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I am getting more confused by the moment. I have read a bunch of threads here, and cannot figure out which car I should pursue. FWIW, my last 911 was a 991 C2S, and I loved the power, but it was a little sterile. I sold it, and am now hunting for a clean low mileage 2009 and newer 997.
I think I have narrowed it down to a C2S or a C4S. In pics, I love the wider look of the C4S, but what about RWD vs AWD driving dynamics? I have always been a RWD car person; I owned a BMW 328xi back in the day and always regretted the purchase. RWD seems more pure, and I would rather be on proper snow tires and RWD vs AWD and crappy all-season tires. Even my truck is RWD, if that tells you anything, considering it snows 10 feet a year at my house.
I live more or less in the boonies, so I really can't go "test drive cars", much less test them in proper conditions (back road with hairpins and no traffic). Visually, how much different is the 2S vs the 4S? Is it make or break? Performance-wise, they share the same engine and steering rack, correct? One is a touch heavier and more planted, one is lighter and more playful? What types of differences % wise are we talking about?
Lastly, which is more in demand come resale time? I know the GTS is holding it's value well, but what about C2S/C4S?
I thought the visual difference was quite big between the 2S and 4S which is primarily why I got the 4S. I've never hung the tail out on power, but I've hung it out a few times by lifting suddenly while turning.
I was looking for a C2S but ended up with a C4S, no regrets. The C4S just looks better and I just found out not too long ago that 100% of the power can go up to the front wheels on the 997.2, only 40% on the 997.1, what that means is, it feels like a RWD car until you need it.
I definitely prefer the wide body look in these cars. But already having a quick AWD car I really wanted the playfulness of RWD. In order to get both wide body and RWD my only option was GTS. So I got one.
I have driven a 997.2 C4S and it was fun, the AWD really isn't too noticeable to the point of being bothersome. Very unobtrusive.
I'll cosign with you on 991.1 feeling a bit sterile. I still haven't tried the newer GTS or GT3 though, so I'd imagine those are great. As far as Sport PASM goes, I only wanted a car with that, it is a lot more responsive, to me. I mostly did it so that I wouldn't upgrade the suspension right away.
You have to recalibrate your perceptions when talking about 911s vs other cars since most of weight (motor) is actually over the driving wheels, even on a RWD only car. Traction on a RWD car is exceptional because of this and the reason why in terribly wet weather conditions, the 911 Cup Cars win the overall race, beating even the faster Prototype classes - this actually happened at the 2015 Petit le Mans at Road Atlanta.
Both my 997s are C2S cars with the narrower rears, but frankly, with the 997 going back to the Coke-bottle shape, there's plenty of curviness and flare back there to look really good and you probably can't even tell unless the 2 cars are side by side. On the 996 cars with the straighter sides, it really made a difference - less so on the 997. Narrower is also more aerodynamic (less drag) which is why the GT3 is a NB car.
Unless you plan to drive the car through the winter, you don't need a 4S. With the 2S you get better front steering feel, the famous RWD driving dynamic, a bit more front frunk space, and no transfer case, extra driveshafts, etc to worry about servicing.
Are either of these rears really too narrow - not to me.