C2 vs C2S

[sausage]

In the UK the S comes with tyres that cost twice as much, a road tax that is twice as much, brakes that cost a lot more for discs and pads, and marginally less fuel economy. ALso 19" wheels which reduce handling, drive efficiency and comfort and increase road noise - they are loud cars already in terms of road noise.

All the NON-S cars I looked at had PASM. Xenon, Sunroofs, NAV, Phone, headlight washers and MF steering wheels.

For me, being able to say "I can get to 60 in less than half a second faster, and can do an extra 7 mph" is not worth the additional costs. In Germany the C2 is the more popular, and it is the more useable everyday for me because I have a lot of speed bumps near me which are a pain on 19" wheels.

In the UK people are quite passionate about having the S, but I really do not think it is anymore than someone wanting to have "Bragging rights". It's a lot of extra money for a S badge and a few marginal extras and as mentioned an plenum will give you a significant performance boost along with the associated mods, IF you feel you need to get to your top speed faster than the Carrera can do it. For me, the Carrera is plenty enough and I paid less for the car, will loose less on depreciation and when it falls into the cheaper price range may well sell easier as people spending that kind of money in the UK will not neccessarilly want to spent $2000 on two rear tyres after they have paid out $1000 for road tax and $3500 for new brakes. For me, it makes the ownersip experience more pleasureable that I am not spending that much on tyres and brakes every year. If I was, I think I would be annoyed about it, regardless of whether I can afford it or not.

Mark

EDIT: Congrats on the new purchase, she is beautiful. I also envy the autobahn moment you had.

Edited April 2, 2012 by sausage

[mghorayeb]

Erik, You did well...

Though $15K is a big chunk of change...I've driven the plain 997.1 and find the difference in performance substantially lacking compared to a well-equipped S. If you're a DRIVER (and I assume you are if you want to track it a couple days a year), get a 6-speed S with Sports Chrono, sport shift kit (you can add it for less than $1K), sports exhaust and you'll be a happy man. If you opt for a plain 997.1, and then drive an S, you will regret it. I drive mine every day (and I have driven about 50 911s from the 60s to the latest 991 (last Saturday)), and I only have gotten the same raw thrills from a GT3/80s Turbo/964 Turbo (I haven't driven a GTS or a GT2)...normally aspirated, 2 wheel drive, manual gearbox, big brakes, sports seats, and sports exhaust is the real deal. I will step on many toes here, but I regret the day they brought the automatic gearbox into the 911 line-up.

Edited April 2, 2012 by mghorayeb

[dak911]

I found that in the US anyway the price differential was not that much, more depended on the mileage/condition, BUT since I "needed" a Tiptronic, I thought that the 30hp would make up the difference in acceleratioin...not that I "push" the car at all...

I also think that since this car will be traded up to a PDK in about 2 years, the "S" will make the car easier to sell, and most of the extra $ will come back

[brendel]

Hi Erik

I have been driving the 2 and have to say the S has a stiffer ride, owning a porsche does not mean you have to sleep on the race track, it is done for every day, as a daily driver you might prefer the standard version rather than the S, if it is for the weekend fun the S is best

I have a 4S myself as daily driver and use it all year round ( I live in Switzerland )

I do have a tiptronic, people who say it is not a nice gearbox just don't know how to use it, it is fast and effective if you understand the principle, if you commute with the car driving in traffic like I do, it is a better choice

You have plenty of 911 choices, make sure you choose the one that will match your style, we all want the real 911, but that is a GT3...

Good luck

[brendel]

I have not seen you bought it already, congrats

For the tires try the Pilot sport 2 or the Potenza both are far better than the Pzero

[AceOfAces]

I've never driven a C2 but I can't vouch that the C2S with the sports package is an insane feeling! With sport mode on the thing becomes an entirely different beast, you won't regret it. Another plus is the C2S has a higher resell value of course, when that time comes if it ever does to sell her.

@brendel Have you had the PZeros on your 911 before? I was thinking of those as my next set, I'm riding on Toyo Proxes 4 right now, they have great grip for non N rated tyres, but I'm starting to get a bit of tyre noise and the wear is pretty fast as well. I have been in debate as to whether to get the Michelin PS2s or Pirelli PZeros.