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The '97 and '98s had some problems with porosity in the cylinder block, plus some problems with cylinder liners. The latter problem was traced to a decision made by the company manufacturing geniuses to retrofit some marginal (read failed inspection) blocks with a liner which was susceptible to cracking around the top thereby causing the liner to shift in the bore. The factory knows which engines these are by serial number, and have replaced problem engines under warranty. From what I understand, I wouldn't bother trying to find out whether any particular engine number falls into that category, as the response is likely to be "What problem engines?".
Typically these engines failed within a few thousand miles of new, and the factory replaced them under warranty. Engines that have say 30k miles or so on them are probably OK, or have been replaced already.
If you have access to Porsche Panorama, the Porsche club monthly magazine, it had an excellent discussion of these problems in the most recent issue.
I'm sure others will chime in on the std vs S question, as some folks think the std car has adequate power, while others think there is no such thing as enough.
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