Bluehighways

Flame suit not required! IMHO they're not Hook & Ladder Fire Trucks. I don't see the need the complication of RWS, primarily for the sake of complication. One of those "Just because you can, doesn't mean you should" sorts of things.

ipse dixit

There are those (myself included) who say a non-RAS 992 drives more like an old-school "analog" Porsche.

Not saying it is old school, analog, just more like one.

rk-d

It's not that big a complication. In my opinion it simply focuses the inherent character of the car.

IMO, Porsche has seemingly done everything they can to design out the rear engine characteristics of the car. Compared to an older 911, the 992 feels much more neutral.

I think the 992 is a great car, but it feels nothing like an old school 911. Probably a good thing at the end of the day. RAS is simply going all in with it. I'm not convinced that deleting RAS gets you anything significantly closer to that old feel.

Not a big deal, by any means. I'm glad to have it and would spec it again.

aggie57

One if these days I'll take a RAS equipped 992 for a thrash - oh, right someone just reminded me of PECLA .

TheStanman

I thought the Turbo had a unique steering rack and/or tuning? Maybe I'm misremembering, but thought I heard that in multiple reviews.

gcurnew

I see a whole lot of confirmation bias in this thread. Reviewers do it too, adding to “beliefs” about the character of AWD versus RWD 911s, and performance options such as RWS, SPASM and PTV+, that I have never seen backed up by instrumented performance tests. I spec’d my 992 with options that made sense to me based on my use case, test drives of cars with various configurations, and MY 48 years of driving and track experience. I also came at it with with a boatload of biases that 9000 km of driving over two months - a significant percentage on twisty mountain backroads - have further entrenched.

My car is perfect for me...and I suspect most people here feel the same way about their 911. I don’t wish I had a manual gearbox, or the S, or RWS or the steering from my 997.2 GTS or any of the myriad options I decided not to choose. Of all the 50 or so high performance cars I’ve owned - some of them very track oriented, including a couple so radically prepped they included full cages - my lowly 992 C4 is the most satisfying.

rk-d

We all have biases and subjective opinions. You do too. Some of us prefer RWD and RAS. No big deal.

mrmichaelsankey

So I’m moving from BMW M (E46, E92, E93, now F10) into 992 C4S (when it arrives next year.

Going from my 2015 M5 into a C4S testdrive, the difference in weight, rack speed, feel, feedback.... you don’t know how good the 911 is until you compare it!

In words it’s hard to explain... the best I can give you... my wife in 2006 had a new cooper S. go cart, but comfortable. Before that, 1989 Mini Cooper.... that’s what the 911 rack felt like. Connected, quick, but not 1.6 tons of car.

chuckbdc

Drive enough 911 variants and it is very clear that there are there are very clearly differences in the way they steer. Model year (with varieties of weight distribution, suspension components, adjustment settings), tires (type/wear/pressure), suspension (PASM/Sport PASM, RAS/no RAS, 2WD/4WD), body structure (coupe/cab/targa) roads and speeds, driver experience, individual preferences- all figure into "steering feel".

gcurnew

All are welcome to their biases, opinions and preferences. My point is that with any of the performance options, in the absence of instrumented testing, even a majority of owners and reviewers pronouncing something as beneficial to handling or performance, it’s still just opinion and should be recognized as such. A handful of persuasive automotive commentators and a small cadre of posters here continually reinforce that the “best” Porsches are manual gearbox cars loaded up with all the performance options. Consequently, potential buyers not familiar with the marque or the peculiarities of 911s are led to conclude that a lightly optioned base car is not going to meet their needs or satisfactorily scratch their performance car itch.

rk-d

Instrumented differences are moot, IMO - very few are talented enough to exploit the theoretical advantages of one variant of 992 Carrera to another.

I mentioned in a previous post the pitfalls of confirmation bias - which is impossible to eliminate short of blinding the tester.

I'll be in the unique position to test between AWD and RWD though - I'm converting my 993 C4s to RWD. Should be an interesting experiment (though not perfect because other variables will be changed)

992Sam

there truly is no right or wrong on so many of these... arguably 99% of options are not a "must do" for everyone .. I am certain (with the exception of not getting front axle lift) that I am 100% happy with my car... but I am equally certain that 95% of people on here would not configure it the same way...

Buy what you like... ask options, test drive, and form your own.

aggie57

You do make some good points, but I’m not sure any instrumented test is going to add value to the topic of this thread. I mean, just how do you measure ‘feel’? For sure its easy to measure lap times with and without various options but it’s not the same thing is it. Nothing wrong with a lightly optioned base car either, far from it, and I’m jealous of the 7k in 2 months!

gcurnew

Just got back this afternoon from another weekend blast over some of the twister roads of southeastern British Columbia...car is now just shy of 9000 km. Hoping to get another weekend in before Oct. 1. when snow tires will be required (taking down the fun factor a notch or two, unless there’s actually snow lol). We change up the route somewhat each time, but a weekend is usually around 1800 km, so car will top 10k km in 3 months, then settle down to an an average of 1000 to 1200 km a month until next summer. Throw in a trip to the Grand Canyon and jaunts around the U.S. Pacific Northwest once the border opens up again and we’ll be doing north of 20,000 km a year, maybe 25k if we venture further south.

As others have noticed, the car really seems to open up as the miles get added. The last 8 tanks of gas (and all fillups going forward) have been non-ethanol 94 octane which may be helping as well. Rear tires are starting to show appreciable wear, but I won’t know exactly how much until I get a tread depth gauge on them (maybe later this evening). I’ve really learned to love the PDK, and have decided that even though the car can shift quite well for itself in Sport Plus mode, I prefer to do it myself; never took the car out of manual mode all weekend. I found myself wondering whether the steering in a C2 might have provided a bit more tactile feel on some of the more challenging roads, but was happy to have PTV+ in my corner (pun intended), and on a couple of occasions my wife even offered that she could feel a line tighten up when I went in a little hot.

TheStanman

Ha, I know what you mean. I came from an F80 M3 and it's a totally different level. It's true for every aspect of the driving experience, and it only became more apparent the longer I drove the 911.