Initial impressions

So I have about 600 miles on the C4S and want to get down some initial impressions.  I have quite a few thoughts to get out, so I'll take a crack at organizing them a bit.

Aesthetics

Aesthetically, I think the 991.2 is an incredibly pretty interpretation of the 911 shape.  To my eyes it looks sleek, smooth, and elegant.  I also happen to think all 911s are incredibly good-looking, and I realize that aesthetics are mostly subjective.  I'm a big believer that the best car out there is the one you have the keys to!But just as I prefer the prominent fenders of a 964 to the more aerodynamic shape of a 993, I prefer the shape of a 991.2 to a 991.1.  It has a very tidy face, with lovely, thin turn signals:

Sleek and modern

Compared to the Boxster, the signals on the C4S are even thinner.  I think they look great.  The folks over at Elferspot have a great piece comparing the 991.1 and 991.2.  Their visual comparing the front view is really well done:

991.2 and 991.1

I think both the 991.1 and 991.2 are super pretty, and I slightly favor the look of the .2 from the front, mainly because of the thin turn signals.

You can clearly see the design evolution when looking at 964 next to the C4S:

Fender evolution

In addition to be physically larger, you can see that the aerodynamicists have had their way with the shape, smoothing out the front, making the flyline a more gradual curve instead of dropping more dramatically on the 964:

The flyline is simply beautiful

The rear lights on the 964 are so much lower than the 991

I really do have a thing for the 964 flyline, I think it just looks so cool!

A lot to like about those curves!

I also love how the rear of the C4S is body-colored except for the thin horizontal plastic piece surrounding the center-mounted exhaust pipes.

Beautiful from behind

The Boxster has a similar rear end treatment, with the body color flowing down the car at the corners, with a slightly wider plastic piece around its center-mounted exhausts.  It's pretty close to the rear of the 964, which is body-colored all the way.  Of course, the C4S has much wider hips, which makes sense, as it has 305 section rear tires:

I love the hips!

It makes the 964 look like a classic, with it's super-low tail lights.  Both cars are beautiful to my eyes, but vastly different.

Again, aesthetics are a personal thing, but I favor the rear of the 991.2 over the 992.  The 992 looks to me to be more aggressive and muscular.  It is by no means unattractive, I just like what I like.  I prefer the smoother lights and more subtle Porsche script:

992

991

Now, I do think the "992/9-11" Easter egg on the rear of the 992 is super cool.

However, I like what I like, and I just prefer the rear lights of the 991.2. Specifically, I like the C4/S treatment, as that adds the light bar that connects the two rear lamp clusters:

Cool rear lights

I also really dig brake lights, especially the thin center high-mounted stop lamp:

I love the light signature

It kind of gives me 993 C4S vibes, though that was mounted along the roofline:

The 993 C4S looks great!

I even like the way it "glows" in the garage when I get out of the car.  I love the light signature, front and rear.

I think the car looks weirdly good when it's wet:

There's just something about the water droplets on that shape

I'm not about to claim that the 991.2 shape is the "prettiest 911 ever" or anything like that, I'm just saying that I think it looks really good.  Aesthetically, it's very very pretty to my eyes.  I just like it.

Chassis

The chassis in this car is really incredible.  My car has the sport PASM, so the car is lowered 20 mm.  In a word, the car is "comfortable."  In It soaks up bumps, expansion joints, and the roads of daily life without ever feeling rough.  My favorite local "bumpy road" makes the 964 feel "lively."  You can really feel it moving around underneath you.  The C4S simply hoovers up the road without disturbing the occupants.  Even with the sport chassis turned on, the ride is firm but compliant.  On "my" bumpy road, the sport chassis transmit more of the road imperfections, but the car doesn't move around anything like the 964.

On the long drive back from Pittsburgh, the car was supremely comfortable.  Only once over a particularly nasty bridge section did it launch Enzo towards the roof.  The rest of the time, the car was just ready to go, all day long.

The car also has loads of mechanical grip.  Roundabouts and 90-degree bends are super fun.  The car stays flat, composed, and capable.  The steering is also super sharp.  I drive around with the comfortable suspension more often than not, and yet, if I need to swerve to avoid a pothole, the car responds immediately.

Speaking of steering, this car also has rear axle steering.  I thought it was a "nice to have" feature, and wasn't including it as a must-have option.  A friend of mine, who has a '19 GTS, did say:

"Try and find rear wheel steer. Makes such a big difference! I love it."

After living with it for a couple of weeks, I have to say, I'm super impressed.  Again, on roundabouts and 90-degree bends, the car dives for the apex like no 911 should.  It turns in right now.  On higher speed curves, the car feels stable and planted.  Super impressive.  It's a feature I would now prioritize if I was on the hunt.

The other thing I'll lump in here is the AWD system.  The car is so easy to set in a corner, then digs its way out the way no RWD car can hope to do.  It just puts the power down and off you go.  Impressive.

I was a bit worried about the sport suspension that is 20 mm lower than stock.  I was a little worried about scraping the nose, but figured I've been driving a lowered 964 for 25+ years.  Fortunately, the C4S passes the driveway test without touching:

It gets pretty close, but doesn't touch!

There's just enough clearance!

Thank goodness.  I can also drive over the speedbumps on campus without touching, so really, I think the lowered suspension is just fine.  And it does make the car's stance look really good.

Engine Musings

The car is powerful, and it's really the torque that is the differentiator.  When I think about the other cars (the 2 vans, the GLI,  the 964 and the Boxster), I find myself at some point flooring the throttle pretty much every time I drive.  The C4S has sufficient power that you have to think carefully before pushing the throttle to the floor.  I'd say in day-to-day driving over the past week, I rarely find myself flooring the C4S.

As an example of it's power, I was taking the Long Way Home on Sunday and noticed a guy on a Yamaha sport bike who was following me around.  So, I decided to take the even longer way home and let the C4S rip a bit.  After our second turn, it was clear he was caning that bike trying to keep up.  The third turn was the left at a stop light.  I was in pole position and he was right behind me.  As the light turned green, I accelerated through the turn and dropped the hammer on him. I saw his front wheel come off the ground as he tried to keep up.  He really wasn't shrinking the distance between us.

We caught up to traffic, so I opened the sunroof and gave him a giant thumbs up.  He caught me at a roundabout and pulled up alongside, I rolled the window down, and he said, “Man, that thing is proper fast!”

Yes, yes, it is.  The C4S is a stealthy monster.  According to Car and Driver, it's a 3.2 0-60 car that does the quarter in 11.5 at 121 mph.  That's definitely fast.  It's certainly fast enough that it will never feel slow.

I've done launch control in the car a couple of times.  Embarrassingly, the first time I had the transmission in manual mode.  I released the brake, we took off like a shot, and promptly ran into the rev limiter in first.  Whoops.  That was my fault.  The second time, I left the drive mode in Sport+ and the transmission in automatic mode.  This time, I released the brakes, the car shot forward, snapped off redline shifts, and the thrust didn't relent even as we went into triple digits.  Yes, the car is plenty fast.

That said, it's fun to think there are another 100 horsepower and 160+ lb-ft of torque lurking if I ever want to do a tune.

PDK

I'l admit that during the search, I had some uncertainty about the PDK.  I know it's an outstanding transmission from my experiences with Allison's Boxster and Faris' Spyder RS.  I mean, it's a super impressive transmission.  But I've been daily-driving a manual since forever, and was a little worried that I would miss the feeling of shifting on my own.

After living with the car for a couple of weeks, I'm no longer worried.  The 964 is manual, and the PDK is a very engaging transmission.  When I want to be engaged, I can simply put the car into manual mode and shift the way I want to shift.  I'd say that most of the time, I drive around in manual mode, mostly because I just enjoy shifting.  It's not the same kind of engagement as I get in the 964, but I certainly don't feel like I'm driving my old Ford Taurus.

I'd say that the PDK is part of the car's Jekyll and Hyde character.  Last week, I was bombing around by myself.  In the afternoon, I took Enzo to his French horn lesson, followed by his drawing lesson.  When we came out, it was raining and Enzo was filled with stories.  I wanted a more passive drive so I could focus more energy on him, so I just left the car in normal, with its quiet exhaust setting, put the PDK into drive and let the car shift itself.  We dialed up some music and chatted all the way home.  It was great.

On the other end of things, I was experimenting with Sport+ on my favorite bit of twisty road.  It's been written that the transmission in this setting is "telepathic."  I don't think that's possible with an inanimate object, but the shifting is freaky good.  It happily held gears, upshifted at redline, and when I was braking somewhat heavily for a a 90-degree left, it downshifted precisely when I would have downshifted.  It's an incredibly smart transmission.

I've configured the individual drive mode setting to be comfy chassis, sport throttle and exhaust, and I slide it into manual mode.  In that configuration, the car is supremely comfortable, fun to drive, and engaging.  I certainly don't feel bored.

Basically, I think the PDK is magic.  When I  shift myself, I'm definitely engaged, and then when I switch cars, I transparently time-warp back 24 years and I'm shifting manually and not even thinking about it.  It's really pretty amazing.  I feel so lucky to have access to two such diverse and lovely transmissions.

Daily Thoughts

So, aesthetically and dynamically, the car is amazing.  That said, there are a couple of other features that really enhance its usability.  While it's a bit of an "old man" specification, I think it's great for how I use the car.  It would be my first choice if I had to be in Denver for dinner tomorrow.

Seats

The 18-way heated and ventilated seats are supremely comfortable.  I feel like you sit "in" these seats instead of "on" the seats in the 964.  Being tall, I really appreciate the increased thigh support.  The ability to adjust the bolsters on the bottom and the back of the seat let me tailor how tight I want to be squeezed by the seat.  My preferred way to get in the car is to put in one leg, place my left hand on the door sill, then swing myself over the bolsters and into position.  Once seated, I'm just super comfortable, and don't really want to get out of the car.  The seats in this car would make for phenomenal office furniture:

Comfy seats

It's also interesting to compare the seats to the standard seats in the 964.  It's 33 years old this year, the seats have never been redone, and I'm amazed at how comfortable they are.  You have to give it to Porsche, they make really good seats.

One thought I had was to set the first memory position to be my more "supportive" driving position and the second position as my "highway" position, but so far, I like my "supportive" position all the time.  It was fine on the way back from Pittsburgh, and I have to be down in Indianapolis on Friday, so I'll know more by the weekend.

Sunroof

I've always liked glass sunroofs.  In the winter, even when the temperature was in the single digits, I'd open up the sunroof on the GLI and enjoy the crisp cold air while cranking up the seat heaters and heat in the car.  In the rain, I like being able to look up, and I like being able to look through the roof at the stars when I'm on the interstate.

The glass roof in the C4S just makes me happy.  I know it's "heavy and adds weight in the worst place, at the top of the car," but frankly, I just don't care.  This car will never see a race track.  The sunroof doesn't open very far, but certainly far enough to let the outside air swirl around the cabin:

Big glass, smallish opening

When it's closed and the sunshade is open, it makes the cabin feel bright and airy.  When the sun is at a bad angle and in my eyes, I can just push the sunshade closed.  It doesn't have the cool feature the GLI has where the roof can be open and the sunshade can be closed, but I'm not sure if there's another car out there that does that.

I take Enzo to school pretty much every day, and I love rolling along with him, enjoying the fresh morning breezes:

I love an open roof!

Either way, it's glass, it's heavy, it's at the top of the car, and it makes me happy.

CarPlay

It's kind of ridiculous, but I really like CarPlay in a car.  It lets me use navigation that is always updated, stream music from my phone, make calls, and listen to and reply to text messages.  It's a really nice feature that was new in the 991.2.  As odd as it seems, it was one of the "must have" features when I was searching, knocking the 991.1 out of contention.

The port for CarPlay is in the center armrest.  That said, for my relatively short commute, plugging and unplugging the phone is a bit of a hassle.  A wireless option would be nice, which is the standard on newer cars.

I was texting about this with a friend, and thoughtful man that he is, he dropped off an adaptor at The Exchange where the 964 is in for service.  My brother, also remarkably thoughtful, didn't want me to wait and sent it to me.  Ridiculous people, these people.  So thoughtful.

I installed the adaptor this afternoon:

Tiny wireless CarPlay dongle

It was simple to configure and worked as advertised:

Wireless CarPlay is really convenient    

I look forward to seeing how it works as time goes by.  Is it glitchy?  Are there delays?  Or does it just...work?  I'm hoping for "just work."

Stereo

The Bose stereo in the car is really quite good.  It's the best sound system I've ever had in a car by far, though the long departed Volvo 760 GLE wagon was pretty good.  That said, the Volvo's system can't compare to the C4S - plenty of base, plenty of volume, and no distortion.  It really cranks.  Thinking about driving back from Pittsburgh or coming home from art class with Enzo, the car is sublimely comfortable and it's easy to dial in the right amount of sound from the stereo.

I guess the stereo is part of the car's dual personality.  If I need to pound miles, I can make sure the exhaust is quiet and dial up some music or a podcast and just cruise.

Headlights

While I haven't had much opportunity to enjoy them since it gets dark pretty late these days, the LED headlights in this thing rock.  It has PDLS+ lights, which build all kinds of intelligence into the headlights.  It widens the beam an intersections and throws lots of light down the road when it's dark out.  The temperature of the light lets you see the world in color.  The high beams are excellent.

As these photos show, the high beams really peel back the darkness and let you see far down the road.

Low beams

High beams

I'm a big fan of great headlights, as I think it's really a safety feature.  If I ran a car company, I'd ensure that I built cars with excellent headlights.  I'd also encourage our government and manufacturers to make progress on getting lights that conform to the adaptive driving beam headlamp legislation from 2022 and offer the dynamism of what Europeans have been enjoying for a decade.  Please, make adaptive headlights standard on all vehicles.

I vividly remember the amazing headlights in the Mercedes-Benz S class my brother rented when we went to Le Mans in 2018.

The beast...

...and its incredible headlights

Those were truly amazing headlights.  You could leave the high beams on, and it would selectively and intelligently disable pixels to not blind traffic.  Meanwhile, it would comprehensively illuminate the road  and the signs along the edge of the road.  Really impressive headlights, and honestly, every car should have them.  Seeing at night is a safety issue, pure and simple.

Additional Musings

First of all, I feel ridiculously lucky when I think about the "summer configuration" of the garage:

Pretty, purposeful cars

Allison drives the Boxster all the time, and I'll drive the C4S when it's smoldering.  I plan on driving the 964 whenever the weather is temperate.  The fourth spot, in front of the 964, is great for tucking away the van or the GLI.  In the winter, the van and the Boxster will switch places, and the the Boxster and 964 will huddle under their covers, waiting for spring.  Again, when I think of growing up, anything even remotely resembling this was a complete fantasy.  It's unbelievable.

I really like black cars when they're clean, as they're so reflective.  I gave the C4S its first bath after bringing it home, and took a couple shots of its siblings reflected in the doors:

Kind of like the picture I took of Allison's car after I cleaned up the 964:

Allison's car lurking in the door

The front of the Boxster in the door of the 964

I guess at the end of the day, I come back to the quote from the March 2026 issue of Porsche Panorama:

I can't wait to get up tomorrow morning and drive!  Tomorrow, I will take Enzo to school, head to the gym, then to work, and finally home.  Not far in terms of miles, but more than enough time to continue to get to know this marvelous machine and revel in its profound goodness.