As someone who recently went throught this dilema S non S, I really think it comes down to personal issues. I got the non S with PASM 19 inch wheels, sport steering and Bixenon lights. I also added sport chrono and some other minor options that would have been on both vehicles. I needed to go with the tip (Physical issues with my right shoulder).

I could afford both. The difference in canada between base an S is $14K. My addons brought the difference to down to $9K. Being a newbie to P cars I have no real impartialities. When I test drove both cars I found the base with the Tip was a little more responsive than the S, I don't really think you get the best out of the S with the Tip and that was one of the reasons I went for the base.

The extra horses and the bling bling brakes ( i know they really are better brakes) couldn't make me spend the extra $9k. The car will be plenty fast for me now - perhaps I will need more in the future? who knows I think for those of us that are more experienced drivers the S makes perfect sense. If I really want a different sound Fabspeed or some other artisan can upgrade it for me for a couple of thousand and there are other qualified people that can upgrade the car to get me more horsepower.

For me it was the right choice, for those amongst us like 69bossnine given his Mom could you really see him driving anything else??