2025 Porsche 911 (992.2) Carrera S | UK Review
A 911 Carrera S now has 997 Turbo levels of power. Is it the 'normal' 911 to have?
On the face of it, the new Carrera S looks uncomfortably sandwiched in the latest Porsche 911 range. Just below it sit the Carrera and Carrera T, offering the best part of 400hp alongside the engagement of a manual for those that still want it; above it is the formidable T-Hybrid GTS, which doesn’t feel far off a cut-price Turbo. There’s not an awful lot of space for a Carrera S to slot into, however familiar the nameplate is. This new car starts at just £5,000 more than a Carrera T, which isn’t very much on planet Porsche. It’s a Paint to Sample colour and Pasha Heritage Design Package less than a GTS. How does it fit into that gap?
Of course, the alternative way of looking at a Carrera S is that it now assumes the position of the old GTS. And everyone raves about those. As that model has adopted electrification, so the 480hp, twin-turbo 3.0-litre can now be ‘just’ the S. This latest version even borrows a few bits from the old model, like standard Porsche Torque Vectoring Plus and bigger brakes, to make what’s being called ‘the most dynamic 911 Carrera S ever.’ Look, too, at how well 500hp or so always works in so many 911s - GT3s have been there for yonks, and 997 Turbos too. So maybe the 480hp S is more compelling than it first seemed.
Furthermore, as this car demonstrates, a racier 911 Carrera S certainly doesn’t have to look it. YMR looks fit for Miami more than Midhurst, complete with wood veneer, Cognac leather and a splash of the sea with Shade Green paint. While it’s easy to poke fun at just how exhaustive (some might say exhausting) the range of options is, the scope to create so many different auras from one basic layout is quite cool. It’s certainly welcome when there are so many to write about…
Our drive of the Carrera S occurred in the vicinity of this year's Festival of Speed, immediately after the Turbo 50, in fact. Quite some act to follow, and it says something about how good this 3.0-litre has become that it didn’t feel an awful lot slower in everyday driving. Given the space and sufficient foolhardiness, of course, a 50 is capable of extraordinary things - but with less lag than the 3.7, the Carrera S is up and running before you can even say turbolader. The PDK is only too happy to drop several gears (a little too eager, sometimes, in the sportier drive modes), and at only 20kg heavier than a Carrera, the S is plenty rapid enough.
Like every recent Porsche turbo, too, there’s a real incentive to rev the Carrera S like a proper sports car. Peak power here is made right at the 7,500 rpm limiter (it’s 6,500 in a Carrera); with maximum torque from little more than 2,000 rpm, there really isn’t a point where an S doesn’t feel very fast indeed. Crucially for its billing, there’s a useful advantage to be felt over a 394hp/332lb ft Carrera. The driver can try not very hard and travel pretty briskly, or put the effort in and really get motoring, complete with standard sports exhaust roaring. To be honest, there didn’t feel much need for a manual.
It’ll come as little surprise to learn that the S drives quite a bit like the rest of the 911 Carrera range. Which is to say very well indeed, of course: precise, accomplished, cohesive and endlessly capable. While there isn’t a night-and-day difference to a Carrera, it also isn’t just a 480hp version; the brake and differential changes make it a slightly more serious prospect, the latter meaning it really drives out of bends without a jot of wasted momentum. Which is pretty exciting; not quite T-Hybrid exciting, sure, but when BMW can’t even sell an M4 anymore without xDrive we’ll take all the c. 500hp rear-drive action we can get.
Driving more serious 911s around the same time as the Carrera S definitely wasn’t fair on it. They cost more money, so they ought to be better sports cars - and Porsche is the master at making these differences seem tangible. On the same roads around Goodwood, it doesn’t have quite the crushing composure of a Turbo S, a little more flustered in Sport Plus like it can’t quite manage all that’s being asked quite so effortlessly. A little more heft to the steering wouldn’t go amiss, either. But this is all relative to other 911s; broadly speaking, it’s an exemplar of control weights and handling ability. There even seemed to be a bit less noise at 70mph than in a GTS. Must be all the insulation of the leather and wood…
While not being able to pick many meaningful flaws is hardly the most romantic form of recommendation, it’s hard to contest the idea that the new Carrera S absolutely earns its spot in the 911 range. The performance uplift against a Carrera is always abundantly apparent, and while it’s true that a GTS isn’t very many options away, £120,500 to £137,900 isn’t nothing; it goes from not much more than a four-cylinder AMG GT to not much less than a V8 one, for example. So quite a difference.
As capable of covering ground as it is playing the fairly lightweight, near-500hp sports car, there’s plenty that the Carrera S does right. For us, the T remains the most enjoyable of the Carreras, complete with manual and ever-so-slightly rawer attitude, though as a demonstration of everything the ‘standard’ 992 can now achieve, the Carrera S is enormously impressive. The options included above a Carrera shouldn’t be ignored, either. As fast as a Turbo from not very long ago without the complexity of hybridisation, it’s a persuasive package. Like you expected anything less.
SPECIFICATION | 2025 PORSCHE 911 CARRERA S
Engine: 2,981cc, flat-six, twin-turbo
Transmission: 8-speed PDK auto, rear-wheel drive
Power (hp): 480@7,500rpm
Torque (lb ft): 391@2,200-6,000rpm
0-62mph: 3.3 seconds (with Sports Chrono pack)
Top speed: 191mph
Weight: 1,540kg (DIN)
MPG: 26.4-27.7 mpg
CO2: 243-232 g/km
Price: £120,500
Base model & Carrera T are the ones to actually buy new, unless into the realms of GT3.
If it doesn't have to be a new one, it's got to be a 997 or earlier for the much more useable dimensions and far superior tactile feel & engagement that 991 & 992 can't get close to.
I am also lost at the variants, names, what has hybrid, do they all have turbos, which are 4wd, 4ws and which can be had with manuals.
I like the ld days where they were named: Carrera, S, 4S, Turbo, GT2, and GT3, they all had their very distinctive USPs.
I am also lost at the variants, names, what has hybrid, do they all have turbos, which are 4wd, 4ws and which can be had with manuals.
I like the ld days where they were named: Carrera, S, 4S, Turbo, GT2, and GT3, they all had their very distinctive USPs.
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