Definitely. I'd never own a BMW 550i M Sport or an Audi S6. Too sedan-y. I see the higher seating position as a drawback. Personally, I find the seats in my wife's Cayman S to be very comfortable - and they're the base seats.

I really did like the surround-view camera on my Panamera. That was great, and I'll miss it. But it wasn't enough to make me want to continue driving it.

Some people are going to be luxury car drivers, and some are going to be sports car drivers. We have no idea what the buyer wants in this case. Only she does.

 

The "S" is the one to go with here.

I love my 2012.5 991 S and drive it every day! So much fun to drive...comfortable, quick, feels like an extension of my body...

 

I owned a 2012 991 base (7MT) from April 2012 until Nov 2015 so I know the car very well. I found it to be grossly underpowered and very unsatisfying to drive as anyone on here who has read my rants will know. It was by far the least satisfying 911 I have ever owned and I have owned every single incarnation of 911 going back to 1988 (although the 991 AC is far superior to the 1988 911 I had). My girlfriend drives a 2012 911S which is a far better car

 

I guess that depends on what you're comparing it to. 350 HP on a 3000 lb car doesn't seem "grossly underpowered" to me. Not nearly as fun as an S, but still more than what most people drive. Just not on this board.

 

I had a 997.2 base carrera and now a 991 base carrera. The base and S drive essentially the same. The PASM gives you a slightly more buckled down ride for track use while allowing for as comfortable a ride as the suspension in the base car (best of both worlds). However, you have to be a real driver to even notice what I just mentioned. If you never push the car the PASM is essentially irrelevant its far from a night and day difference w or without it.

Power difference (I may get pasted here) is barely noticeable from the seat of the pants. What is noticeable are the brakes. The S has enough additional braking force for most drivers to notice.

You mentioned the base has sport exhaust. If the S doesn't - that would make the decision for many a buyer. For many its a must have. Two other things to consider. 1) S cars should be easier to resell (more buyers want the "s" badge) and 2) the base is a 13' and there were some issues resolved from year one production (2012).

Can't go wrong either way, but its more apples to apples than you might think.

Good luck.
DRP

 

I can't agree. When I test-drove a base 911 back-to-back with an S, the seat-of-the-pants power difference was much larger than I was expecting. I wanted the difference to be small because I hadn't found a 911 S Cabriolet in a color I liked at a reasonable price locally, and the Brown / Tan 911 Cab I test drove looked like a good fit if I could be happy with the power delivery. Unfortunately, I wasn't, even with Sport+ engaged.

I think this is very much about individual driving styles. When my wife drives her Cayman S, she doesn't demand the full power from the car. Similarly, she did some test drives during my car search, and she never asked much of the cars.

We don't know the OP's friend, or her driving habits. It may be that the base 911 is plenty for her, or she may really feel a difference with the S. It depends on her.

I also disagree about the ride difference with PASM. The 4S I bought is noticeably softer than my wife's Cayman S if I'm not driving in Sport. Not Panamera in Comfort mode soft, but softer than the Cayman. Going into Sport makes the ride stiffer, enough so that my wife commented on it without knowing that I had shifted modes.

 

You make a good point. My 991 has very average torque. It does not throw you into your seat. Where the engine comes good is from 4500 rpms and beyond. I have driven S vs. base back to back on track more than once. The suspension and brakes stand out on the S, the power not as much when you're taking it to redline.

Personally, I have no interest or desire to drag race from stoplights. I will often get left behind by economy cars which i then pass leisurely when they stop accelerating. I drive very very fast. But I'm not a drag racer. I do driver's ed with PCA. I love the thrill of speed slightly more than the thrill of raw acceleration.

So, many a driver would perceive an S as having a power advantage if you never take the car above 5,000 rpms, since it's got significantly more of a torque advantage - which is evident at lower rpms - over the smaller engine than horsepower. Its fair to call the S a slightly lazier engine.

Compared to the 991 S, the new 991.2 base engine has more torque and it comes in much lower on the rev range. A much better car for the american stop light junkies.

DRP

 

I'm pretty much the opposite. I don't find speed inherently interesting, but I do like acceleration. I wouldn't say what I'm doing is "drag racing" at stoplights, since I'm not demanding everything, but even at my most casual I'm leaving regular passenger cars behind if we're both #1 at a stoplight. I'm not "racing" them, that'd be stupid, I'm just driving in a way I find enjoyable.

Once I get up to the normally acceptable speed - generally 5 MPH above the posted limit, since that's the custom almost everywhere in the US - I often get passed by cars that are willing to go faster.

"Entertaining acceleration" includes lateral acceleration from cornering, but I'm not all that confident of where the car's limits are, so I don't push too hard.

I've never driven on a track. It's true that most of my day-to-day driving is below 5000 RPM. It's bad manners and attention getting to go to high revs on surface streets, so it's generally only expressway onramps or the occasional expressway lane change where I do that. And not many of the latter, since there has to be a large speed differential for it to make sense.

That said, I did give the base 911 an expressway onramp test, and it didn't feel anything like the multiple S's I drove that week.

You're right about the 991.2. A 991.2 S felt meaningfully faster than any of the 991.1 S's I drove. Not enough to make me justify the cost of ordering a new car over 2014, but noticeable.

 

Car 2
It's an S and its White, much better!

 

Base car is more fun to wind out, sounds better, revs freer, lighter, allows you more time to stomp on it before you are in the license restricting zone.

S has more torque, faster, definitely better if you care about pure speed. Brakes are nice too. The S sounds like a great deal (maybe too good?)

I would have probably gotten the S had my budget allowed, but my C2 is an absolute blast. I thunk it will be the better car in the long run. More fun to drive a slower car fast than a fast car slow.

Check out the "S" vs "GTS" threads - all the same, how much power is enough vs too much?

 

So true...I have a 2013 4S...test drove a Turbo S...Sick!!!
Scared the heck outta me...lol

 

I have always found "base" cars to be adequate for my needs. plenty fast and accelerate quickly enough for me. If I go to events with all my "S" car owner racing buddies, I simply leave a day early to arrive the same time they do since their cars are so much faster.