I don't know--have you driven a plain jane 987? All of what makes it feel like a Porsche is present and voting. Ultimately, while a 987S might be better than a 987, a 987 now might be better than a 987S someday.

Of course. Which is why the 911 is Porsches biggest cash cow. You get the best value by buying a stripepr 987, for sure.

:+1 ...yet I bought the S.

The S will feel slow after your M. A non-s will feel like a camry. :dunno:

(note: I edited my original though of "the S IS slow" to avoid starting a small war.)

Better than calling his SIS fast and loose. ;)

Definitely. The 987S is fast, maybe even very fast at times, but it's not stupid fast. The M3 can be stupid fast at the top end. To contrast that with a 987, I dunno. The open top can do a lot to enhance the fun experience, but if the go pedal feels downright anemic (as it easily could with an M3 as a sibling) the experience might well get neutered. Also, I don't think the 987 sounds as good as my 987S. IIRC the '07's got the extra awesome Cayman S power train along with the improved sound. I've learned sound matters. Once again, something the M3 is very good at.

This one is easy. It's not mental. The Boxster chassis is so good, it just is not as satisfying with less power. Take my word for it. The only unsatisfying thing about my 986S was that it "only" had 250hp. A 987 with the same power but less torque would not be satisfactory. I always felt like the chassis was good for at least 350hp and I was always researching the big-motor swaps, which have become more common.

Fixed that for you. ;)

That too.

I had several drives in non-S 987's. There is nothing wrong with those cars, if anything they are better than S's for day-to-day driving. Sound as good if not better... The 17's ride and handle well (and I happen to like the retro fat tire look). The 5-speed is actually very well spaced, one of my complaints with the S are the short 5th & 6th gears. I'd be surprised if the 5th on the 5-speed box doesn't match 6th on the 6-speed box on highway revs.

The difference is mental, I was *totally* affected by least regrets/go-for-it logic when I got my S. The big thing the S has , other than some street cred, is entertaining torque, easily accessible tail slides in 2nd. For day-to-day driving, the 5-speed non-S would be my choice... YMMV.