 25, I was really happy (understatement) with my new 78 HP 1970 914. My next one had 85 HP and I was happy with that till I was 36. None of my 4 first Porsches had more than 4 cylinders or 163 HP till my 2000 986S with 252 Hp. It was awesome!. Now at 73, my new 991.2 C2S (my #10 Porsche) has 420 HP and 368 ft-lbs torque, and I'm about to upgrade it with the X51 Power Kit to 450 HP and a very broad 405 ft-lbs torque! - because it's both affordable for me and addictive to me. It's my hobby and my passion! Get the picture?? :-)

pfbz

Speculation is that it is the brakes on the base that preclude it from being an "official" Porsche offering... Lack the bigger brakes in the front. Not that I think that it is a real issue...

Base, manual, no sunroof, 4-way sport+ seats, sport exhaust, sport chrono, Cobb tune, X51 upgrade, dsc sport controller = What the "T" should have been and would likely kick the crap out of an untuned .2 GTS (and utterly destroy a .1 GTS)

groundhog

^^^^yes but a simple Cobb Stage 1 tune on the GTS nets a very significant 100RWHP (and you can't do a X51 to the base, only the S).