Fulfilling your dream? Get the C2S, you don't want to question yourself later and regret not ponying up a few extra bucks. Seriously.

 

S S S S S S S

 

OK I'll play devil's advocate here since no one has chimed in on the base side. I'm very pleased with the base Carrera; I think it probably suits what I bought it for (commuting, looking cool, fun to drive, occasional road trip, always wanted one) as well as an S. It had many of the things that I wanted (Leather, Bose, Xenons); didn't pay for things that may be nice but I can definitely live without (Big Red Brakes, PASM, Sport Chrono, Nav). Tires are cheaper, slightly better mpg. I got mine used from an acquaintance: if I hadnt gotten the deal I got on it, I simply wouldn't be driving a 997, and even so it was a bit more than what I had planned on spending for a car. I've had better stereos than the Bose (I think even the Bose in my Maxima is better), but its good enough that I don't feel the immediate need to rip it out and spend 10 grand replacing it. All that said, next time when my budget is a bit bigger I will probably go for the S. But then I'll probably start wishing I had gotten a GT3 or TT

 

One more thing I wanted to add. My two finalists came down to a new C6 Vette and this car. I am a pretty large person, and I actually fit in the 997 a bit better. Also, even though it was used and still more expensive, this just seemed like a nicer car, a bit more solid, better materials etc. All of the S's I looked at were in Z06 territory price wise, and I think that might change the equation a bit for me (albeit for different reasons than all of the ones I just gave). Cars and motorcycles are very subjective things for me: I can't always put a finger on why at the time but its always easy to to rationalize after I have pulled the trigger.

 

Great choice!

 

Caveatesq,

We have a custom shop in Fl. We just did a 2008 Turbo with the first Tech Art body kit and replaced the whole Bose system with ours. The sound is amazing. Give us a call if we can help. 954-946-7860. We can travel to you.

 

I have owned both base and "S" versions of the 997 and I know you will be very happy with your decision!

Good luck!

 

Congrats. You made the right choice IMHO

 

Thanks - Just added Turbo wheels to my order. I need to stop perusing the order guide or this could get VERY expensive very quickly.

 

Then the S will become the new "base".

 

nice choice, go w/ S!

 

How do you really feel?

Seriously - I don't think there is *that* much of a difference. For me - if I'm going to spend this much I would rather get as much as I could of the good stuff...

For a daily - a full leather heavily optioned C2 would probably be just fine - but for a few grand more the S is the way to go.

 

I agree with your statement. Porsche marketing should have never released an "S" version with a bigger engine and just released the 3.8L in the Carrera. They only made two versions so that they could make more money!

Every time they claim improvement from the 996 to the 997, they make an apples to oranges comparison by showing how much faster the 997 "S" version is from the 996 Carrera. Not really fair.

Another issue I have is that if they truly wanted to improve the base 997, they would have given it the 3.6L x51 engine as stock so it could have 345hp. It seems that only the TT has the biggest jumps in horsepower between generations (from 420hp to 480hp), while the rest of the models have to settle for the marginal improvements.

I'm just happy that the performance, chasis, interior/exterior and gearing has improved. Engine improvements and horsepower (from generation to generation) don't seem to be Porsche's strong points.