M. Essaie

Just curious - the price premium for the S is only 10 or so percent above the base car. That seems reasonable to me. What then would be the reasons for choosing the base car?

Zetta

stout

For me, the base car is plenty fast for the street, has slightly "sweeter", less boosty engine characteristics (an opinion, to be sure), and the difference in price will pay for PCCB, 20s, a GT steering wheel, and Sports Seats Plus (for instance). In my case, I would much rather have those things and PCCB than +50 hp.

The downside? No Sport PASM availability on the base car. Don't really mind the lack of LSD/PTV+ on the street, and PCCB is a big upgrade over the red S brakes.

YMMV!

pete

dflowerz

If you aren't interested in the handling goodies only available with the S then the Base is a better choice. I wanted the S related goodies so got a C2s. The extra power is nice too but both cars have good power.

Fred R. C4S

917k

Me too: I chose an S more for handing upgrades (RWS for one), than for +50 hp. Personally, I find the S's larger stock calipers fine than spending on PCCB (and I do track).

Wing Commander

AnandN

The base Carrera IMO is the best value in the 911 lineup. There is plenty of power, performance similar to the previous S model, and an engine you can actually rev and enjoy without getting into trouble. For street driving and as a DD, it is the pick of the bunch. Smaller turbos and less lag. Better-riding 19 inch wheels and tires. And you can still get all the options except PTV (no biggie) and some dubious ones for a street car like sport PASM (harsher ride), rear wheel steer, etc. The only problem is, if you want a C4, allocations are limited. Porsche pushes more S allocations because they make more money. Porsche marketing would have you believe that you need the S, sport PASM, rear wheel steer, sport exhaust, PDCC, etc. All nonsense.

chuckbdc

If you don't care about the difference in performance due to the increased horsepower and torque, don't care about handling advantages of SPASM and RAS, variable stiffness engine mounts, or the effects of a standard higher capability brake system and wider wheels, then there is no advantage to the Carrera S for you.

The Carrera is great car. It needs no apology, or silly justification either.

rkwfxd

I doubt you are a good enough driver to use all of the performance that is packed into the Base, let alone the S.

I know I am not.

But I still want an S.

Stupid Marketing.

bambino911s

abe

First, depending upon your baseline....the price difference could be up to 15%. Money is no object....get the best you can buy. For me....I buy used with 20k miles and buy the basic non S. I do not track... I do not race.....so I get stop sign to stop sign a fraction of a second slower.
Except for ego.....I can not justify spending 10-15k more on a car that goes 0-60 in .1 to .2 second faster. Again....money no object....who cares. I may have the money but I am frugal and I the S would not add any more enjoyment to my driving experience.
Maybe Ill buy an "S" sticker...and add the S exhaust tips....boost my ego at a fraction of the price....LOL
IMHO
Abe

bkrantz

Besides percentages, the S costs an additional $14k. For those with any budget issues, that difference can mean choosing between a nicely equipt base model or a "stripper" S.

And even for those with flexible but not unlimited budgets, all the steps up the model range are tempting (nice work, Porsche marketing) and might be rationalized.

I bought my 2017 C2 with a few select options--just the way I wanted it. I also set an arbitrary limit of $100k, even though I could have spent more. I am very, very satisfied with my car, and will claim the most bang for the buck in the whole 991.2 range.

Of course, your mileage may vary...

Porscheforever

Seabeast

As others have pointed out, the difference is over 15%, at least here in the US. $105100 / $91100 = +15.4%.
The horsepower increase, on the other hand, is under 15%: 420 / 370 = +13.5%

I actually spent a lot of time debating base vs S before ordering my base last spring. For me, the main attraction of the S was more horsepower. I like horsepower. But as general rule, I've always heard that an improvement has to be at least 20% better to be easily noticeable, and test drives confirmed that the 50hp bump just wasn't enough to get that "oh yeah, totally worth it" feeling. In fact, I couldn't tell the difference. I probably could tell now that I have a lot of miles on a base, but "tell the difference" is a really low bar.

Furthermore, I was buying a daily driver, so I prefered 19" wheels, which are only available on the base. And I was convinced I needed PSE, so I also felt the sport tips that were included with the S were kind of an anti-feature (cost without benefit). In retrospect, I think I'd have been happy with sport tips instead of PSE, but I didn't know that then.

I had some interest in the bigger brakes and PVT that are part of the S package, but both seemed unlikely to actually make any difference in my driving, even including occasional track days. I had no interest in SPASM, since again it's a daily driver and I don't want to scrape or have a punishing ride. I was intrigued by 4-wheel steering, but couldn't come up with any justification for that pricey option, so another bonus of the base is not having to make that particular decision.

And then there's the fact that the base and S have the same underlying engine, just a bigger boostier turbo on the S. By all accounts, the base does a better job of hiding its turbo nature and feeling like a naturally aspirated engine. I think if I wanted more turbo, then the car I'd want is the TT. Not sure about the TTS though...