Does adding all-wheel drive to the 2020 Porsche 911 Carrera S, thus becoming the Carrera 4S, cause it to shine more brightly, or does it tarnish the experience? Besides the obvious advantages in wet or snowy conditions, does AWD add to or subtract from the Carrera's measured performance?

911 Carrera S/4S Hardware

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All Carrera S models are powered by the same 3.0-liter twin-turbo flat-six that makes 443 horsepower and 390 lb-ft of torque. Currently, they also have the same eight-speed twin-clutch automatic transmission with the same gear ratios—the 4S with an added clutch and differential up front. (One of the Carrera development cars I drove more than a year ago had a seven-speed manual, so don't worry, it's coming.) We've tested two rear-drive Carrera S models, one with steel brakes, the other with carbon-ceramic rotors, but both had the rear-axle steering option. Including this 4S, they've all had the Sport/Sport Chrono package, which, among other things, provides one of the best and easiest to use launch control systems on the market. This Carrera 4S also had carbon-ceramic brakes and rear steering.

911 Carrera S/4S Performance

In terms of launches, they're literally identical. Here are my notes at the dragstrip on the 4S, but it could be said of any current 911 Carrera: "Easy-peasy launch control system where it revs to 5,000 rpm while pressing hard on both pedals, releasing the brake engages the clutch, revs drop to 4,000 and remain there throughout first gear as it slips the clutch. I can tell the front tires are struggling to stay on the ground, but there was no wheelspin or wheelie this time, as we experienced with the 991.2 Turbo S. Naturally, gear shifts are lightning quick—and a little harsh—but the results are super consistent." Those consistent results? A breathtaking 1.1 seconds to reach 30 mph in all three. Few cars on the planet can do that, fewer repeatedly.

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The 4S' AWD didn't seem to help or hurt it. If they were racing, all three would be nose to nose up to 60 mph, where a 45- to 150-pound lighter Carrera S made it in 2.9 seconds while the other two tied at 3.0 seconds. So it would go down the quarter-mile track, the Carrera 4S trading 0.1 second back and forth with its rear-drive brüders. Both rear-drive Carreras crossed the finish line in precisely 11.2 seconds traveling between 123.8 and 124.3 mph. Again, the consistency is shocking. The 4S needed 11.3 seconds and hit 121.4 mph. Advantage: RWD.

Understandably, the cars with better heat-dissipating carbon-ceramic brakes held the advantage in repeated braking from 60 mph, needing 92 feet (4S) and 94 feet (S). Perhaps the 2 percent of additional weight on the nose of the 4S aided it here. The steel rotors on the other S were still impressive at 96 feet.

911 Carrera S/4S Handling and Grip

If there's a single thing that the Porsche 911 Carrera is known for above all others, it's the way it feels when not going straight. The only rear-engine car for sale in America offers a paralleled amount of steering feel and precision with so little weight on the front axle. The Carrera S puts but 36 percent of its total on the front tires, the 4S at 38 percent. Add to that very clever and nearly undetectable rear-axle steering, and it's the kind of car that elicits gushing praise from otherwise-sober testing director Kim Reynolds after at least a dozen laps in that MTBDC-winning Carrera. "The only car that I literally had to intervene with myself to stop lapping," he said. "It's so controllable, so right, that you keep on wanting to experience it. It's so balanced and then re-balance-able while cornering that you can position it just where you want it." As each figure-eight test was conducted at a different location, the maximum lateral grip we measured and the lap times aren't necessarily comparable and fell between 1.07 and 1.09 g and 22.7 and 23.2 seconds. What is different is how the steering felt between the rear- and all-wheel-drive Carreras.

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Both offer a real sense of the road surface, the actual changes in the asphalt, tarmac, concrete, what have you. Yet the Carrera 4S' steering felt muddier when bending it into a corner. Despite all three having been optioned with rear-axle steering, the weight in my hands did not feel as light; the connection wasn't as pure. Precision without the expected delicacy.

Conclusion

We wouldn't say you lose any measured performance if you opt for a 992-era Carrera with AWD compared to RWD—at least that's what our test numbers indicate. And you certainly would gain on-throttle traction in wet or snowy conditions with AWD. What you would surrender, for the $7,300 price difference between a Carrera S and 4S, is the intimacy a driver feels through the steering wheel if you seek the squiggly red lines on the map instead of the straight green ones. It's a tiny difference, but it's a difference a Porsche driver, or test driver, would notice.

That said, we've driven the 2021 Porsche 911 Turbo S, which also uses AWD, and can guarantee you that none of this subtle steering degradation exists in that car, especially because that car was optioned with Porsche's Power Steering Plus ($280). Through software alone, orchestrating the low-speed behavior of the car's electric-assist power steering, the 911 Turbo S feels like a blend of GT3 RS and 911 Turbo: intensely intimate yet wormhole fast. If you require AWD in your 911, wouldn't mind an extra 197 horsepower, and can afford the nearly $205K entry price, trust me, it's worth it. That's the AWD Porsche 911 for you.

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