GTS Turismo vs CT4S -- comfort, suspension height, other factors to consider?

[David Baldwino]

Opinions please - the uk has the poorest roads in Europe …..has anyone got any personal comparisons with a 4 or 4S vs GTS with regard to comfort and do you miss the extra lift? Any other comments welcome as I have a freeze date of Wednesday for the incoming GTS ( Feb ) I’ve had the CT4S for 12 months and 12000 miles, very pleased with it and afraid I could be making a mistake with the GTS.?? Thoughts?

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[f1eng]

For me here in Oxfordshire I decided against the lower sporty ride of the GTS since the most surprising thing about the CT, for me, was the superb ride and I didn't want to risk losing it.
If I lived where my wife comes from in the North East of Scotland I would have probably gone for the GTS ST

 

[W1NGE]

Opinions please - the uk has the poorest roads in Europe …..has anyone got any personal comparisons with a 4 or 4S vs GTS with regard to comfort and do you miss the extra lift? Any other comments welcome as I have a freeze date of Wednesday for the incoming GTS ( Feb ) I’ve had the CT4S for 12 months and 12000 miles, very pleased with it and afraid I could be making a mistake with the GTS.?? Thoughts?

I have a 4S saloon with air suspension on 20" wheels and have driven a 4S CT and expect my GTS ST to arrive in Feb'23.

Ground clearance on our roads has never been an issue on either car and the ride sublime.

IMHO the CT with a minor height advantage is simply superfluous and not something I would use to influence my decision. For cosmetic reasons I would not choose to have the CT over the ST and for me the CT was simply a marketing exercise by Porsche to delay the inevitable ST variant to create another niche. They chose not to do that with the Panamera ST and I wonder why.

Surely the comparison you should be making is the 4SCT vs 4SST - the GTS is a different beast in terms of dynamics and performance.

If you live down a rutted lane then the CT may suit better but equally rasing the suspension on any other variant would suffice just fine.

 

[Dan1210]

It's all marketing exercise! one could argue the CT is a more practical daily. I think we get so wrapped up in these performance advantages that in reality only make themselves apparent on a race track. Im not trying to start an argument but i went back and forth with the same decision, generally i lean towards a slightly more rugged vehicle which where i live suits me better. The only reason i would pick the GTS would be for residuals plus i would want to swap out all the alcantara which would then make the turbo a consideration.
You may get more driving pleasure out of the GTS as its more tuned that way but ask yourself this, do you push the car to its limits now?
The release of the 911 Dakar has certainly made me feel better about the plastic arches on the CT!

 

[W1NGE]

It's all marketing exercise! one could argue the CT is a more practical daily. I think we get so wrapped up in these performance advantages that in reality only make themselves apparent on a race track. Im not trying to start an argument but i went back and forth with the same decision, generally i lean towards a slightly more rugged vehicle which where i live suits me better. The only reason i would pick the GTS would be for residuals plus i would want to swap out all the alcantara which would then make the turbo a consideration.
You may get more driving pleasure out of the GTS as its more tuned that way but ask yourself this, do you push the car to its limits now?
The release of the 911 Dakar has certainly made me feel better about the plastic arches on the CT!

Luckily the Dakar will be limited and some us may never see one in the wild!

Full leather on a GTS is a small £300 - £400 uplift and not enough to sway the turbo decision on its own I would have thought.

 

[Manyana]

You are lucky to have a choice, we don’t get GTS ST, only the sedan. Too small a market here in OZ

 

[David Baldwino]

It's all marketing exercise! one could argue the CT is a more practical daily. I think we get so wrapped up in these performance advantages that in reality only make themselves apparent on a race track. Im not trying to start an argument but i went back and forth with the same decision, generally i lean towards a slightly more rugged vehicle which where i live suits me better. The only reason i would pick the GTS would be for residuals plus i would want to swap out all the alcantara which would then make the turbo a consideration.
You may get more driving pleasure out of the GTS as its more tuned that way but ask yourself this, do you push the car to its limits now?
The release of the 911 Dakar has certainly made me feel better about the plastic arches on the CT!

Thanks for the input, I am in the Peak District, some roads like a ploughed field, some were made for the TDF so almost track like. Ditto re Alcantara, it's got to be leather... sports, vented this time. I've got vented and massage comforts but I don't find these too comfy on an Alps etc run which is a shame. I hardly notice the arches as I'm Volcano so they blend visually. 4S is fast enough once...Silverstone days proved it to me 100%. Big thanks for the realistic point of view.

 

[David Baldwino]

You are lucky to have a choice, we don’t get GTS ST, only the sedan. Too small a market here in OZ

Great Reg plate though

 

[RAHRCR]

Unless you are planning to take the car to the track, the CT version makes more sense for the real world with bad roads and weather. With really nice roads and weather, the GTS version starts to speak a bit more to the boy racer in you.

My Pan ST lives in the bad road/weather environment. I have packed the nose of the car with snow more than once and had some “interesting” off pavement experiences when bringing the kids to their sports events. Doable but not ideal.

 

[Manyana]

Great Reg plate though

Funny story about the reg plate.
Back in 2020 I ordered a Boxster 4.0 GTS, hence the plate. The plates arrived but I had changed the order to the 718 Spyder, so the plates were no use, well they wouldn’t do on a Spyder.
We had a Cayenne Hybrid so I put the plates on it, which in turn went on the Taycan.
When my wife asked what the meaning of them was, I said, 40 years of Great Times and Serenity.
It was our 40th wedding anniversary so she thought that was

 

[David Baldwino]

I have a 4S saloon with air suspension on 20" wheels and have driven a 4S CT and expect my GTS ST to arrive in Feb'23.

Ground clearance on our roads has never been an issue on either car and the ride sublime.

IMHO the CT with a minor height advantage is simply superfluous and not something I would use to influence my decision. For cosmetic reasons I would not choose to have the CT over the ST and for me the CT was simply a marketing exercise by Porsche to delay the inevitable ST variant to create another niche. They chose not to do that with the Panamera ST and I wonder why.

Surely the comparison you should be making is the 4SCT vs 4SST - the GTS is a different beast in terms of dynamics and performance.

If you live down a rutted lane then the CT may suit better but equally rasing the suspension on any other variant would suffice just fine.

OMG, you are right about the 20's....just put my 20's on with winter rubber.....soooo smooth, Limo like.

Funny story about the reg plate.
Back in 2020 I ordered a Boxster 4.0 GTS, hence the plate. The plates arrived but I had changed the order to the 718 Spyder, so the plates were no use, well they wouldn’t do on a Spyder.
We had a Cayenne Hybrid so I put the plates on it, which in turn went on the Taycan.
When my wife asked what the meaning of them was, I said, 40 years of Great Times and Serenity.
It was our 40th wedding anniversary so she thought that was

Shear brilliance, genius

 

[WuffvonTrips]

I haven't driven a ST or Sedan, but this is the internet so I still feel entitled to share my opinion ...
A month or two after I ordered a 4S CT, the ST and GTS were announced. I'd been advised of at least a 12 month wait for the 4S, and naively assumed that the new GTS and/or ST variants might be available sooner, so gave them serious consideration. My conclusion- the 4S remains "the sweet spot" and having originally intended to get my CT's arch cladding painted, I thought that compared to the ST, they make the side view look less bulky.
From several test drives, I'd not found the 4S lacking dynamically, and it was remarkably comfortable. I'm not fussed about badges (I'd debadge whichever variant), I didn't think I'd notice a performance advantage of the GTS most of the time, I prefer leather to fabric, and I expected that the suspension and wheel/tyre setup of the GTS would sacrifice at least some comfort/refinement. Having come from a Cayenne, the CT felt low enough for me (the front overhang in particular w.r.t. kerbs and speed humps- adjustable ride height is all very well if you always remember to raise it or if the auto-raise worked reliably).
(Footnote- My cost/perceived benefit analysis of the options did however lead to changing my order... to a Turbo CT. Taking cost option depreciation in to account, my estimated total cost of ownership was only slightly more than for the 4S, which I justified because, on the infrequent occasions that I'd be in the mood to step on it, I'd notice the performance difference.)

 

[f1eng]

Ground clearance on our roads has never been an issue on either car and the ride sublime.

Yea but IME the B roads in your neck of the woods are wider and better surfaced than the A roads round here

 

[Kev946]

I'm waiting for my GTS but I live in SW France and we don't have snow, grit in winters etc. and it get pretty hot in winters. Most of our roads are better than the UK but the odd town centre road can be awful. On one of my test drives I experienced a road like this and the ride is harsh and I was in normal mode. Most of the time the air suspension just soaks it up but speed ramps and pot holes and he seems to struggle a bit but then again don't most cars. I've no driven a 4S to compare though.

 

[OJC]

Opinions please - the uk has the poorest roads in Europe …..has anyone got any personal comparisons with a 4 or 4S vs GTS with regard to comfort and do you miss the extra lift? Any other comments welcome as I have a freeze date of Wednesday for the incoming GTS ( Feb ) I’ve had the CT4S for 12 months and 12000 miles, very pleased with it and afraid I could be making a mistake with the GTS.?? Thoughts?

Strange you’ve posted this as I’ve just been thinking the exact same thing.

Our GTS ST is due to be delivered later this month. I love our current 4S CT and am starting to think/worry that the GTS might not be the right move. That said, I haven’t driven a GTS, so making a load of assumptions based on comments read.

It’s too late to pull out of the purchase now, however I’m tempted to keep both for a month or so and make a decision on which to keep.

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