first post - hello!

[Guest]

Hello all,
Found the forum a few days ago. I'm picking up my first ever Porsche next week. Cannot wait. Anyway, I have a question. It's a 1985 944 Turbo in metallic grey, but has neither the 'turbo' badge on the boot, or the 'PORSCHE' decal on the bumper. Should it have both/either? I know it's the first year turbo 944 if this makes a difference. Other than that maybe it's had paint or the badge is 'missing in action.'
Anyone one know where I can get replacements? (if it's supposed to have them)
Bit of an anal first post, but there you go!

Many thanks,
Matt

 

[944Turbo]

Hi, welcome to the forum, all the ones I have seen have the badges, is it late '85 I didn't think the turbo was produced until 86 but then the Porsche model year doesn't match the calender one. Anyway both Badges are available and shouldn't be too expensive.
Tony

 

[John Sims]

Welcome to the Forum Matt.

Whilst not the cheapest, Porscheshop in Halesowen do all badges, see www.porscheshop.co.uk. You could also phone your local Porsche dealer to get a comparative price.

When you get the badge make sure you have a Turbo with an original badge to compare with, so that you get the badge in just the right place relative to the seam line. That said I guess we could post you a photo which would do the same thing.

 

[Guest]

Hiya Matt, Welcome.

 

[Melv]

Leave the badges off!!

Keep 'em guessing.............

[]

Melv

 

[Guest]

Well what can I say. Picked up my 944turbo today and am amazed by its performance, putting a big grin on my face, this coming from a bloke who has spent the last 7 years on sportsbikes. Loved it.[]
Couple of questions for you though:

1. It has 17inch alloys fitted (235front and 255rear I think) which seem to follow every contour etc in the road, making the ride a bit edgy and pulling the steering a bit. Is this normal, or is it down to wheel tracking/allignment?

2. I have heard that you should let the car idle for a bit before turning off. Is this neccessary, and for how long?

3. My driver side mirror works fine left/right but won't work up/down. Does this sound like a motor problem or a loose connection? Is it worth sorting?

Bear with the questions while I get used to the car. It's only day 1!![8|]

Many thanks,
Matt

 

[944Turbo]

1) Mine was vastly improved by fitting MO30 castor mounts (rear of front wishbones), the 968 version would also offer similar improvements and are cheaper - however some have found that the benefits were not found until new tyres were fitted as well. Fitting them means you will need an alignment check anyway as it is virtually impossible to fit them without upsetting the geometry. At this point it might be worth increasing the castor angle above standard.

2) Its good for turbo life if you stop with a hot turbo the oil will cook, break down, and carbonise on the bearings, however if you drive the last few miles home (or where you are going!) off boost this should cool the turbo as well.
Once you stop the engine you should here a faint buzzing for approx 30 secs thats the turbo cooling pump running coolant through the turbo (if you look at the rear of the coolant header tank you should see a little fountain of coolant).
One last thing, you shouldn't rev the engine just before switch off either as the revving spins up the turbo, then stop the engine and it starves it of it's high pressure oil feed to bearings.

3)Could be motor, loose connection, damaged wire, try 'encouraging' it gently whilst working the switch.

Car looks pretty in the pic,

Tony

 

[Fen]

Welcome along.

I'd say the same as Tony on the tramlining; get 968 castor mounts and get the geometry set up again. Mine haven't been bad on 18's (3 of them) and they all had the castor mount upgrade.

On the mirror I'd say a connection. From experience they work in various combinations if they aren't wired up correctly. Note that a loos connection on the driver's side can make the passenger mirror play up.

Turbo badges are cheap from the dealer. Porsche script was about £70 the one time I asked for it to be replaced during a service [8|], but pattern script should be cheaper. Personally I might leave it off and just put the Turbo back on it.

Shall I be the first to suggest getting the Guru chips etc. for 300bhp at under £200?

 

[Diver944]

Hi Matt and welcome, I missed your first post somehow last week.

Echo what the guys have already said about the caster mounts. Checkout the suspension section of www.944s2.com to see a pic. It's very simple to change these yourself, they are about £40 each side, then you will need a realignment. 235's on the front are a bit wide, so it might be worth trying 225's or even 205's when they wear out. These are the standard sizes.

Missing badges does sound like it's had paint at the rear, I'd double check the rear boot well under the carpet for signs of any crinkling or bending. There should be a sticker back there also on the inside showing all the cars options and its chassis number. If its still there it is a good sign

Enjoy the Booooooost []

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the replys chaps.
The castor mounts seem the way to go then.
Paul: Are 225's and 205's the standard sizes for 17 inch alloys or the original (16inch?) And yep, I've checked the boot. All seems OK and the sticker is there too.
But bloody hell, second trip out and the drivers mirror I'm having electrical trouble with is now swinging loose where its mounted. They are supposed to be able to fold in I take it (as I did to fit it in the garage) but this just went really loose whilst driving tonight. Bummer.

 

[Fen]

They're bolted on from the outside with a big socket head screw IIRC - fold the mirror in to get access.

If it's mirror loose on the base rather than the base loose on the car then you need to take the glass out to get to the screws. There's a hole in the bottom of the black rubber bit that you can poke a screwdriver through. That lets you turn a big knurled ring that moves about 1/16th turn to catch 4 lugs on the back of the glass. If you turn it then carefully pull at the mirror (not much force - jiggle) then it will come off and you can get to the screws inside.

 

[Diver944]

You need to check the width of your front wheel first. If your wheels are genuine Porsche then they will have either 7 or 7.5 stamped to the side of the valve indicating the width.

968's and 928's came with a 7.5" front wheel when fitted with 17" wheels and the front tyre was a 225/45

964's and 993's came with a 7" front wheel when fitted with 17" wheels and the front tyre was a 205/50

I had terrible tramlining when I fitted 17" wheels with 225 fronts. I replaced the caster mounts and it got a bit better but when I fitted a new set of front tyres it was radically improved. My old tyres were near the 2mm wear indicator and had worn unevenly due to misalignment in the past, but once new rubber was fitted with a full 8mm tread the tramlining simply disappeared []

 

[Guest]

My wheels aren't Porsche items unfortunately, but 'BK'.
I was up at 'Northway Porsche' Reading today, and talking to Ray up there he said that with 235's fitted up front I will suffer badly from tramlining on all but perfect surfaces. The 'BK's could even be 8 inch which could be why 235's have been fitted.
So, looks like my options are to get narrower tyres on the same wheels and get the geometry sorted or try and get some genuine Porsche ones.

Regards,
Matt

 

[Fen]

Depends on the offset. My fronts are 9" (the rears are 10") and it's almost no worse than with the standard Design 90's. From our avatar picsours don't look like they have too much outset compared to mine if they're an inch narrower.

 

[Guest]

There are some 16 inch 'Design 90' alloys for sale in Porsche World this month. Would it be worth me buying these to solve the tramlining? Would they be what my car originally had as I've seen this style I think on many 944's. Do they handle better on 16 inch wheels?
My manual says it should have 205/55 on rims 7j x 16 and 225/40 on rims 8j x 16. God I'm getting confused!![]
Anybody got any pics of a standard 85/86 turbo?

Thanks,
Matt

 

[John Sims]

There are some 16 inch 'Design 90' alloys for sale in Porsche World this month. Would it be worth me buying these to solve the tramlining?

I think it would depend on what you want out of the car. If your looking for a complete "Original" look then original Porsche wheels are the obvious route. However, with modern performance cars wearing the biggest diameter wheels they can squeeze under the arches, with the smallest profile tyres, big wheels do give the car a more contemporary look.

In many respects, for road use, there is little to recommend low profile tyres as the stiff side walls reduce the abillity of the tyre to absorb the undulations of a poor road surface.

As I understand, big wheels and low profile tyres generally evolved for two reasons - both circuit racing related:-

1. Big wheels allow clearance for big brakes.

2. Stiff side walls take out compliance in the tyre making steering and handling as direct as possible.

There is a third reason for low profile tyres and that is to allow wider tyres of the same diameter. The profile being the percentage of the "hight" to that of the width but then we all knew that and the discussion here is "Are 16" wheels better than 18".

So - if you want an original look go for the 16" wheels which will give you a far more comfortable ride but will, perhaps, reduce overall grip slightly. Or, stick with the current wheels and get the suspension working better.

I put 17" 993 Turbo wheels on my Lux, it originally had 15" wheels. It looked ten years younger with the new wheels, and gripped better at the back, but it ruined the ballance of the car and it was much more fun with the original wheels.

 

[Guest]

Thanks John,
Great advice and it all makes sense!
I love the car but am dissapointed with the handling of which the tyres seem to be spoiling the party. In fact its been a bit hairy at some points with the car wanting to do its own route on more than a few occasions. I think I shall try and find some OE size wheels and take it from there, unless the wheels that are on it are OE size (there aren't any markings on them) in which case I will simply buy OE size tyres and go from there.

Thanks again,
Matt

 

[John Sims]

I will simply buy OE size tyres and go from there.

Matt,

With wide rims and ultra low profile tyres (as yours are currently) there is very little tollerance on tyre profile relative to rim width. I'm afraid you are going to find that the tyres you have are the only size that will fit those rims.

There is a trend towards bigger and wider wheels so, assuming you wanted to go to a more conventional set up, you may get as much - if not more - in exchange for your current wheels.

 

[Fen]

My cab drives much better on its standard wheels (16" Design 90's) but it looks much better on the 18's. I'm a tart, what can I say.

If your car is an '85 then Design 90's won't fit. From '87 on thr hubs changed (to accommodate ABS, whether fitted or not) and the wheel offset is much different. If you fit D90's to your car they'll be tucked far too far under the arches and look terrible.

Your car would have had Teledials as standard, or perhaps Fuchs as an option. 7" and 8" by 16" IIRC. with 205/225 tyres F/R. Note that Turbo teledials are wider than Lux teledials. 'Simply' going back to standard wheels may not be quite so simple as you'd think, although you will find the right wheels if you know what you are looking for.

This is a standard early Turbo

And this is my first one ('86) which had optional Fuchs

 

[944Turbo]

Whilst acknowledging all of the above, I would change the castor mounts first (and the bushes at the front of the wishbones and the antiroll bar bushes (these usually suffer on the offside due to oil contamination and swell), it will probably lessen the tramlining returning to the original wheels/tyres but these rubber bits have probably never been changed and with the car now 17 Years old they have probably hardened and cracked. If you then still decide to go for smaller wheels these rubber bits will still be of benefit.
Tony