Thinking of a 944 Turbo
Discussion
utgjon said:
What spec/budget are you looking at?
Anything up to about £10k really or £13k for something extra special, and I'm looking for one of the last ones, a 90/91. To be entirely honest as well, its going to be difficult to sell the Elise too. I'm yet to make the decision 100%, the Elise is just so much fun.
I am a massive fan of the transaxle Pork,especially 944 turbos,one in fine fettle is a quick old car and with a fresh suspension/rubber they handle superbly,i have had a mix of cars and i have a real love of them and will always keep at least one.Currently down to two,i have a tuned one with all the Promax goodies fitted and also a standard one (originally bought it in 93) and i love both.They are a great alround tank,for everyday,weekend,or a gentle trackday.They make fab race-cars that can really punch above their weight also but that's another story.
Trick is finding a nice one,people are starting to hold on to the minty ones,the nicer ones on the market are starting to creep up value wise at last.
Great project car you wouldn't be sad you tried one!
Trick is finding a nice one,people are starting to hold on to the minty ones,the nicer ones on the market are starting to creep up value wise at last.
Great project car you wouldn't be sad you tried one!
I drive a turbo as my only car but I don't drive to work; I would do if I had to but I would worry about piling on the miles too much.
I love the style and the fact it's an 80s Porsche turbo, that's enough, the fact that it's fun, different, capable and practical are all a bonus.
The interior is generally solid but nothing consumable will cost you really silly money, apart from a new clutch I believe, even a belts service.
Thing is, it is an oldishl car.
So when you look under the bonnet there will be plenty you could see wrong and plenty you can't see, items such as HT system may be considered consumable at that age, you will definitely be in for expenditure.
There's no guarantee that it wont leak either, but it's all fixable and doesn't represent an eye watering wallet killer, it's good if you like having a running project and whilst mine did develop running issues I am now approaching somewhere near to confidence and reliability after getting minor but multiple items sorted (was a 4k car 2yrs ago).
Don't forget the paint/body and rusty sills may well be a problem after25yrs now too..
Do it is my advice, just be prepared to spend more than running a 320d which is probably faster and safer...it's more about what it represents to you really.
I love the style and the fact it's an 80s Porsche turbo, that's enough, the fact that it's fun, different, capable and practical are all a bonus.
The interior is generally solid but nothing consumable will cost you really silly money, apart from a new clutch I believe, even a belts service.
Thing is, it is an oldishl car.
So when you look under the bonnet there will be plenty you could see wrong and plenty you can't see, items such as HT system may be considered consumable at that age, you will definitely be in for expenditure.
There's no guarantee that it wont leak either, but it's all fixable and doesn't represent an eye watering wallet killer, it's good if you like having a running project and whilst mine did develop running issues I am now approaching somewhere near to confidence and reliability after getting minor but multiple items sorted (was a 4k car 2yrs ago).
Don't forget the paint/body and rusty sills may well be a problem after25yrs now too..
Do it is my advice, just be prepared to spend more than running a 320d which is probably faster and safer...it's more about what it represents to you really.
I ran GC8's 944 Turbo for 3 years and 36k miles as my only car (half those miles in the last year) before I passed custodianship on to Simon
I then ran a 968 Sport for 6 months.
In day-day the 968 was slightly easier to live with, but a lot of that was probably to do with the 130k mile difference between them, in that the 968 felt tighter, more modern and put together
However, on the motorway the 944 was far more relaxing to drive (I often did 200-350 mile days) as once you are in top you then drive it like an automatic as long as you stay above 50 - it will still out-accelerate 95% of the stuff on the road, whereas the 968 needed to be dropped from 6th to 5th or more likely 4th to put the manners on a poverty-spec 320d
I then ran a 968 Sport for 6 months.
In day-day the 968 was slightly easier to live with, but a lot of that was probably to do with the 130k mile difference between them, in that the 968 felt tighter, more modern and put together
However, on the motorway the 944 was far more relaxing to drive (I often did 200-350 mile days) as once you are in top you then drive it like an automatic as long as you stay above 50 - it will still out-accelerate 95% of the stuff on the road, whereas the 968 needed to be dropped from 6th to 5th or more likely 4th to put the manners on a poverty-spec 320d
And buy on condition and recent maintenace rather than age and mileage.
I refused to drive mine at first thinking the mileage was way higher than I was confortable with, but as I was losing my faith in being able to find a good 944 (was looking for any that drove OK) a mate convinced me to stop and look at it on the way home.
The paintwork looked awful as we drove up and my heart sank, but once we met the owner and walked around it, we realised that it was purely superficial (normal guards Pink) and all the important stuff had been well taken care of, and its 194k miles were an indication that its owners had wanted to really drive this car. (I always worriy with cars that do less than 1,000 miles a year that they are not that fun to drive and that the owners don't like driving them)
The day I bought her home:
I refused to drive mine at first thinking the mileage was way higher than I was confortable with, but as I was losing my faith in being able to find a good 944 (was looking for any that drove OK) a mate convinced me to stop and look at it on the way home.
The paintwork looked awful as we drove up and my heart sank, but once we met the owner and walked around it, we realised that it was purely superficial (normal guards Pink) and all the important stuff had been well taken care of, and its 194k miles were an indication that its owners had wanted to really drive this car. (I always worriy with cars that do less than 1,000 miles a year that they are not that fun to drive and that the owners don't like driving them)
The day I bought her home:
ks.A 320D might get the drop on you, especially in the 968 which needs some gearbox stirring as mentioned above, but you'll soon be hauling them in!
Focus RS was my favourite sport, they would come flying up behind you, you'd move out of the way to let them past then just sit behind them and use them as a snowplough, it is fun watching them floor it and keep checking their mirror wondering why you're still sat right behind them...
Focus RS was my favourite sport, they would come flying up behind you, you'd move out of the way to let them past then just sit behind them and use them as a snowplough, it is fun watching them floor it and keep checking their mirror wondering why you're still sat right behind them...
It is only a matter of time before the prices for the 944 Turbo, The Turbo S, and the Turbo SE move quickly upward.
There are limited numbers of low mileage cars available, less so for the well cared for ones.
People are now beginning to understand and look into the development of this model and it is a surprising read! 50/50 weight, top of the line sports suspension (for the period), excellent brakes, special Porsche sport chassis, plus loads more. In it's day, it was one of the best built cars in the World.
It was the world's first car using a ceramic port liner to retain exhaust gas temperature and new forged pistons and was also the first vehicle to produce identical power output with or without a catalytic converter (Wiki). Even Porsche said "Not since the 911 Turbo has Porsche transferred a race car so directly into a road car"
Don't forget, this is 1980's Porsche Turbo - in demand these days as people think back to the posters on their bedroom wall.
Here's what 'Hagerty classic cars' had to say in Dec 14, Rob Sass - you have to go water-cooled to find a reasonably priced classic Porsche. If you can stand the upkeep bills, early 928s are looking particularly good at this point as are 944 Turbos and 968s. Even the 924 and 924 Turbo with its less-than-silky Audi four-cylinder are worth a look
There are limited numbers of low mileage cars available, less so for the well cared for ones.
People are now beginning to understand and look into the development of this model and it is a surprising read! 50/50 weight, top of the line sports suspension (for the period), excellent brakes, special Porsche sport chassis, plus loads more. In it's day, it was one of the best built cars in the World.
It was the world's first car using a ceramic port liner to retain exhaust gas temperature and new forged pistons and was also the first vehicle to produce identical power output with or without a catalytic converter (Wiki). Even Porsche said "Not since the 911 Turbo has Porsche transferred a race car so directly into a road car"
Don't forget, this is 1980's Porsche Turbo - in demand these days as people think back to the posters on their bedroom wall.
Here's what 'Hagerty classic cars' had to say in Dec 14, Rob Sass - you have to go water-cooled to find a reasonably priced classic Porsche. If you can stand the upkeep bills, early 928s are looking particularly good at this point as are 944 Turbos and 968s. Even the 924 and 924 Turbo with its less-than-silky Audi four-cylinder are worth a look
Edited by Patch234 on Friday 30th January 07:40
Some good points Patch, I used to get a lot of people come over to me at Petrol stations to admire the 944, telling me that they had a poster of it in red.
The 968 not so much, it was either guys asking me what it was (it was de-badged)or guys telling me that they have/had one, although there was a lovely young Blonde girl standing next to it once when I came out of the station, she was very complimentary....
In their day they were faster and more expensive than the 911SC, and a 50% premium over the NA 944
The prices in '88 were something like:
NA 944: £22,000
911 SC: £32,000
944 turbo: £33,000
I am sure that the 928 was then a hefty premium on top of that!
The 968 not so much, it was either guys asking me what it was (it was de-badged)or guys telling me that they have/had one, although there was a lovely young Blonde girl standing next to it once when I came out of the station, she was very complimentary....
In their day they were faster and more expensive than the 911SC, and a 50% premium over the NA 944
The prices in '88 were something like:
NA 944: £22,000
911 SC: £32,000
944 turbo: £33,000
I am sure that the 928 was then a hefty premium on top of that!
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