Hi i have been offered a 944 2.7 in exchange for my car just wondering what sort of value these cars have. It has a full service history,sills changed full respray and done 75000 miles it is on pistonheads at the mo. looks really good in the pics and he wants £4000 for it as a cash sale. Iam guessing this is top money for a series 1 car and i would rather have a s2 but if it is mint i could be interested what do you reckon any input would be welcome thanks.
944 2.7 1989 values
- Thread starter drakec
- Start date
pauljmcnulty
Active member
Hi,
If it's that good it's worth the £4K. You can easily buy a late lux for £2K or even less, but just the sills and a respray would double that or more if done well.
Full history and the miles are good things. Just check a couple of mechanical items other than the usual you would with any used car: clutch might well be original and has a rubber centre that breaks up with age, thick end of £1K to replace; belts need changing every 4 years regardless of miles so might be due, and you would want to budget for a water pump and all the rollers, oil seals etc. as a worst-case first service. they are fantastic cars, so if it all checks out I'd go for it like a shot.
Just for the pedants, it is a series two as these are all the later cars with the newer oval dash. The S2 is the second version of the 944S sixteen-valve. The 3.0 lt 16V car is a step up from the 2.5 or 2.7 8-valvers, but will cost more to buy. I changed from a Lux to an S2 and still feel it's hardly worth the extra most of the time.
If it's that good it's worth the £4K. You can easily buy a late lux for £2K or even less, but just the sills and a respray would double that or more if done well.
Full history and the miles are good things. Just check a couple of mechanical items other than the usual you would with any used car: clutch might well be original and has a rubber centre that breaks up with age, thick end of £1K to replace; belts need changing every 4 years regardless of miles so might be due, and you would want to budget for a water pump and all the rollers, oil seals etc. as a worst-case first service. they are fantastic cars, so if it all checks out I'd go for it like a shot.
Just for the pedants, it is a series two as these are all the later cars with the newer oval dash. The S2 is the second version of the 944S sixteen-valve. The 3.0 lt 16V car is a step up from the 2.5 or 2.7 8-valvers, but will cost more to buy. I changed from a Lux to an S2 and still feel it's hardly worth the extra most of the time.
Suffolk944
Moderator
The short answer is no. A chip will release a couple more horses and smooth out the delivery but 200bhp would remain a distant dream unless you tried supercharging it. If you want 200bhp then you will need an S2 (I believe some of them still manage to reach it [
]) For proper power you will need a Turbo of course...
]) For proper power you will need a Turbo of course...andrew_churcher
New member
drafec - given current prices...S2 in good nick...can be had from £3.5k-£5k.....u get the turbo looks...3ltr engine which gives nice torque....cracker really for the money...i would go for the S2 or turbo...just my opinion
captainsmelly
New member
I've very recently bought one (1989 2.7 lux) and the overall impression is that power is not important here - it would be nice to have more - but far from necessary. Keep the revs up, and maintain momentum through the corners and you will keep up with nearly anything on the road. The grip and balance is what these cars are all about.
If it is the one I think up in Newcastle it is near me. As the owner of a 2.7 in as good condition (maybe a bit better but I'm biased) and with less miles I'd love to think it's worth £25k! It is strong money but if as good as it makes out, a sound buy. If you want a poke round my car or a passenger ride I'd be happy to meet up.
Would be happy to come take a look at it with you too and cast my untrained eye over it.
Would be happy to come take a look at it with you too and cast my untrained eye over it.
The lux engines always suffer on power as they just can't breathe at high rpm's. They have basically no overlap on the cams and being an 8v they are naturally better low down in the RPM range. A good improvement is a chip/re-map, one chap (olli) has said he has seen a 20hp benefit on the NA from using an adjustable cam gear. A claim I intend to investigate! An extra 20bhp on top of the benefits of a MAF conversion and a re-map might see the 8v NA engines really flying.
Olli is from Finland? I think, they seem to do a lot over there with 944's. Something to do with finding it hard to import new cars I think so they do lots of crazy things with old ones! The promax chip sorts the ignition curve out, its very conservative from the factory due to the fact they expected the 944's to be running on low octane fuels. This gives you a decent increase in torque across the RPM range. You could prob squeeze a bit more from a custom re-map, more from a standalone/MAF conversion.
ukmastiff
New member
I totally understand Pauls points re having sills and a respray making it worth more but I have to agree with another poster re 'value for money'. 4,000 will definately get you a very decent S2 so why spend it on a 2.7
I would pay 2 to 2500 for a sound 2.7 at the mo but for 4 I'd get a really good S2. Just look at what club members have had to advertise their well looked after S2's for.
Regards Mas
I would pay 2 to 2500 for a sound 2.7 at the mo but for 4 I'd get a really good S2. Just look at what club members have had to advertise their well looked after S2's for.
Regards Mas
Thanks for all the replies my car is on ebay at the moment and finishes tommorow so if it doesnt sell i will definatley check the car out not knowing much about 944's i think it is still probably worth what he wants for it just down to the respray and work done to it. I would rather buy a lesser powered car that is fully sorted than a s2 for the same money which will no doubt need some money spending on it and from what i have researched it is quite a rare car with there only being a 12 month production run,this can surley on add to its futre resale/value
Sadly, even though it is a rarity, I don't think there will ever be much future value in the 944S. It falls between 2 stools. For 4k I would be wanting a very decent S2 or good late turbo. In todays market I would not value even a really good S at more than 3K (of course, it may be advertised for more but that's beside the point).
pauljmcnulty
Active member
I wouldn't bank on future value of any car outside real rarities like the F1 or F40, Bugatti Royal or James Bond DB5. Cars are plentiful, and modern cars incredibly good. There will always be people who want an older car, but not so many that values of anything will be appreciating to any level. The 2.7 Lux is fairly rare, but there isn't any huge difference between it and any other Lux: buy on condition only and don't be fussy about things like specific year or colour. The only 944 likely to hold on to "cult" status is the Turbo, which is odd as it's arguably the worst of the range. [
][]I'm absolutely with you, any 944 that's had significant money spent will be a better buy than one which hasn't, as the previous owner will be taking a loss. Any S2 that hasn't had the sills an wings done is likely to need at least a bit of work, probably at least £1000 and more likely a lot more if it's a long-term prospect. Sure, you can buy one for less than £4K and bodge them to last a year or two, but if you plan to keep it then bodywork costs significant money. Depends whether you plan to buy the car to run in to the ground for a dhort while, or keep for a good number of years as a cherished classic.
Assuming the mechanicals are also up to scratch, see my prvious post for a few things to ask about, £4K isn't high for a Lux that has been well-restored IMO.
I think the turbo is held in higher regard as it offers junior supercar performance 0-60 5.5 with 162mph top end and in a very unstressed way - thats why they make the jump from 250 to 300Bhp so easily and reliably.
The s2 was figured at 6.2 and 150 so a little way behind.
The 250Turbo had pretty low production numbers compared to the S2 (less than half)
Oh and it is far superior if you don't mind changing gear [
]Tony
yes up here north in land of polar bears we indeed do some carzy things. And we do even have some new cars, just love old '80's Porsche's because we were young back then []
Ok, back to the basics. A friend of mine is a head mechanic one endurance racing team, which is more or less an entry level class, so for example you must have original ECU, AFM etc. Most people use E30 bodied 325i BMW's, but my friend's team is more or into 944's. With modified head, re-grinded cam, better exhaust system and re-written chip.they got 175hp. With the adjustable cam i delivered to them they got almost 200hp. That's from 2.5L 944. So with 2.7L, 200hp would be easy to get. When same kind of figures are taken from 2.0L MK I Escort's (still very popular entry leve rally car here)why not from 944's. With MAP/MAF, ITB's and 16V head, standalone ECU system you can have almost 300hp. BUT that will require a lot of changes to engine. It has been done though..
]Ok, back to the basics. A friend of mine is a head mechanic one endurance racing team, which is more or less an entry level class, so for example you must have original ECU, AFM etc. Most people use E30 bodied 325i BMW's, but my friend's team is more or into 944's. With modified head, re-grinded cam, better exhaust system and re-written chip.they got 175hp. With the adjustable cam i delivered to them they got almost 200hp. That's from 2.5L 944. So with 2.7L, 200hp would be easy to get. When same kind of figures are taken from 2.0L MK I Escort's (still very popular entry leve rally car here)why not from 944's. With MAP/MAF, ITB's and 16V head, standalone ECU system you can have almost 300hp. BUT that will require a lot of changes to engine. It has been done though..
Well ended up swapping my car for the 944,just got back from a 120 mile trip and everything seems ok power isnt as bad as i thought and it is quite nippy. Just a few things iam not sure about,how far up the gauge should the needle get on the temp guage before the fan kicks in and what should the oil pressure read when warm at the moment it reads just over 4 which seemed a bit high to me....maybe too much oil, apart from that the car seems to run spot on.
Northern924
New member
Main difference is the power deliver in the 16v engine, much smoother, but they are all wonderfully balanced cars, sure you'll come to love it []
Water temp. should normally sit just over the first mark if you aren't driving it hard, then 1/2 way onder load. Fan should kick in just about the 2/3 mark at the top white line and drop quite quickly.
Oil gauge is pressure not temp, and 4-5 cold and when driving is normal, once the engine is warm should sit around 3 when stationart, do you know what oil is was last filled with and when?
]Water temp. should normally sit just over the first mark if you aren't driving it hard, then 1/2 way onder load. Fan should kick in just about the 2/3 mark at the top white line and drop quite quickly.
Oil gauge is pressure not temp, and 4-5 cold and when driving is normal, once the engine is warm should sit around 3 when stationart, do you know what oil is was last filled with and when?
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