997 Gen 2 S or not...

[SAG6Y]

Hi all. I'm after a 997 Gen 2 but don't know if it's worth the extra to go for an S. I only wanted to spend no more than £40k which gets a nicely specced Carrera. I could push the extra for an S but is it worth it as will be a higher miler with less toys. The car will be used for work, lots of motorway and around 1k mikes/month. Appreciate your thoughts.

[mrdemon]

S comes with more toys as standard and bigger brakes and that extra BHP you will wish you had when one drives past you.

[MrTickle]

whilst the above is true... a base carrera is a very sweet ride and in some ways less is more.....

(did i really just say that?)

Try it, if you can get a better non S for your money, that's the way I would go.

[athomp04]

SAG6Y have sent you a pm.

[SkinnyP]

The snob inside me says go for th S (marketing victim?), but we all know 98% of the time the regular carrera will be special enough.

[SkinnyP]

Does the Carrera actually rev quicker, I'd have thought the engines (and stroke) were the same its just the bore which is different?

[SAG6Y]

Thanks for the replies guys. I think a regular Carrera sounds like the sensible option.

[blueg33]

SkinnyP said:

Does the Carrera actually rev quicker, I'd have thought the engines (and stroke) were the same its just the bore which is different?

Correct me if I am wrong, but bigger bore = bigger pistons = more reciprocating mass = more inertia = less reviness

[mrdemon]

more torque though which is always nice and you cannot pass up on the larger brakes.

I am sure the non S has the tiny 4 pots and the S has bigger calipers and disks.

With so many models I forget, but the S seemed so much better when I was looking.

the S also has 19" standard wheels and PASM standard, but I guess most non S were speced up with both.
xenons also standard on the S model which are great.

the S will be easier resell also, which to me is always key.

[mrdemon]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

I think the brakes on the 987.2 are a bit pants.... bigger is better the smaller brakes really lack the confidence at speed.
I have RS29 pads just for the road in the R but the PCCB on the Spyder are outstanding over my R,

If my R was my only car I would fit some 6 pots to it and def if I tracked it.

get 4 up in a base 911 and do a few hi speed stops and you will have no brakes that's a lot of weight to stop with those tiny units.

[SkinnyP]

Looking in the brochure, the torque curves for the 3.6 and 3.8 look very similar. I'm sure they are both a hoot to drive.

Brakes on both models are 330mm up front, but the S has bigger pads, wider discs and 'reinforced' calipers, whatever that means.

[f1ashgordon]

Xenons are standard on gen2 carrera, brakes are near as dammit the same except for colour and the only noticeable difference (most are specified with 19" wheels) is the exhaust.
I asked the same question a couple of years back and ended up in an S but only because I got a good deal. I'd be tempted now to go back to a Carrera for my next 911 and just ensure it was manual with sports exhaust; it'd tick all the boxes for me as a road car.

[SkinnyP]

What's the price difference like between the two models, second hand obviously?

I like the idea of a manual car with pccb, 18" wheels and an LSD, if that's at all possible.

I wonder how 265 rear rubber would compare to 295 on the 385bhp S model.

[Mario149]

Ref the OP's original question, I agree with cmoose - more powerful etc is not always better and having to "work" a little harder for your performance when driving on the road is ultimately going to be more satisfying in a sports car and 345bhp is plenty for that weight of car on the road.

That said if you're going to use it as a DD which it appears you are, an S may be more effortless and give you more jollies at lower revs where you'll likely be more of the time compared to how you'd drive a weekend fun car.

The other issue is that it depends on what you're used to driving. If it's your first "proper" performance car, a Carrera should give you more than enough power thrills - however if your weekend wheels are a V12 Ferrari, you'll might miss the torque!

[itsybitsy]

If I did not have the spyder and wanted a dd I would go base911 997.2 with its passive suspension,18"wheels and cheaper RFL.the only options I would like is sports seats pse and a short shift gearshift.
911 heaven! (Less is certainly more)

Edited by itsybitsy on Wednesday 1st October 14:44

[SAG6Y]

If it was my only car, I'd be getting a turbo! Thankfully, my weekend steed is a Lamborghini Murcielago.

[Mario149]

SAG6Y said:

If it was my only car, I'd be getting a turbo! Thankfully, my weekend steed is a Lamborghini Murcielago.

Haha! I was on the money with a V12 then

Thinking about it more, even with the weekend Italian, might be worth sticking to the non-S as whichever one you buy it's going to feel slow so you might as well save yourself a bit of cash

[J-P]

Hi Kam - how are you buddy? Personally, I would get a base carrera especially if I had a Murci as my weekend wheels. If I didn't have the Murci, then I'd consider going for a GTS but in your case, it's not worth it IMHO.