12/4/25 UPDATE: This review has been updated with instrumented test results.
While the latest Porsche 911 is making waves with the adoption of hybrid power in the 992.2-generation GTS model, as well as the new 2026 Turbo S, it’s business as usual elsewhere in the lineup, i.e., steady gains in performance and refinement. Building on the updated base rear-wheel-drive Carrera, the 2025 Carrera S is a one-level-up indulgence that Porsche says is the most popular variant in the lineup. With additional equipment and a meaningful bump in power over last year’s model, the new S gives 911 shoppers even more reason to splurge.
As a hedge against potential boredom with the standard Carrera’s 388 horsepower (nine more than you got in 2024), treating yourself to the S nets 473 horses (a gain of 30) from its twin-turbo 3.0-liter flat-six. Credit a larger intercooler and new turbochargers cribbed from the outgoing nonhybrid GTS. Though that greater herd of ponies peaks at the same 6500 rpm as before, the carryover 390 pound-feet of torque amasses 100 rpm lower, at 2200 revs. The result is cake and a fork to eat it with—slightly better low-speed tractability, plus stronger top-end pull—which puts the S on par with the previous GTS.
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Make that almost on par: Though the outgoing GTS produced the same 473 horses, it made a beefier 420 pound-feet of torque at 2300 revs. In our test of a 2022 model, that was enough to sling a GTS coupe to 60 mph in 2.8 seconds and cover the quarter-mile in a blazing 10.9 seconds. Yet despite the torque deficit (and an additional 156 pounds of mass), our 3557-pound Carrera S test car still managed to outrun the previous GTS, dashing to 60 mph in 2.7 seconds and tripping the quarter-mile lights in 10.8 seconds at 128 mph. That puts it exactly where you’d expect: just behind the new hybrid GTS’s 2.5- and 10.6-second runs yet well ahead of the 2025 Carrera’s 3.1- and 11.4-second efforts. Just for reference, a 2026 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray Z51 needs 2.9 seconds to hit 60 mph and covers the quarter-mile in 11.4 seconds at 120 mph.
The times for all of those Porsches factor in the potent launch-control function of the 911’s eight-speed PDK dual-clutch automatic—the only transmission available in the new base Carrera, Carrera S, and hybrid Carrera GTS models. Blame production efficiency and relatively low take rates for the loss of the S’s previously optional seven-speed manual. But the 911’s stick shift isn’t dead just yet, as Porsche will still sell you a three-pedal, six-speed manual in the 2025 Carrera T (as standard) and the updated GT3 (as a no-cost option). As for a manual returning to the Carrera S, Porsche may entertain the notion if demand is strong enough, but it’s currently not in the works.
A More Sophisticated Rocket
On the rare occasion that the S’s PDK gearbox isn’t doing exactly as it should—seamlessly shuffling ratios to help keep the engine churning and the driver focused on, well, driving—you can notice a whiff of lag from the engine as the turbos spool up. Then the flat-six begins to howl through its now-standard active sport exhaust (previously a $2950 option), the scenery starts to blur, and you wonder if your senses were acting up. We’ll always prefer rowing our own gears whenever possible, but it’s virtually impossible to knock the clairvoyant cog swaps the PDK pulls off midcorner without upsetting the car. Same goes for its smooth, effortless character when trundling around town.
When we hit the open highway, the S returned an unexceptional 23 mpg on our 75-mph fuel-economy test, falling 1 mpg shy of its EPA estimate. And the 74 decibels and 33 sones of interior noise that we recorded at 70 mph are both only slightly less than we logged in the punishingly loud hybrid GTS, so maybe stick to back roads.
As a premium 911 model, the Carrera S continues to include standard braked-based rear-axle torque vectoring and 20-inch front and 21-inch rear wheels (versus the Carrera’s 19s and 20s). Adaptive dampers now shared with the new GTS also are in the recipe and feature updated hydraulic tuning and a greater bandwidth in capability. Combined with carryover, softer-than-GTS spring rates, the changes are most noticeable in the suspension’s improved compliance and overall balance, which also helps sharpen the car’s already-stellar responses.
We could feel a slight improvement in ride quality even on the manicured pavement of our Southern California drive route, the S gliding over stray bumps and expansion joints with little disturbance to the cockpit or degradation in body control. On twisty mountain sections in the car’s Normal chassis setting, the dampers continually adjusted to maintain massive levels of grip and composure as we bombed from corner to corner in impressive comfort. Fully exploiting its heady 1.03 g’s of skidpad grip on the street probably isn’t wise, if even possible.
Reassuring stopping power via upgraded brakes—six-piston, 16.1-inch units in front and four-pot, 15.0-inch units in back, also from the outgoing GTS—counter the Carrera S’s enhanced thrust with tidy stops from 70 mph in just 140 feet and from 100 mph in 282 feet. As before, larger carbon-ceramic binders are available, as are rear-axle steering and a PASM sport suspension that lowers the car by 0.4 inch. Our test car featured both of those latter two options. Unsurprisingly for a Porsche, the add-ons can pile up quickly (witness our example’s $178,755 as-tested price), though we do recommend springing for at least the front-axle lift system ($3090) and the extended-range 22.1-gallon fuel tank ($230).
Justifying the Spend
From the outside, version 992.2 sees the 911 receive some mild design tweaks, with the main callouts being gently resculpted bumpers and standard multifunction LED Matrix headlights (upgraded HD-Matrix units are available). Also present are several new wheel designs—and on cars equipped with adaptive cruise control, an ungainly cyclops-like sensor in the front fascia. Avoid that last one.
As with other 2025 Carrera models, the S coupe now comes standard as a two-seater, with rear accommodations like on our test car a no-cost option and mandatory on the droptop Cabriolet. Traditionalists may gripe about the new engine-start button to the left of the steering wheel, versus the previous switch that you had to physically twist, as well as the loss of the 911’s central analog tachometer flanked by two small digital readouts. But we can’t argue with the functionality of the new 12.6-inch instrument display, which provides superior readability and better integration with the updated infotainment in the 10.9-inch touchscreen. The configurable digital cluster also can be set to display the familiar central tach, so it’s mostly a net gain.
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All these improvements up the Carrera S’s base price considerably, with the coupe’s entry point swelling more than $20K versus the 2024 model, to $153,695. Add more than $13K to that for the S Cabriolet. Yet account for its greater performance and additional equipment—which also includes extended leather trim, a cooled inductive device charger, an upgraded drive mode selector on the steering wheel, and more—and the S’s inflated ask is not as punitive as it seems. For us, short of taking out a second mortgage for a new GT3, the manual-only Carrera T ($140,795) is still the preferred way to go for 2025, even if it does take a full second longer than the S to reach 60 mph. But for those simply weighing a grander 911 than the base car, the Carrera S is a compelling step-up.
Specifications
Specifications
2025 Porsche 911 Carrera S
Vehicle Type: rear-engine, rear-wheel-drive, 2+2-passenger, 2-door coupe
PRICE
Base/As Tested: $153,695/$178,755
Options: Premium package (Bose premium audio system, cabin ionizer, ventilated front seats, adaptive cruise control, lane-change assist, 360-degree camera system with parking assist, storage net in passenger footwell), $5420; 18-way adjustable adaptive sport seats with memory, $3600; black leather interior, $3230; front-axle lift system, $3090; Sport Chrono package (analog and digital stopwatch, Sport Chrono clock, black paddle shifters, Sport Plus drive mode, PSM Sport mode, Porsche Track Precision app, tire temperature display, Sport Response button in red, launch control, integrated Sport Chrono and performance data tiles in infotainment), $2490; rear-axle steering, $2170; 20-inch front/21-inch rear RS Spyder wheels, $1960; Guards Red paint, $1550; PASM Sport suspension, $1250; 22.1-gallon extended range fuel tank, $230; preparation for roof transport system, $70
ENGINE
twin-turbocharged and intercooled DOHC 24-valve flat-6, aluminum block and heads, direct fuel injection
Displacement: 182 in3, 2981 cm3
Power: 473 hp @ 6500 rpm
Torque: 390 lb-ft @ 2200 rpm
TRANSMISSION
8-speed dual-clutch automatic
CHASSIS
Suspension, F/R: struts/multilink
Brakes, F/R: 16.1-in vented, cross-drilled disc/15.0-in vented, cross-drilled disc
Tires: Pirelli P Zero PZ4
F: 245/35ZR-20 (91Y) NA1
R: 305/30ZR-21 (100Y) NA1
DIMENSIONS
Wheelbase: 96.5 in
Length: 178.8 in
Width: 72.9 in
Height: 50.9 in
Front Trunk Volume: 5 ft3
Curb Weight: 3557 lb
C/D TEST RESULTS
60 mph: 2.7 sec
100 mph: 6.6 sec
1/4-Mile: 10.8 sec @ 128 mph
130 mph: 11.2 sec
150 mph: 15.7 sec
170 mph: 23.0 sec
Results above omit 1-ft rollout of 0.2 sec.
Rolling Start, 5–60 mph: 3.8 sec
Top Gear, 30–50 mph: 2.1 sec
Top Gear, 50–70 mph: 2.6 sec
Top Speed (mfr claim): 191 mph
Braking, 70–0 mph: 140 ft
Braking, 100–0 mph: 282 ft
Roadholding, 300-ft Skidpad: 1.03 g
Interior Sound
Idle: 48 dBA/6 sone
Full Throttle: 88 dBA
70-mph Cruising: 74 dBA/33 sone
C/D FUEL ECONOMY
Observed: 19 mpg
75-mph Highway Driving: 23 mpg
75-mph Highway Range: 500 mi
EPA FUEL ECONOMY
Combined/City/Highway: 20/17/24 mpg
Mike Sutton is an editor, writer, test driver, and general car nerd who has contributed to Car and Driver‘s reverent and irreverent passion for the automobile since 2008. A native Michigander from suburban Detroit, he enjoys the outdoors and complaining about the weather, has an affection for off-road vehicles, and believes in federal protection for naturally aspirated engines.
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