I don't want navigation, and it has nothing to do with saving money.

 

Well, everyone has the right to spend their money how they wish. But then there is the question whether it is really ethical to price gouge on some options that are CLEARLY overpriced. I love the customization from Porsche but like Car and Driver will say, "options add up quickly". You can get a $98k Carrera S and make it $125k in a hurry.


I can reason that PDK or PDCC are worth what they charge, but $1000 for colored deviating stitching? $1800 for carbon fiber trim? To gouge someone for $5000 on a full leather interior? My rationale on that would be that a car of that ilk would have a full leather interior anyway, but...just my 0.02.


I also find it interesting that the base price on a 2009 Carrera S was something like $86,400. Now it's $98,900. What is the justification for this?

 

Cost of living increase?
If you were making $86,400 in 2009 and got a 3% yearly cost of living salary increase, you'd be roughly at $99k right now.

 

I think you have Apple mistaken for Microsoft, and Intel, the latter which is notorious for holding back (throttling back CPU's, anyone?) technology for the sake of milking every last dime out of their customers. Been a windows victim, err, user for 18 years straight... and an Apple user for 6 years straight.

my apple experience= ZERO crashes, freezes or update interruptions for SIX years.

Windows = I wish a had a dime for every hour I wasted spoon-feeding this piece of rubbish. I could retire if I got paid for it. Apple pricey? yes and I'll take that every time over the time in my life WASTED by Windows.

But I digress. X51, please.

 

How am I mistaking Apple for Microsoft, unless you're saying that Porsches break down constantly like the Blue Screen of Death?

I'm saying that Porsche is like Apple in that it costs more for quality and cachet but you get less in terms of technology that is possible and standard in other cars. Want extra memory in your phone? Sorry. Can't upgrade it yourself. But you can get that as an 'option' and the cost is astronomical compared to other devices. Want a fingerprint scanner on the latest iPad? Sorry, you'll have to wait for the next iteration even though the technology is possible now.

 

Yonkers- IMHO I get far more for my $ with Apple computers... like my life (personal time) back, for starters, instead of doting over Windows updates, etcs stop start, etc etc... Time is money, and I'd rather turn on my computer, use it and shut it off. It should serve ME, not the other way around with a Windows device. I could care less about fingerprint scanners, btw.

 

This simply isn't true, Apple has never "held back technology" so they could hand it out "incrementally" on their S versions. The S versions -- 3GS, 4S, 5S -- have always been all new next generation technology internally that simply wasn't available, even developed, at the time the previous generation was released. For example, there was no 64-bit processor to put in the iPhone 5. Don't be fooled by the fact that the external cases have been similar on the S versions, inside they are completely new phones.

And, there was no fingerprint reader on the iPad Air/iPad Mini Retina because, until very recently, the fingerprint reader hardware supply was extremely constrained. It's still constrained today, although not as badly. The new iPads didn't get the fingerprint reader technology because there simply wasn't an adequate supply to include it in the iPads, not because Apple was holding it back.

 

Are you even reading my posts? That's kind of my point in comparing them to Porsche.

 

The iPad air doesn't have the best screen, the best front camera, the best back camera, isn't the lightest, isn't the thinnest. It's just not using the best available technology that is out there right now. Now they put it together very well and it works wonderful. It looks beautiful. I want one. That's why I compare it to Porsche.

But when a base Kia Optima comes with heated/vented seats, panoramic glass sunroof, bluetooth audio, and all this other standard technology that we have to pay for, you wish that if Porsche wasn't going to include them standard that they would at least sell these options at a cheaper price.

 

Actually I'm pretty sure the iPad Air has the best screen and the best camera and is the thinnest on the market right now. In fact it's best on every dimension I can think of unless you want a wide screen tablet for movie watching.

 

Sorry to go further off topic but:

http://www.zdnet.com/ipad-air-vs-kin...et-7000022710/

I was wrong about it being thinner. It's 20% lighter than the iPad air but .3mm (7.8 vs 7.5) thicker.

 

The differences in the components you're talking about are largely insignificant and don't detract in any significant way from the user experience of the iPad Air. Nor do they represent a "holding back" of features so they can dribble them out in the next generation. What they represent, along with the things that blow everything else away, like the 64-bit processor and the graphics performance and the overall responsiveness of the device, are engineering decisions made to end up with a package that can be sold at a specific target price.

If you want to compare Porsche to Apple, the point where they have the most in common is their focus on refinement through iterative development.

But the iPad/other tablets, Kia/Porsche analogy just doesn't work. It's not like the iPad doesn't come with a camera, but Apple will put one in there for you for $100. The way the companies, market and sell features has little in common.

 

As to the topic of this thread, the cost of the Carrera S Powerkit is arguably excessive, when compared to the price of power differences in other 911 models.

For example, for the 50 hp difference between the Carrera base and S models, after you add PTV and PASM to the base (standard on the S), and take into account the difference in brakes (black vs red) and wheels, you pay about ~$175/unit of hp*. Between the TT & TTS models, once you otherwise spec the TT to the same level as standard on the TTS, the remaining price difference, for just the increased engine performance, works out to about $210/unit of hp.

The $13,000 cost of the Powerkit that represents the engine upgrade alone, works out to ~$433/unit of hp. So, per unit of hp, you are paying more than twice as much as the examples above. With the TT vs TTS difference, that's just software, so one could argue that the hardware differences in the Powerkit justify the difference. But, with the Carrera base vs. S, you're moving from a 3.4 to a 3.8 liter engine and not paying the premium for a hardware "upgrade" that you do with the Powerkit.

(On the other hand, the price difference per unit of hp between equivalently configured Cayenne & Panamera TT's and TTS's is on par with the cost per unit of hp of the Powerkit -- i.e., ~$400/unit of hp. I haven't done comparisons between other models.)

That being said, value, as opposed to cost, is a subjective judgment, and Porsche makes it clear what you get for your money with the Carrera S Powerkit, so I don't really think calling it a "ripoff" is appropriate.



* It was difficult to determine exactly the cost difference due to the brakes and wheels, so I used a "reasonable" guestimate, thus the approximate value for the cost difference, but the actual value is probably no more than ±$5/unit of hp from the value given.

 

Leaving aside the fact that all hp's are not equal in the eyes of the customer (low/mid/high rpm hp's depending on why you want them), $100 (more $200 in fact) to $700 is the range where you find most of the aftermarket options too for a naturally aspirated P-car (consider a tune, sport headers... up to an Akra exhaust). So price wise, the Powerkit is in fact not a ripoff. Even more so when you consider that people are ready to pay high amounts to have their cars different or personalized (special color, HRE wheels, etc.). Put the Powerkit in that basket and its pricing is even less crazy.

At the end of the day, I consider a rip off to be something of an unreasonable amount that gets extorted for accomplishing something you did not really need, asked for or agreed with. Maybe most of the taxes we pay would fall in this category. I would be happy if, let's say, a minimum of 50% of my taxes would at least be as well justified at a Powerkit. But I digress... .

 

For me, biggest reason that the Power Kit seems a bit overpriced, is that you hardly ever get to use even the stock HP, so adding even more HP for $15-17k seems like money not well spent. Whereas with some of the other options mentioned, the money will be "used" more often. I had a 2006 Cayman S before purchasing my 2011 GT3. While I'm still learning to drive the GT3 well, I can tell you that the Cayman S was VERY usable on the street. It really was a fun car. Can I notice the difference in power? Sure. Does it make the GT3 more fun? Not necessarily.

If you're going to the track while still driving the car almost daily, the Power Kit makes a lot of sense, especially considering how difficult it is to get a 991 GT3. If it's just for the streets, I'd probably skip it and use the money elsewhere. Would be tempting though....

P.S. Another thing for everyone to consider here is that you cannot get a 991 GT3 as a manual, so anyone wanting to get HP closer to the GT3 while still driving a manual should consider the Power Kit. To many, this is probably as important as the HP.