Those of you driving AWD cars, why did you decide to go that route vs. a C2? Is it mainly a bad weather thing? Or, do you feel the AWD car just provides a more secure ride?

I'm currently searching out a 997 to replace my current 996 and 550i as a daily driver. I've found both C2S and C4S models that fit the bill of what I'm looking for, but honestly don't know if there is a real REASON for me to go AWD. We live in North Carolina and don't get a whole lot of snow at all. Winters over the last few years have been colder than normal so there is the occasional black ice in the am, but by no means are we in a frozen tundra. I'm sure that a C2 is perfectly capable as a DD all winter, but my real question is would an AWD car be better or seldom really used?

Thanks so much for the help!

 

Its easy...I had trouble with my E320 in snow...I told my wife I needed an AWD for the winter and that was the only way my wife OK'd the purchase. Funny thing is I still drive my E320 in the bad weather

Truth of the matter is I do find that I have great traction in the rain here in the Northwest so I have no regrets. The other thing is its next to impossible to spin the damn thing even when PSM is disabled on the skid pad during driver skills...so its glued to the road. Also, acceleration is unbelieveable in all conditions. Really an amazing machine frankly. However, when I drove the C2S at the Porsche Sports Driving school, I really prefered the handling of the C2S. The front was much lighter and nimble. If you don't think you will have a lot of rain or snow...I think the C2S may be the way to go....

THere is one other thing....the rear is 1.5 inches wider on the C4. Some people just go for the C4s just for the wide a$$.

Anyway...you can't go wrong with either....both are amazing machines. Boils down to preference.

 

I live in the Pacific Northwest and AWD is the right car for up here even though we don't get much snow. It just gives you a little added security. My 997 is a DD so even though I can borrow my wife"s X5 I prefer the C4S. I also bought it for the styling - I like the wide body of the AWD Porsches. However my next car just might be the GTS.
Cheers
Greg

 

From the sound of it, you don't really need the AWD, most people get it for the security, it's glued to the road as mentioned, you get a lot of confidence to go fast. If you don't track much, the AWD is probably the way to go, plus it's wider. I was originally looking for a C2S but found a C4S that had everything I wanted. The AWD comes in handy, in case I need it. I read a lot about the C4S before I purchased it. It's 95% rear wheel bias and sends up to 40% of the power to the front wheel when needed, basically, when you are about to wipe out. Honestly the C4S feels like a rear wheel drive car most of the time. No regrets.

 

All of my normally aspirated Porsches have been rear wheel drive . With the Turbo as well as modifications I felt the AWD might handle the high hp and provide street friendly use more than a gt2 . It does rain heavily in Florida and I'm not really sure how a gt2 woild cope with a sudden summer downpour. Plus back in 07 the Gt2 wasn't out yet and prior to recent times the Gt cars used to have heavy markup prices .

I do prefer rear wheel drive in a lighter NA car .
But I also like the high Hp of the Turbo more than anything.

Thus the dilema .. and 2 cars.

 

I'm in the Pacific NW also. It rains here pretty solid for winter/spring, and I DD my car, wanted the extra security of AWD. And the past two years it's been raining TOO STINKIN MUCH during the wet months.

 

The AWD models add better handling at a cost of a little more weight (~125lbs). The cornering is superb, especially when hitting the gas out of a turn. It's like riding on rails.

 

Great feedback guys. Sincerely appreciate it. Starting to lean more towards the 4/4S.

 

I wanted the wider back end, but I've come to love the grip. Awesome. I look for every corner I can find and floor it just before the apex to feel that thing sling me through. I've never felt one bit of slippage. It's a joy to drive.

 

I have a Turbo and have owned many C2's living in the NW and Atlanta. For a non-turbo I prefer the C2. The Turbo is great because the 4WD allows you to get on the power early in a turn. Doing that same thing in a C2 is going to get you going backwards in many cases. Frankly I just don't like the feel of a C4, they just feel heavy, slow and sluggish compared to my C2 or Turbo.

 

Drove both a C2S and a C4S before buying. Preferred the C2S lighter feel to the front end, more tossable. So the decision came down to whether I wanted to keep my 01S4 as a winter beater and buy the C2S or buy the C4S for year round and sell the S4. Since it was about a wash financially when you considered the extra cost of the car and a set of winter wheels I decided to go with the C4S so I could drive a Porsche year-round. There has only been one day I couldn't drive the C4S here in Nebraska due to the depth of the snow.

 

I had an '06 S before the turbo, and would never buy the 4S. The turbo only comes in AWD so not much of a choice - I know, there's something called the GT2 but didn't want to spend that kind of coin on it.

If it's not a bad weather car, don't see much of a need for the 4. Even in bad weather, i'd rather have a 2S with proper tires than a 4 with lesser tires. If you drive it in the snow.

 

I liked the grip in the turns of my C4S and the wider rear is more appealing. It was hard to feel like you were about to have an off-road incident in the car. I would get another if I ever traded out of my GT3.

 

I live in the northeast so went with C4 Cab then added winter tires and hardtop since this is my daily driver. In heavy weather, the light car still floats but I think a C2 woudl be like steering a toboggan.I also like the wider hips.I've come to love the handling of the front end but I only have few minutes behind the wheel of a C2 so really can't compare.

 

Some additional food for thought: Added weight of the AWD (already mentioned), the loss of some frunk space (it's a Porsche, who's buying one for storage anyway), the "marginal" increase in drivetrain losses with an AWD system, and the increase in maintenance with an AWD system. I don't own one personally but these are some of the things I have come across and can think of. Best thing to do is drive both hard and select the one that feels right to you.