Turbo S Test Drive
- Thread starter blueSL
- Start date
There is an unregistered Black Turbo S at Swindon OPC it was a cancelled order, it has several options such as sunroof and additional leather showroom price is £149K which is list price. I reckon they would be open to offers to shift it. It does have the Turbo wheels rather than the Turbo S centre lock wheels. As a matter of interest what is the typical cost of insurance on one of these?
Interesting pricing, £2,387 to add centre locks to Turbo, but a free delete (to 5 lug) on the Turbo S. They do try hard to make buying a great car a negative experience.
I can see the dealer now: 'So Sir you chose to delete 'for free' the centre-locks, but now you are trading it and all my second-hand customers say they want centre-locks or a discount therefore the trade-in price drops a further £2,387. Sound familiar to anyone ?
Alex L posts
Could this comment not apply to 90+% of all cars and definitely every Porsche currently available? Porsche gets away with the pricing because that is what the market will bear I guess. Sadly cars are expensive and even speccing up a 3-series BMW to a decent level gets you close to Cayman territory.
So what is the thinking amongst you turbo guys about Porsche releasing the turbo and turbo S together? When looking to acquire the pinnacle of power and performance, is anyone willing to spend what is still a lot of money, on the lesser car when the S is already present? When one is released before the other you'd only have one choice to buy the best at that time. The difference being that you're comfortable in the knowledge that one day something better will be developed to tempt you to upgrade and give you that new car feeling again. But it doesn't yet exist so you are buying tbe best. But this time, how does the turbo sit with you when there is already a turbo S to overshadow it?
It’s a fair question. Over the years I guess we have got used to there being a progressive delivery of Porsche product over time, with each iteration within a particular model range moving the offer on and up incrementally. The result has been a smorgasbord of options ranging from something new for early adopters right the way through to attractive bargains at the end of model run for those prepared to wait ( 997 turbo S discounted price anyone?). Generally this worked OK but there was some dissatisfaction amongst customers with 997 when the turbo S came out shortly after Gen II turbo. So did Porsche take those complaints into account with the phasing of 991 turbo? Doubtful. However if you look at the incremental changes between the models themselves things may have changed a little. There was a significant increase in power and torque between 996 and 997 turbo. That doesn’t seem to have happened between 997 and 991 to anything like the same extent, where only the S version shows an uplift over Gen II 997. And that seems to be borne out in the straight line performance figures where there has been little improvement over 997. The improvements in 991 over 997 are generally in other areas such as handling and ride comfort, active aero, wider track, and better fuel efficiency combined with a more modern cabin. No version of 997 turbo was exactly lacking in power or performance, so it seems to me that 991 turbo buyers are basically offered all that formidable performance in an updated and more attractive package. On rational grounds the case for 991 turbo is quite compelling. I can make no equally logical or compelling case for 991 turbo S. But then I couldn't find a Porsche turbo of any description in Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. [
] Cheers Nick
] Cheers Nick
Great comment! I must remember that. Also presumably Turbos are now as lesser ranges with contemporaneous launches of 'standard' and 'S' versions with GT3RS being the exception to the rule.
Thanks Nick Will be interesting to see how many of the turbo get sold vs turbo S. I also think that Porsche wanted to take on the competition as strongly as possible from launch and not hold anything back. But then they could have done that with one car, the highest performance version, and possibly just badged it turbo. Then in years to come a any future enhancements will bring about a turbo S (there will be advancements, so will we have a 991 gen 2 turbo S in years to come - that'd be unprecedented). Maybe they saw two different price points in the market to aim at and so see a justification for a car at £120K now that their latest and greatest commands £140K.
The cost difference between the two becomes less if you spec up a turbo to include some things which are standard on a turbo S. It would be interesting to know what the cost difference is if you take a turbo all the way (or as far as possible) to a turbo S to establish what, if any, premium Porsche charge for the S performance. Are there any mechanical differences between the two or is it all down to an engine map, rev limiter and boost pressure? The great problem with the 997.2 was that the cost difference between the two was as close to zero as made no odds, may even have been negative, so the S was a no brainer when it came out. I expect the bog standard turbo will be a slow seller. If you're already in the market for a turbo and are going to option it up a bit, the stretch to an S is not so great and eliminates the ribbing and self-doubt that you've bought second-best... My dealer specifically cautioned me against taking a turbo and specc'ing it up beyond a few must-have options.
I have to say the logic of releasing both simultaneously is beyond me. Had they done the same with the Gen 2 997 then I would have bought the "S", despite it having the pointless centre locks.......(chuckle) because, as Mark says, the price differential was minimal. However, a year or so later, when the "S" was released the step up was not economically sensible or viable, for me at least. When the "S" was the last hurrah for the model before the next one came along it did make sense, but now the non S turbo, in itself, seems totally pointless.
Far be it from me to question the holy writ of an Administrator, but unless we were to rewrite history, including the deletion of a relevant thread on here, at least two Gen 2 cars were collected on a fine day in early March 2010. One of these was specified close to what turned out to be S level. By July 2010, a mere 4 months later that car had gone and been replaced with a genuine S. Just sayin.... To answer Mark’s point, a 991 turbo with most of the expensive S trimmings is about £130k. So that would suggest the S engine is about £8-10k extra over the turbo engine. What I think would have been an attractive option would have been a car as per turbo S with S engine and save £8.5k by binning centre locks and PCCB both of which are chocolate teapot on a road car. Sadly no amount of playing on the configurator allowed that option.
Oh, was it only four months? Well, it was 4 years ago and at my age the memory ain't what it used to be. However, I think the point is that at the time of release/order/purchase of said turbo there was no hint of the S following so closely on it's heels - not to me anyway. And the financial hit still wouldn't have been possible for me as I presumed they wouldn't give me my money back on a four month old car![] The (marginal) gain would not have been worth the pain.[]
] The (marginal) gain would not have been worth the pain.[]
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