Carrera vs. Carrera 4: What's The Point?
 

Honest question, one that's been bugging me for a long time. What's the point of the Carrera 4 anymore?

Back when the all-wheel-drive Carrera came out, it made sense: it helped bring the 911's traditionally finicky handling under control. It added traction, made for better acceleration, and improved the car's ability to drive in bad weather. These days, however, other technical improvements seem to have pretty much rendered all those factors moot. Thanks to traction control, ESP, launch control and the other bazillion computerized systems that make up the 911's brain, the current Carrera accelerates from 0-60 just as quickly as the Carrera 4. The tricky handling that was a 911 hallmark has been pretty much brought into line by decades of chassis and suspension development. And modern-day winter tires do as much, if not more, to help RWD cars deal with ice, rain and snow as AWD does.

So why buy the Carrera 4 or 4S anymore? Or, let me be more specific: as someone who lives in New York City but frequently drives into upstate New York, Massachusetts and Vermont at all times of year, does it make any sense to spring for the AWD Carrera, or should I just go for a RWD Carrera and buy some good snow tires for the winter?

The 4 is just nice to have for the NE weather quite frankly. The extra grip is nice, and the extra feeling of stability when the conditions arent great is just nice. If anything, more and more people are shifting to the 4wd variants even when they dont need to. IMHO, I like them too! If you want a true dynamic experience...well, thats what the GT cars are for!

widebody look, awd.....again what is this up here for? If you have never owned a porsche then you will never understand. This statement is not meant to be offensive but informative.

Besides what has been said, awd yields better weight distribution, something all 911 struggles with.

Agrees with all three above.

All of the above, but one more thing: never underestimate the power of visual appeal/brand power with customers obsessed with looks and status.

I see a truckload of Carrera 4/4S models sold here simply because they "look" more expensive than a regular Carrera; people are extremely willing to pay a pretty penny if they're image-driven. That's not to say that the Carrera 4 models are designed for show because they are genuinely well-engineered machines, but sometimes the choice between a Carrera S and 4S comes down to something as spurious as "it looks better."

Porschephile88

That's always been true, and you raise a good point. The 991 almost eliminates that issue now, however. For almost all intents and purposes, it feels like a true-blue RMR now. The balance is epic. Turn off TC and it's completely manageable, even predictable, while still leaving the driver smiling from ear-to-ear. If I lived in the frozen North, I'd look into a 4S for practical reasons, but otherwise I'd think that getting one would drain the remaining fun out of the platform.

And snow tires will never replace AWD or 4WD

I live in NJ and drive my 911, 365. My first was a 2S 997, followed by a 4S 997 FL. I have a 4S 991 on order.

My experience: the 997 2S was squirrelly in the snow and I prefer the feel of the 4S at all times, personally.

I certainly wouldn't have held out for the 4S for another year otherwise.

Adding more weight is a horrible way to arrive at better weight distriution. I'd much prefer less weight if given the choice.