Wow, 5 pages on this, lol. In the end does it really matter what anybody does with the badging on their car? I can tell the difference as most likely 100% of the members here can. I could car less what anybody else thinks my car is, I got the 911 because I have loved these cars since I was an 8 year old kid.

I only have “porsche” on the rear of my “poor-man’s” base 911, you know the one that sucks, LOL ; )

Dealer ordered the car that way so I did not have a choice, but I like that it’s a lot less cluttered. I mean even if I purchased an “S” I would still prefer just porsche on the rear. If somebody asked what model it was I would tell them it’s a 911.

Bottom line is if somebody is asking you what model you have you surely are not impressing them with the fact it’s a C2, S, C4s, GTS, GT3, or Turbo because that will have no meaning to a non-Porsche person.

Back in the M3 I had many people say oh nice BMW, I have a 328 too, I laugh and say yeah they are great cars aren’t they. If I have to explain it, then they really don’t need to know and it’s just not worth my effort..

 

Hope you put him in his place.

(Not about base vs S, but about telling someone their car sucks!)

 

Maybe they're confused like this guy.

 

I used maieutics and asked about his car. He was older than I so it's not like he was a kid. In my questioning I asked how he thought the track times would compare in his car. Then, about how fun the two were to simply drive around and enjoy. Never did I insult him or his car but asked questions in which he came to the conclusion that my "base" 911 is faster, more capable and more fun than his Camaro RS.

I feel very fortunate to have possession of this car and realize there are many hard working people without the means - but I do get irritated when someone comes up posing as having interest and rattles off "better" cars in either trim levels or marques (not an S [it is], not a turbo or not as fast as a lambo, etc.) Financial demographic aside - it's ignorance. I enjoy looking at cars I cannot afford also but would never try to put anyone's car down - even a lesser car.

 

Yeah that always bothered me. Especially when I had the Boxster, I’d get a lot of “why would you buy that when you could get xyz car with more horsepower/faster 0-60/whatever for less money.” Inevitably it’d be a car that’s clearly less fun to drive and less good looking. Do people think they’re going to get a “oh woah no way I had no idea I’m going to go sell this and buy that right now thank you so much for the information.”

Obviously Ferrari 250 GTO buyers are the biggest morons in the world because they could go buy 100 faster cars for the same price.

 

I had to look that up. I like that word. Thanks.

 

Make sure you wear this when you use it.

 

So I was at a large Porsche event yesterday and noticed not the badge, but the license plate of another car there.

It read "C4S TRBO"

Obviously technically correct. Obviously not even close to being as bad as a 'turbo' badge. But still....why do it? This person is sophisticated enough about Porsches to know the "C4S" abbreviation, so clearly they must know that 'Turbo' has a unique meaning in the Porsche world.

To be clear, it didn't bother me at all - just wondering why someone would want to invite the inevitable questions and explanations.

 

It doesn't vex me on a plate so much as a badge.

 

Nor would you ever make fun of the .2s sounding like vacuum cleaners.

 

That was purely in self defense. I'd still tell someone their car looks nice or find some redeeming quality... even if I had to resort to complimenting that apple play is a good trade off for additional weight and lag.

 

I am seriously laughing my ^*s off at the whole controversy. Can't tell you how many times I almost pulled the trigger and agonized over some awesome .1s. Including a gorgeous manual base (left over punched car) that I could have stolen for a 30% discount. The stars aligned on my .2, which is just past break in miles. After 6 month (yes, took me that long) I'm finding out how really fast this car is. I would have been happy with either choice. Cheers!

 

It's called insecurity and ignorance. I remember posting a goodbye post in one of the BMW forums when I sold my fully loaded 2014 F10 M5 competition pack and bought my 18 991.2 C2S, where a member replied saying that they wouldn't buy a Porsche unless it's a Turbo or Turbo S. While waiting for the delivery of my C2S, I was talking to an M3 owner who said he would like to own a Porsche, but would not go with a base poseur model. I asked what he meant by that, a Cayman / Boxter? Yes, those he said, but also the base 911 stripped model. I told him that a well-optioned cayman/boxter can cost more than his M3 and that a base 911 with no options is more than his M3 and performs better. "I know, but those are for people who can't afford a 'real' Porsche," he said. I was floored and walked away. It wasn't some young immature kid, he was in his mid 30's. These are the type of insecure people who probably force themselves to spend more than they are comfortable with on his M3 because a regular 3 series is for people who can't afford a real BMW. To a non-enthusiast, people can't differentiate between the 911 range and will simply say it's a nice car. So I don't understand the logic behind fake badging because they are trying to impress or pose for those not in the know, but at the same time, they know enthusiast will call them out.

 

I got mine CPO with 1200 miles for 38% discount. It's a 2012.5 bought in 2015 mind you but it's been a perfect car.

Either car is great and most of it is sarcastic banter although I do really prefer the 3.8,... and for the record, I've often posted recommendations for the #2 cars depending on how posters say they wiall use it and what they want out of it. A 911 has always punched above its weight but the new cars really raised that bar. I just wish they handled better than the current generation vette like the #1 cars did. It kind of makes us look bad :P
It's a total ego thing and I'm guilty of it to some degree. I love the boxsters but just really wanted a 911... I lust after a cayman badly still. The M crowd is used to having the top trim and honestly, most of that crowd never drives on a track or spirited.... they just like having the top trim and hard parking. Since they're not really into driving it's hard to grasp what makes any Porsche so special.

 

I find that humorous considering M cars are gussied up version of cars that are nearly as common as Camry’s (and to 99.99% of the population, look identical to the base 4 cylinder versions of their basis cars), rendering the most base 2 door Porsche akin to a bespoke exotic in comparison. Just funny that owners of those cars would try to use pretension as overcompensation.