2025 Porsche 911 Carrera S First Drive Review: The ‘S’ Now Means Something VERY Different

The Porsche 911 is such an outstanding sports car, it’s almost impossible to fault. That makes it somewhat difficult to review the car, since you end up throwing heaps of praise towards it. Our job as reviewers gets a little easier when Porsche introduces a new 911 or a substantial facelift, which is the case for this first drive. The 2025 Porsche 911 Carrera S (and the entire Carrera lineup) has been given a mid-cycle refresh, meaning there’s plenty to talk about.

For 2025, Porsche focused on giving Carrera S buyers more of what they want, including more standard features that were previously optional. Performance keeps creeping up, with the latest Carrera S now matching the output of the previous generation GTS. Porsche still calls the 911 a sports car, but with these recent changes, we are starting to wonder if that’s still relevant. After spending the day driving the Carrera S Coupe and Convertible, we are now firmly convinced it’s closer to supercar status than ever.

First Drive events provide our initial impressions of a vehicle in a restricted environment under certain time constraints. Keep an eye on DrivingOnRoad for our comprehensive Test Drive review which will follow soon.

What’s Changed For 2025?

The Carrera S is a mid-level variant of the popular 911, slotting above the base Carrera and Carrera T but below the Carrera GTS, which is now a hybrid. As before, buyers can have the 911 Carrera S as a fixed-roof Coupe or a drop-top Cabriolet. This has been the highest-selling 911 since the 997 generation, now accounting for 31% of global sales (35% in the US). Porsche originally wanted the letter S to stand for “super,” but it later evolved to mean “sport.” With the changes made to this latest 2025 model, we strongly believe the S should stand for ‘supercar’.

For 2025, the 992 generation 911 gets its first major facelift, dubbed internally as the 992.2. The Carrera S specifically gets a power boost, now matching the output of the outgoing 992.1 Carrera GTS. There are minor exterior changes and some more notable interior updates. Porsche also expanded the roster of standard equipment, giving buyers features that they previously had to pay extra to get. Every Carrera S feeds its power to the rear wheels only (as of this writing) through an eight-speed PDK dual-clutch transmission. If you want a manual transmission in a Carrera, you now have to buy the Carrera T.

Standard performance features for 2025 include:

• Sports exhaust
• Porsche Torque Vectoring Plus (PVT+)
• Porsche Active Suspension Management (PASM)
• Staggered wheels (20/21-inch)
• Larger brakes (408 mm front and 380 mm rear) from the GTS

Exterior Design: Don’t Fix What Isn’t Broken

You’d probably have to see the 2025 Carrera S parked next to a 2024 model (or be a genuine Porsche aficionado) in order to spot the changes. LED Matrix Design headlights now come standard, though you can still upgrade to HD-Matrix lights ($1,780) with a different appearance, cornering lights, and welcome/goodbye animations. The rear light bar has also been redesigned, but it’s not dramatically different from last year’s model. As with any Porsche, there is a near-endless roster of stripes, decals, aero packages, and more to make your car stand out from the pack. There’s no excuse to order a boring 911 spec.

The 992.2 rides on new Carrera S wheels, sized 20 inches in the front and 21 inches in the rear. They are a bit plain in their base silver coloring or a mono-tone hue like Satin Dark Silver, Anthracite Grey, or High Gloss Black, but look sharp when optioned in a two-tone High Gloss Black with Highly Polished Surfaces ($1,300). We also like these wheels painted in an Exclusive Manufaktur Satin Neodyme bronze finish ($1,300). If you don’t like the standard wheels, there are four other styles, ranging from $1,250 to $6,530 with carbon fiber blades. Only White and Black are no-cost colors, but Porsche offers four grey/silver shades for $830, five brighter Dreams colors for $1,490, metallic Legends paints for $2,980, and the endless Paint to Sample program with over 100 colors for $14,190. Porsche can even make you a brand-new color with the Paint to Sample Plus program for $31,070.

Interior: Make It What You Want

Since this is only a facelift and not a new model, don’t expect a radical change to the interior. That being said, Porsche did make some important changes that are somewhat controversial. The iconic ignition switch has been replaced by a push-button starter, which is a minor detail for most, but could anger the most fervent 911 lovers. Porsche also got rid of the analog tachometer, instead using an all-digital 12.6-inch curved display. This setup may not look as tactile, but you have a better view of the gauges and greater customization. Buyers now get a wireless phone charger as standard, mounted in the armrest.

The 911’s cabin is relatively minimalist, but the build quality is impeccable. There are no creaks, no loose pieces, and no cheap elements. Leather seats come standard, but you can upgrade to nicer leather or club leather in a wide variety of colors that exceeds even the most exotic sports cars. The standard four-way Sport Seats are just fine, though we prefer the 18-way Adaptive Sport Seats Plus ($3,470). As with the exterior, there are boundless ways to customize this cabin, including deviated stitching, various trim inlays, illuminated door sills, leather-wrapped air vent slats and surrounds, and more. Buyers can opt to delete the rear seat on the coupe to save weight, but we’d likely add it back for no cost since it can fold down to become a useful shelf.

Infotainment: Bond Should Drive A Porsche

We mentioned that Porsche replaced the analog tachometer with a curved screen, like the one in the Taycan and Panamera, and this is a positive change for the 911. This screen can display the traditional five-pod gauge cluster, a more customizable three-pod setup, or even a full-color map. It’s one of the most functional and visually pleasing digital clusters in any car right now. The 10.9-inch Porsche Communication Management System (PCM) is better than ever, with a simple menu layout, quick responses, wireless phone mirroring, and a tactile rotating knob to help avoid fingerprints. Porsche also realizes that customers still want some physical controls, so it left plenty of buttons and knobs with some of the most satisfying clicks this side of a Bentley. If we had one complaint, it would be with the lackluster 12-speaker Bose Surround Sound System ($1,600), which doesn’t pack much of a punch. Anyone who enjoys music will want to opt for the superior 13-speaker Burmester High-End Surround Sound System ($5,560).

Powertrain & Driving: From ‘Sport’ To ‘Super’

At this first drive event, we were given the opportunity to drive a Carrera S Coupe and a Cabriolet. For 2025, the Carrera S gains 30 horsepower from the addition of new turbochargers and a new charge-air cooling system, now matching the output of last year’s Carrera GTS. Porsche also touts broader horsepower and torque curves, both of which can be felt as you approach the redline. Sadly, the manual transmission option has been eliminated, reserved only for the Carrera T, which slots between the base Carrera and the Carrera S. The only transmission choice is now an eight-speed PDK dual-clutch, sending power to the rear wheels. Customers now get more performance upgrades as standard equipment, including a sports exhaust, Porsche Torque Vectoring Plus, and Porsche Active Suspension Management (PASM).

With its snazzy new GTS powertrain, the Carrera S shaves a tenth-of-a-second off its 0-60 mph time, clocking in at 3.3 seconds (3.5 seconds for the heavier Cabriolet). If you opt for the Sport Chrono Package ($2,400), that time drops to as low as 3.1 seconds. We were only able to attempt one launch control in the Carrera S, reaching 60 mph in a rapid 3.26 seconds on a slight incline. Few rear-drive cars launch with such ferocity, emphasizing Porsche’s outstanding launch control programming.

Much of that acceleration can be attributed to the 911’s PDK transmission, which is the finest dual-clutch on the market. It shifts with rapid immediacy, almost feeling CVT-like in its smoothness. Twist the drive mode selector into Sport Plus Mode, and a quick blip of the throttle will be met with the transmission blipping near-instantly to the appropriate gear, even if it’s currently a few cogs higher to save fuel. The programming is so smart, we rarely felt the need to take manual control, and simply left the PDK to its own devices. Though the Carrera S is still turbocharged, Porsche changed this engine for the 992.2 generation, making it sound more naturally aspirated as you approach the redline. In the outgoing car, it always sounded like the engine was boosted, but the final 1,500 rpm in this comes alive with a louder frequency, as if it’s changing the valve timing like a Honda VTEC engine. Porsche says the sound is coming from enhancement in the speaker, but it’s so realistic, we almost didn’t believe it. It seriously sounds like a GT3 as you approach the redline.

Not only does the Carrera S accelerate like a supercar, it handles like one too. The grip from the rear end allows you to reach insane speeds with zero worry, and the improved rear-steering system is virtually imperceptible from behind the wheel. Porsche revised the dampers for this updated 911, creating a car that rides well over bumps but allows virtually no body roll in the corners. We only drove cars with the standard PASM, not the optional sport setup, and we honestly don’t see why you’d want anything stiffer unless you plan to track your car. Not that it wasn’t excellent before, but Porsche also sharpened the steering to make it more direct, and it’s among the most accurate and engaging steering we’ve ever tested in a new vehicle. After driving the 911 Carrera S Coupe and Cabriolet back-to-back, there is some minor indication that the convertible is a tad slower, heavier, and less rigid. But if you enjoy the idea of top-down cruising, these drawbacks are so minor, we wouldn’t let them deter you from buying one. In fact, the Cabriolet has the added bonus of delivering more turbo whooshes as you let off the throttle.

Verdict & Pricing: Supercar Speed… Supercar Price

You used to be able to buy a new Porsche 911 for less than $100,000; those days are long gone. Even a base Carrera Coupe starts at $120,900, and the Carrera S is significantly more expensive. You will pay $146,400 for the Carrera S Coupe, excluding destination and options ($159,600 for the Carrera S Cabriolet), which is a whopping $15,100 price hike ($15,500 for the Cabrio) over last year’s model. Porsche says much of that cost is wrapped up in new standard features that the majority of customers already purchased en masse, but it’s still led to a significant price creep. Those prices don’t even begin to factor in Porsche’s costly options; the Coupe we tested rang in at $177,945, while the Cabriolet was $190,405.

The Carrera S may not be the “regular person’s” supercar anymore, but it’s certainly cheaper than some of the exotic options from Ferrari, Lamborghini, and McLaren without being more than a few tenths-of-a-second behind them in pace and with greater usability. In that regard, it’s tough to see the 911 as anything other than a (relative) bargain. Porsche’s changes to the Carrera S have firmly brought it from sports car to supercar territory, at least in our minds, and it deserves to be cross-shopped as such. If you still crave a 911 that can be explored to its fullest on a public road, the base Carrera and the manual-only Carrera T are still great options that should be considered. But if you find yourself in the 35% of 911 buyers who want a Carrera S, you will not be disappointed by this new car. It’s phenomenal.