Newb researching and looking for some guidance

[Sloan]

Topshelf,

How much of a premium are you finding for the "S" in the model years you are looking for? I see that you have 'essentially ruled out' the "S" and its not even on your test-drive list, but I'm wondering if the price gap is really that big - for sure if you pay for mods to get more power out of the 2.5 or 2.7, it would seem that could exceed the extra you'd pay for the "S" up front. I'm really asking b/c you make it clear you will be buying with Tiptronic, where the extra torque of the "S" would really make a difference.

I'm not trying to make this more difficult for your or make you second-guess your 'decision' against the "S", I just want to know how much of a factor the price difference is.

P.S. I went through the similar analysis recently of 2003-2004 "S" vs. 2005 base model, and I ended up with the "S", and am very happy with my choice.