Just in: All-new 2014 Porsche 911 revs up for competition

The Porsche 911 has always been a dream car to me. Such an exotic sports car is a rare treat in our test fleet. In fact, the last time Consumer Reports tested a 911, a Carrera S, was back in 2006, and it set us back $87,250. To me, that seems like quite a long time ago. I was 19 then and just starting out at Consumer Reports as a shop technician and part-time college student.

So, I was delighted when Gabe Shenhar, who organizes our car purchases, chose me to be the secret shopper for our next 911—a 2014 Carrera S with a seven-speed manual transmission. Since most of the cars I buy for testing live more in the Honda Civic to Toyota Camry neighborhood, this was a significant step up.

Gabe didn’t want to go crazy with features, and consequently the price, since the Porsche is destined to be a playmate for our $73,000 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray Z51. But with the new 911 starting at $98,900, there was definitely going to be a significant price difference. The comparable configuration we were aiming for was the rear-wheel-drive, 400-hp Carrera S with its 3.8-liter flat six-cylinder engine and a seven-speed manual transmission. Estimated sticker: $103,000.

But as I searched dealer inventories online and by phone around our region, I discovered that most available 2014 Carreras had the PDK automatic transmission or were 520-hp turbo models with all-wheel drive, priced from $115,000 to above $140,000. It took some work, but the closest match I could find had the key features we preferred and a few extras. As I discovered, Porsche has a way of piling on expensive à la carte options.

The chosen car was a Carrera S with heated power seats ($690) and Sport Chrono package ($1,850), which enables adjustments to make the car more track-competitive. Sport seats added $3,825. Then there was the sunroof ($1,490), self-dimming mirrors ($420), and so on. Final sticker came to $110,630—the very cheapest Carrera S we could find.