SpeedFreak

The last C4S was offerd alongside the standard C4 cpe in 1996, but then in 1997 & 1998, took the place of the standard C4.

Viken

Porsche made only a few 993 C4's for MY 1996 alongside the 993 C4S. My understanding is that the 2002 996 C4 model will exclusively be a C4S.

Tangson

Strange that Porsche would price the C4S so high; why would anyone buy a C4S when for another $16,000, the prospective C4S buyer can drive a 996 Turbo? Hmmmm.. pay $95,000 for a C4S (Turbo poseur) or shell an additional 15% for the real thing. If the C4S was selling for $80,000, then it could fill a price niche market, but when it's close to breaking $100,000, that's turbo territory.

Viken

Where did you see the price of the 996 C4S?

Tangson

From Autoexpress: http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/usernam...e.php3?id=2675

They say it'll be about 10,000 pounds cheaper than the turbo, and with the U.S.$$ conversion, 10,000 lbs.= 15,000 i think

Viken

Well, I don't know about the UK but I really doubt the C4S will only be $15K less than the Turbo in the US. The 993 C4S was $4K more than the C4 and I expect about the same with the 996. The current 996 C4's base price is $72K and the Turbo's is $111K. I suspect the base price of the 996 C4S to be below $80K.

James-Italy

My dealer told me the C4S will come in around $7,500 more than the C4 (17mln lira) for what it's worth.

Also, MY 2002 will have a 2% accross the board increase, but many options will be 9% lower effectively offsetting the small increase.

Ran

Viken has a point which may prove itself in another way... Grapevine suggests that turbo prices may increase.

Of course this increase may be reconsidered if the market is seen as softening and unable to absorb increased capacity. One issue that many miss as regards availability and pricing is that the PERCEPTION of shortage keeps prices and DESIRABILITY of luxury products HIGH. Should we hear that there is softness a whole bunch of speculators will (or already have) get out of the turbo inventory market and prices will soften much more. So Porsche, I think will monitor the demand very closely so that it does not increase hte price of the turbo too much EVEN IF DEMAND WILL EXIST at the increased price point since I think prudent strategy is to keep alive a slight shortage at the very least to keep the buzz going.

IOW, the C4S being a bit more limited in supply initially may be priced a bit closer if Porsche decides against increasing the price of the turbo too much.

Overall, my guess would be on a base C4S price of about USD78/USD84K. So I guess I still expect a difference. Depends on what else is standard of course. If lots of interior stuff is std, it could go a tad higher. (US pricing guesses)

[ 05-06-2001: Message edited by: Ran ]

Viken

One thing to remember is that the 993 C4S was farther apart from the C4 in the ROW than it was here in the US. This was mainly due to some equipment which was standard on the ROW C4S and optional on the US model. It is possible that Porsche may do the same with the 996 C4S. After all, it is a marketing thing and Porsche is very good at it.

[ 05-06-2001: Message edited by: Viken Bedrossian ]

MikeG

Have I been out of the loop too long? I thought the C4S was going to be an '03 model released in Jan or Feb next year....or am I just lost....

Mike
'99 C2

Tangson

news from the european press is that porsche will release the C4S for 2002 (for europe at least) whether or not it arrives in the U.S. by Winter 2002 is not definite, but alot of dealers are expecting it.

SpeedFreak

While we're on the subject of the C4S, now that I think about it, the C4S cab rumor is not that far fetched. Someone please correct me if Im wrong, but I believe 911 cabs in general actually outsell the coupes in the United States. It would seem then, not so bad of an idea for Porsche to make us a C4S cab. Anyway, just my .02 cents.

Tangson

they had an article on that exact statistic in one of the british car magazines (EVO i think), and I believe that it's like 25-30% of the 996 sold in the U.S. are cabs, which is relatively high compared to cab sales in other countries.. among the different iterations of the 996, the rarest one is the C4 cab Tip (also the most expensive version, which would explain its rarity), so I wouldnt be surprised if porsche took its time releasing a C4S cab

Chris Johnson

So, just to be pedantic -- just what makes a C4S so special compared to a C4? Ok, so it has some Turbo-look body pieces and maybe a few minor upgrades, or options made standard.

But are there some basic, you-can't-get-it any other way improvements that really make it the car to have?

Thanks!
(I am admittedly not a Porsche cognescenti! :-)