Bonn, if you have never tried snow tires BELIEVE me (us), they will make you a believer. 911's are actually quite compentent in the snow with the right rubber.

Give me a call when you are ready and I'll set you up.

 

thanks damon!
i'm sure i'll need your help when i get my hands on my 09' C2S!!

 

In my opinion the Aero Kit is for "looks" and not performance. I've had my C2S on the track many times and 2 visits to Watkins Glen (fast track) logged in 15 hours (7 hours 1st 2 days @ 30 minutes on / 30 off, 8 hours 2nd 2 days 40 on w/ 2 drivers at a time). The car was rock stable at speed - pushing 150 at the back straight heading into the Bus Stop braking zone. If you are looking for performance, take whatevery Porsche would charge you for the Aero Kit and spend it on real performance parts, like GT3 control arms and brake ducts ($1300 and $40 respectively), SRF fluid, track pads, 18" wheels and R-comps, AWE headers / cats / mufflers, etc.

 

I bought my 05 C2S this past January and drove it right through the Toronto winter. Laugh all you want but my C2S with winter rubber was much better in the snow then my Nissan Altima with all-seasons.

I think the aerokit would be a little troublesome on days with heavier snowfall.

 

gteehan, how's the silver doing on the C2S? does it catches alot of attention? :P
i really love silver cars and is looking for one on the C2S. I can imagine myself driving the 09' facelift during the Canadian winter! just can't wait to get my hands on those wheels! hope you guys enjoy every bit of your Pcars

 

I live in Toronto and owned a 997, 911S and now own a 997 9114S so I can speak from experience of owning both. The 911s was a great car with nimble turn in but it got ripped off so I had the opportunity to then purchase the 4S.
The 911S was quite good in the fall and winter months as I had 18 inch snows on it but still if it was wet or snow and you attempted a quick take off there was significant wheel tramp. The 4S at first was a little more heavy in the steering but after a few months I adjusted and I now prefer it. In Toronto the weather is not great from October to March and we often have wet or borderline freezing conditions where the roads are slick. The 4S is unbeleivably sure footed in thses conditions and you can wind it up and take off with vitually no wheel slip in all conditions ....in Toronto it is practically way faster than the 911S. In the winter the car is so stable and planted. Remember that the 9114S was faster around the N ring than the 911S for the time ever in Porsche history. I recently tracked the car at Mosport and it is incredible on the track and the 911S had nothing on me at all...in fact I prefer the 4S at the track. So there you are. If you lived in Arizona or Texas I would say why bother with the 4S but in Toronto if you intend to drive it all sea sons as I do the 4S is better and by a significant measure for our climate

 

thanks for the input guys!! i think it will be a C4S for me, btw, how does the cab perform in the winter? if i'm going for the 4S already, i might as well go up another step and get the top-down experience for the money i'm spending already!! :P

Although I understand the 997/997S are probably the best sports car to drive all year round, but the AWD will allow me to drive faster on more slippery road. The C2S will do a decent job in the winter but it is still manageable to drive in those weather. So it's more like "I can drive the C4S fast all year round" or "I can drive the C2S faster only on dry roads and only do a decent job on wet/slippery roads". hope i'm getting this right. both are great cars but one is more suitbale for the subzero weather i think

 

I think you misunderstand the benefits of AWD. It is not the end all / be all you appear to think it is. You will be able to drive just as fast on slippery roads in a C2 / C2S as you will in an AWD version with a few minor exceptions, which might amount to a few days a year. Here's my real-world example, meaning not a bunch of theory. At Watkins Glen I can run say 2:20 in the rain in my C2S with street tires (PS2s). That changes to about 2:15 in the dry with the same bone stock setup. We are talking about 5 seconds in a 3.5 mile track. AWD would not change that number and in the dry, the AWD would be slower.

So, would you rather drive the "faster" C2 variant car 325 days of the "good weather" days you have and be a few seconds slower the remaining days? You owe it to yourself to do more research and read RennList debates about AWD, actual magazine articles from Excellence and others and you'll learn enough about AWD to realize that even for winter driving the RWD cars with snows is just fine. You probably should consider the C2 because it rides 10mm higher than any of the S variants with PASM...

 

I guess my question is "Why would you want to drive faster on a slippery road?" I would have thought you would want to avoid the risk of someone else doing something stupid on a slippery road. In the end the laws of physics governing grip trump the abilities of an awd system - as many dumb sport ute drives have discovered to their cost. Frankly when the weather is bad I match my speed to the general flow of the traffic to ensure I have a better chance of avoiding someone else's fender bender.

 

^Agreed, AWD gets you going quicker in the bad stuff but it won't stop you any quicker (could argue it takes longer to stop because of greater mass).

With the local media and cops' hardon for anything remotely resembling street racing, I don't know how many hard launches you want to be doing from a stop any time of the year anyways, let alone in the winter/wet.

 

I want to get the best capabilities from a car especially from an exclusive car like the 911. (for its cost and their icon)
But for the extra 10k, I can't see the rationality of getting the C4S over the C2S. Maybe taking the step up to the C2S from a C2 is already a big one. (our canadian cars were always more expensive compared to the US)
Anyways, how does the boot space in the C4S compares to the C2S?

 

I live in Toronto and drove my 997 C2S right through the winter with the PS2's! Yes stupid i know but i did it with the exception of a few real bad days where I didnt even try. I couldn't find a single set of 19' winter rubbers, even Pfaff was sold out. Tried Tire Rack same story. If i made it through with those tires you'll be fine with winters on. Just feather that throttle.

 

This thread is almost 1.5 years old. Old news.

 

I think the information in this thread is still relevant though, especially with winter at our doorstep...

 

I live in the Toronto area. We had a crazy winter last year, with record snow falls. Although, I've got a set of wheels and winter tires. I am still a little apprehensive on driving my porsche this winter. Any tips on how to drive the 911 C2S on snow and icy roads.