Turbo 220 or 250 bhp?

rav · Mar 27, 2009

I'm on the hunt for a 944 turbo.

Ive taken quite a shine to Steven's 944 turbo SE in the for sale section of this forum. Ive had a 944 turbo SE before and they are amazing even in standard format.
Ive also been offered a 1987 car which i guess was a 220 bhp car, but now has a 250 bhp engine fitted.
What other modifications will a factory standard 250bhp car have over a 220 bhp car?

JMG garage have given me the option of building the 220bhp car to my specification. What sort of things would you spec up on this car without blowing my wallet apart? I like the roll over hoop (like John Simms Beaky) idea and a DPW - but i think that this would break my wallet.

I want to use the car for road use with about two track days per year max. I also have a hankering for driving to the new Porsche museum in Stuttgart. I would also like to join my local PCGB region and help with event etc.

John Sims · Mar 27, 2009

There were sundry small changes to the Turbo during its production including different brakes, gearbox, suspension, turbo, engine management, even the bottom end of the engine.

The very best spec is a late model with M030 suspension, but the 220 bottom end is stronger.

The cars are old now so I wouldn't get tied up on a particular specification. Anything mechanical can be addressed and swapped if it is important to you. There is no point in getting a late M030 because of the big brakes if the brakes are shot and need replacing, for example.

Condition of the shell is the most important factor above all else. Get a good shell and it is worth spending money on the mechanicals. If you have a rusting shell it isn't going to get any better without major, and expensive, surgery.

edh · Mar 27, 2009

what's your budget? - not easy to comment without knowing what you want to spend

I'd have thought that a DPW & roll hoop are at the cheap end of 944 mods - I'd be a little concerned if they were tipping you over the edge...

The red 250 looks a very nice car, & must be the more sensible buy. It looks a steal at £5k, even allowing another grand for all the usual fettling - one other thought, is Gordon Attar's car still up for sale as well?

rav · Mar 27, 2009

Thanks for the quick responses.

Budget is around £4k with an absolute max of £4.5k available for the right car.
Steve's red car would have already been on my driveway except its red (please dont kill me Edh [:-]).

I know that buying a Porsche with a budget as low as this is ill advised, but i cannot spend any more money. My background is that i started my car history with a 944 turbo se. I then moved onto a 968 sport and finally a 1989 Carrera 3.2 coupe. The 3.2 ended up costing me thousands of pounds every year and i eventually got too frightened to drive it as someone might put a ding in it or it might get wet.
I chopped that in against my mortgage and now want a cheap car that i can abuse and not be scared to drive in the rain or to the shops / school run.

edh · Mar 27, 2009

ORIGINAL: rav

Thanks for the quick responses.

Budget is around £4k with an absolute max of £4.5k available for the right car.
Steve's red car would have already been on my driveway except its red (please dont kill me Edh [:-]).

I wasn't looking for a red car - but bought it on spec/condition - I've grown to like it over the past 3 years [

]

I'd be suprised if 4.5k will buy you a decent 250 turbo (and keep it running) - I'd look for a 220 or an S2 if I were you...

Diver944 · Mar 27, 2009

I'm afraid that £4.5k is way to low if you have no other funds in reserve. Yes, you can find good cars in this bracket but be repared to pay for quite a few things to be replaced in the first year.

If you're only doing two trackdays a year, I personally wouldn't bother with a roll hoop either. It's several hundred quid out of your budget needed just to keep the car serviced and fettled.

As John said, don't worry too much about 220 or 250 cars. At this price range you need to find a rust free example. All the ancilliaries (shocks, brakes, wastegate etc) will doubtless need replacing soon anyway

John Sims · Mar 27, 2009

£4½K isn't going to get you far in Turbo terms I'm afraid. With any new 944 you should have £1,000 -£1,500 in hand for its first service.

You can get lucky and get a good one where the owner has done everything and then got bored because there is nothing else to do; but often people sell cars of this type (i.e. old) when they become overwhelmed with the number and cost things which need to be addressed.

You could get lucky but you could also buy into a lot of grief.

rav · Mar 27, 2009

The deal that has been struck with JMG garage is that the car will have all ancilaries replaced. Shocks, belts, clutch, suspension parts. Gearbox will be checked over and the car will be good for a year at least.

This is the same car that i posted a thread about before - its got 250 000 miles on the clock.....

John Sims · Mar 27, 2009

ORIGINAL: rav

The deal that has been struck with JMG garage is that the car will have all ancilaries replaced. Shocks, belts, clutch, suspension parts. ............

For £4K ? What are they replacing them with?

DavidL · Mar 27, 2009

ORIGINAL: rav

The deal that has been struck with JMG garage is that the car will have all ancilaries replaced. Shocks, belts, clutch, suspension parts. Gearbox will be checked over and the car will be good for a year at least.

This is the same car that i posted a thread about before - its got 250 000 miles on the clock.....

There must be nearly 3K worth of work if you just pitched your car to a garage and said do it. JMG must be losing his touch - I'll have mine down there too at that rate!