Turbodan

I think only Porsche guys would even notice the S on the back. Average guy/girl sees it and thinks wow Porsche turbo...nice.
That being said I like the S as it has more value on the market and came with ceramic brakes. I think most also came with sport seats and carbon fiber interior (like).
Regarding modding one, I believe you can get better performance from a set of hybrid turbos than the X50 ones.

996tnz

After buying my non-S 996 Turbo I couldn't help wondering how the extra power of an S would feel. And how much the extra few hundred RPM of lag might bug me on the other side of the ledger.

Further considerations (per other's earlier posts) also apply if looking at the car as an investment, but if the OP just wants to keep their car stock and drive it hard, they'll want to ask themselves that same question: more power at lower (more street typical) rpms or more top end power?

Sure, I can drive around lag (eg in an earlier Audi allroad) but in the end I went with the 'have my cake and eat it too' option of a basic UMW tune, with exhaust etc for my non-S K16 car. Pulled her off the AWD dyno when wheel speeds went visibly different sppeds right off the bat (still cost me $100 odd) but by all acceleration measurements since, including 60-130mph she's a little north of 500HP. Meaning that I'm not so much comparing her figures with stock x50s but rather with 996 GT2s and the 959 instead.

Works on track too. On some nearly 3 year-old NT-01s we were quick enough to place second after 3 days of quali and racing at our Porsche Sprints earlier this year. With first having potentially even been within reach if she hadn't cracked her (probably original) expansion tank in Race 3, meaning that we had to withdraw from the final race. That second placing for the event put her between a 991 GT3 (on MPSC2s I think), and a more heavily modded 996T on Z221s. Following on - and pretty much all Trofeo R shod - were a GT4, at least one other 996T, and a track prepped 996 GT3. All driven by more experienced Porsche race drivers who also had a lot more track hours behind them.

That's sticking with the original K16 turbos she left the factory with, and not more than four thousand dollars in mods (including the NT-01s). Plus pinning/collaring the coolant pipes but any decently tracked Mezger GT1-derived engine needs that anyway in my book.

So if potential financial returns on a stock S are the main consideration, I'd say go for it. But for driving performance,waking up a non-S is dead easy, with a lot of change left over.

FWIW BTW, I upgraded her primarily to wake her up on road, after about 3 years of ownership. Track gains were a bonus.

Berra

It's always funny seeing people claim the K24 cars lag too much, makes it sound like it's on a truck Turbo, lol.

I know one thing though, my all stock X50, except for the 3" speedtech, took down an Audi RS7 30-180 mph. I'd like to see the K16 vs the same RS7.

"02996ttx50

agree.

and as was correctly noted earlier in this thread an S has the cachet that has been extant since '67 for 911's and looks great on the decklid as well.

who doesn't want a 911S?!

also noted earlier, the designated "S" iteration of this car had all the parts porsche wasn't able to upsell left sitting in the factory on shelves from the previous year models, so they made the "S".. and so they made it "special" with the much sought after "S" designation. it was/is special still, yet only insofar as the 996T ended with some "decent" for the time upgrades. but really, who among us wants to buy pccb rotor replacements? k24 turbos and cheese grater gt2 ic's = meh.

as to power, the x50/S model ( and possibly even the 96gt2? ) k24's felt like old technology spool ( from my recollection ) while hybrid 16/24's and their minimized and virtually non existent lag, STILL do not.

so to your point, yeah, it's a lot easier to wake up this car with a few bolt on's that will exceed the then available performance gains of factory options that were available way back when.

which reminds me.. when will this 996 iteration be taken out of the "present generation" classifications of porsche's!?

me and my 996 turbo: too young to be classic, and to old to be young

Berra

^ why would you replace the PCCB rotors? My X50 has them, mileage is low at 25k so I won't be needing to touch them for a very very very long time. If I do, and that's a big IF, I will send them out to SICOM for refurbishment. They mainly do race cars but also help out streetcars and reports say that they become even better when they've done their magic.

"02996ttx50

i wouldn't since i don't have them! and am glad, as the stock rotors suit me just fine. though 350's and 6 pots would be nice.

my reference to them, was IF they need replacing.

Berra

PCCB's sure does spoil you though, the feel is on a different level and stopping power aswell. Not having to deal with brake dust alone is worth a lot too, lol!

"02996ttx50

I'm sure you're right! but truth be told, I'm a hill climber ( mostly ) and consequently don't brake all that much, and i tend to coast in 2nd on the way down lol.

i can honestly say, that i have never found the stock brake setup to be lacking. but it all certainly depends on our individual applications and/or driving conditions,I'm sure. tracking? pccb's, yep.

John D II

Personally, I would choose an X50 or S over a K16 car any day. When you hybrid the K24's with 18G wheels, it's an incredible performer. And the great thing is that it's very inexpensive to do. I started out with K16's exhaust and tune. Turned them into K16/24 hybrids....still not enough power and the cars power fell off on the top end. Finally I bought a set of K24's and sent them out for 18G wheels and I've been very happy for years. Now the car is at the safe limit for rods, no turbo lag, and a ton of power - even at higher RPM's where the 16 hybrids fall off. I gained a half a second in the quarter mile and 7 miles per hour trap over the K16 hybrids. Car traps 133-134MPH with k24/18G, street tires, full weight, modest 1.3 bar tune. Again, I have no lag with 18G's and tune, the car feels normally aspirated until the turbos hit.

Dock

They lag more than the non-X50 k16's.

Yes, the X50 has +44hp on the k16 996 Turbo.

Adding a tune to the k16 996 Turbo easily puts the power above the stock X50...with less turbo lag than the X50.

SimonK

Flashed 16 car would take down Audi and your 24 car. ;-).

It's a fact that bigger turbos lag more than smaller turbos. Also smaller turbo will light up more quickly. However, not an issue once 24 car is in the power band.

The difference between 16's and 24's is subtle.

16 car will jump on 24 from get go. Then the 24 will catch up and pass. Night and day? Hell no. By the time both car reach 180mph the 24 car will have 5 car lengths on the 16 car. Ask me how I know? ;-).

As I said way back in this thread, if you are chasing 10ths on the race track S is a quicker car. No doubt. On the road however, they are nearly identical whilst 16 feeling slightly snappier low down. Unless someone would drive them one after another (let's say a week would pass between driving them back to back) no real difference would be perceived by an average driver.

SimonK

In Europe x50 or an S has only 30bhp on the stock turbo. 420/450.

SimonK

And as far as the ceramic brakes...

Great for the track (if you are loaded with money). Most racers downgrade to steel. They are really CR#P for the street. All great until a stone chips your disc or you need to swap them, which unless your car is a garage queen happens much earlier than advertised by Porsche. Ask me how I know... ;-). Multi $$$. Not to mention, one thing I truly hated with ceramic was emergency braking in the rain or when discs were really cold. For 1 second = 0 braking! Great for emergencies when a truck pulls out to the fast lane without a warning. ;-).

jumper5836

Good advice. k24/18G is the best setup for the car for any type of usage.

Though on track I prefer the tuned K16 over the stock tuned K24, sure K24 will keep the punch in much later and will pass a K16 car but most tracks don't have long enough straights for that to happen. The K16 is better car for tracks that only see top speeds of 155 mph or for tighter more technical tracks.
My plan eventually when my original turbos require rebuilding will be to move to K24's and change out the wheel with the 18G.

Dock

Thanks for the correction.