Why a 944?

[Guest]

Always wanted a Porsche since being a teenager. Overnight decided I'm going to have one, why not. Paid the mortgage off, time for mid life stuff. Wanted 911, bank balance said 924 'sold as seen'. Loved the car, fixed everything but tiptronic ignition - bastard would not start when hot. Gave up one morning when would not get me to work, in a fit of temper went on ebay and bought 944.

Saw this pretty car with number plate starting in MB, Milan Baros my fav footballer of the moment - it's a sign, buy it - so I did.( Yes I am a blond- who need common sense).

Mechanically car fine, about to tidy up bodywork which won't cost much - get a Harry Potter to do some magic with the electrics, but always starts and looks cool.

 

[Chris Preston]

I reached the stage when rather than transporting my children around en masse, they are learning to drive themselves so a sports car became a practical proposition. I can remember being impressed by a 944 my brother in law had as a company car ( lucky or what!!) in the early 80's but I never believed I could afford one until My wife bought me a copy of 911 and PW, as I kept banging on about buying a 911 when I retired.
I was quite surprised how reasonable 944 prices were and so the hunt was on.
I considered other cars but as I am 6ft 3 tall the choice was limited to something I coould sit in and drive comfortably.
My car was bought from amember of this club who was buying a turbo and although the body/paint is a bit tatty it is sound mechanically and all the bits work- he says reaching for a large piece of wood to touch[&:]
I love the car and it is the only car I have ever owned that I just drive for the fun of it, setting off over the Mendips not knowing or caring where I go so long as the roads are clear!
I still have an idea of buying a 911 when I retire in 4 years or so but I don't know which variant...my family is expecting me to flog the 944 then....but I really don't know if I will but don't tell them[]

 

[John Sims]

I used to race a Westfield which was also road registered. One day I swapped keys with one of my Directors and had a drive of his 911 (must have been a 993). As a result of this drive I so wanted a Porsche, having never really had any such desire previously.

Subsequently my Westfield was on display at the International Motor sport Exhibition when I met a guy promoting the fledgling 944 Series. We got talking and I was stunned when he suggested that I could buy a complete race prepared 944, with rebuilt mechanicals, for £10K. Previously I had assumed that you couldn't get a Porsche of any description or age for less than £30K. I then started to wonder how much a conventional 944 would be and bought a copy of 911&PW which, by complete chance, had a 944 buying guide in it. I was stunned by how "affordable" a 944 actually was.

I was getting fed up with getting up at four in the morning, in the rain, to drive across the country,in the rain, to race, in the rain, and generally not enjoy it. Little Peter was getting bigger and going to any Westfield events meant taking two cars, which was no fun at all, and unlikely to change for the next 18 years. So the plan was hatched to get a 944 to either wean me off racing or to change race series to something safer when two of my chums were almost killed racing in the Kit Car Series. At least racing a 944 I would have more car around me, be dry, and have somewhere to put everything when the car was on the trailer.

So I bought a Lux. It was a great car, we met some great people through PCGB and were able to travel everywhere as a family. The Lux turned into Beaky and the rest was history (or poverty).

 

[cornishgrose]

I got my Porsche 944 lux over 3 years ago. The reason is the undeniably gorgeous look of the car, its straight and fast lines, from the front to the rear it gives that lovely shark shape. The way it sits parked up, yet still looks like it is going somewhere fast. The fact that is a Porsche and cheap to buy, maintain and drive. Although I have a lux, I can still get it upto 140mph, with road to spare. My workmates have a Ford Sierra Cosworth, Escort Cosworth, Mazda MX3, Nissan Primera GT, Vauxhall Vectra, Subaru Impreza and a Renault 19 Turbo. None look or feel as nice as my car.
The only downside I have to contend with is the age of my car. A 'C' reg car comes with its usual problems, but as the others have 'M' reg and onwards, they expect perfection. In the three years I have had this 944, I have replaced the steering column, power steering pump, alternator, brake line and window motor. Have bought new air vents, wing mirror gaskets, radio, wheels, sills, exhaust mounts, auxillary belts, speedo cable and relays. I now have to respray the front valance and both wing mirrors. Reglue the rear spoiler and then retrim the seats.
Any sane person would have given up after the steering column,but as ever, as I am the owner of the car you always have your perfect interpretation of the car, the dream blueprint. No matter what comes up, you have a wobbly, curse the car and get on with it. Come to think of it, bloody car, I wish I had never bought the bloody thing and after all the bloody money I have spent on it,Why oh, bloody why, I mean..................Oops, Ummm, wouldnt sell it for the world!

 

[Diver944]

I was never really into cars, I've only had 5 since age 18 and still have two of them, they were just a method of getting from A to B. Then I got a job requiring an 80 mile round trip every day and it was pretty obvious that my little Nova was not up to the job. I started looking at larger, quieter cars that could take the mileage and fancied something a bit sporty like a Calibra, Probe or Honda Prelude.

I went to see a Prelude at a local dealer and parked next to it was a blue 944. The salesman had just finished his greasy introduction while I was looking over the Prelude and he asked if I would like to try the Porsche. I told him he was having a laugh as I couldn't afford it, until I noticed the price sticker was actually £100 less then the two year old Prelude I was looking at.

I tested that S2 (it was a ropey old dog) and then spent the weekend reading every website ever written about 944s (this was back in 1998). The hunt then began in earnest and I spent the next three months driving round the country until we finally found TTO being sold by the late Michael Ticehurst in Henly.

The rest is history and I became a total 944 anorak. A few years later I was spurred on by all the other 'boostie boys' on the Titanic email list and I bought my Turbo, with the intention of selling the S2 to fund HUUUUGE power upgrades. Unfortunately Mrs Diver said the S2 was NOT for sale and it's only now that the budget has rebuilt itself to satisfy my wanton needs for bhp [8D]

 

[Fen]

I got my first Porsche from Michael Ticehurst too. Decent bloke I thought, especially for a car dealer.

 

[Guest]

A Lotus dealer told me to buy a Porsche!
As I kid I'd seen James Bond's Esprit and fell in love. Many years later I'd saved up what I thought was a wad and went Esprit hunting. A dealer told me for my budget I'd be buying a load of trouble, and if I wanted a sports car get a 944.
So I did, an 8 year old Lux, and it was fantastic, right up until the day a Carlton drove into the back of it at 40mph in traffic without braking (THAT hurt, but we walked away).
Years later I got a large redundancy package and finally got my Esprit, a very nice low milage Peter Stevens (the last shape) model. What a disappointing pile of cr*p!! Had it for a year and then got a lovely 250bhp 944 Turbo.
Ended up selling the 944 Turbo to raise cash to take a year off travelling. Now looking for another (although Mrs Clap is still insisting on a 911, "You've had 944's, if you don't get a 911 you'll regret it". Er, no!!)

 

[944Turbo]

Bump [8|]

 

[Helen Goff]

had no intention of ever buying a 944. after all they arn't real porsche are they [8|]..

then last Dec i found i had a little spare cash and a spare garage to fill so started looking about. I soon found you can get a hell of a lot of car for a lot less ££ when looking at the 944 over most other porsches.
you only have to drive a 944S2 to discover its a thorughabred and im now hooked. so bye bye Bogster i want more for my ££

 

[Peter Empson]

My first car was a Citroen Bx and after a year of this I was ready for anything else.[:'(]
The slippery slope started for me when I realised that I could afford a 924, I wanted the build quality certainly but it was the driving experience that particularly appealed. I got insurance quotes and realised it was possible depsite only having 1 year NCD and being 23 the quotes range from £1K to several times that.
In the end however I realised that with a bit more saving I could get a 944 whose appearance and obvious development really appealed, and so I set my sites on a Lux. This was back seven years ago, and after viewing a few tatty examples I got my current car, from Henry at 911virgin.com (called 'Prestige and Performance' back then). It wasn't a perfect example but given I had a limited budget (£6.5K) I believe I did the right thing as the car has given me endless pleasure.
A few years ago the trackday bug bit and I wanted more, but instead of buying something else I started modifying the car to get it to do what i wanted and I haven't looked back since.
I admit i've spent a silly amount of money on the car over the years but I don't regret it really []

 

[Guest]

My route to 944 ownership was purely accidental. I've always liked them since they first came out, but never actually thought of getting one.

After a few years of TVR ownership I had gone back to sensible cars with an AMG Merc for the road, as I was getting my trills on the track. Then I started a new job, and one day a guy there asked me if I could drop him off on the way home, as he had to pick up the new car (a Ford Focus turbo rollerskate thing) that he had just bought. On the trip we got chatting, and I asked him what his old car was, then why he was changing. It turned out he had a 944S, which had had owned from new. It had snapped a cam belt, and he'd decided to replace it with the Focus.

To cut a long story short, I offered to buy it from him and get it back on the road. When we went to pick it up, it turned out that the bore was badly scored on one cylinder, and it was a complete new engine job. We "negotiated" over the deal, and I ended up the proud owner of a non running 944S. After getting the engine out, and sourcing the majority of the bits to rebuild the engine, I ran out of time (work and family commitments).

The car then sat in my garage for another year and a half, before my wife offered to have it finished as a birthday present. A few days later, Kevin from EMC picked the car up from my house. 2 weeks later it arrived back, all nicely running again with a shiny new engine.

James

 

[Helen Goff]

It had snapped a cam belt, and he'd decided to replace it with the Focus.

To cut a long story short, I offered to buy it from him and get it back on the road. When we went to pick it up, it turned out that the bore was badly scored on one cylinder, and it was a complete new engine job. We "negotiated" over the deal, and I ended up the proud owner of a non running 944S. After getting the engine out, and sourcing the majority of the bits to rebuild the engine,

bet it ran a lot better once you replaced the ford focus with a proper porsche cam belt [:-]

 

[Guest]

ORIGINAL: Helen Goff

It had snapped a cam belt, and he'd decided to replace it with the Focus.

To cut a long story short, I offered to buy it from him and get it back on the road. When we went to pick it up, it turned out that the bore was badly scored on one cylinder, and it was a complete new engine job. We "negotiated" over the deal, and I ended up the proud owner of a non running 944S. After getting the engine out, and sourcing the majority of the bits to rebuild the engine,

bet it ran a lot better once you replaced the ford focus with a proper porsche cam belt [:-]

Yes. The headlights kept getting caught on the cam sprocket []

 

[Diver944]

A new engine fitted in two weeks [], did I hear that right?

I thought all engine jobs had to take at least a few months [8|]

 

[Fen]

Maybe James managed to fit an engine without the need to tear it apart and replace the smallest internal components, especially with those not originally intended to be in there []

 

[Guest]

I had already removed the old engine before he came to get it. In 2 weeks (to the day) he picked the car up, built and fitted an engine, gave the car a service, got it MOT'd, and delivered it back.

When I got it back, the clutch was dragging a bit (it had been left for 2 years). He offered to fix it FOC for me when it went in for the 1,000 mile checkup (which I thought was rather nice of him).

I picked the car up yesterday, and it's running beautifully. I'm a very happy chap []

James

 

[Hilux]

I owned and rebuilt and tracked a 550kg 180 bhp Vx powered Westy. (couldnt fit in a cateringvan) Awesome cornering and only similar and slighty superior spec`d cars outbraked it. Truly truly a great experience. problem is they are aerodynamically appalling so you get to 70 real quick and then hit a brick wall so all the beemers and scooby`s youve left fly past you again. Noisy and windy and v v tiring on a long journey (despite what the owners tell you) A 4 wheeled motorbike. Brilliant on twisty circuits but limited at Bedford or Silverstone.

See here

I also owned and rebuilt and tracked a 750 kg 250 bhp V8 Ginetta G27. Just as fast but with better aerodynamics it did circa 145 mph and went through the gears quicker than Griffith 500`s. Amazing handling from Ginettas racing heritage and once upgraded nearly as good brakes as the Westy. Sadly missed as I never really had the chance to perfect the set up. Still wondering what its ultimate potential might have been as I bought it having seen one at Donington thrashing a load of serious Westy`s and cateringvans.

See here

I mention this as I wrote off the Ginetta (sadly) and looked around for something that fitted my ideals.

Thought about another Westy and tried some bike engined ones. Fantastic but not enough torque or engine braking so the CEC ones are better in and out the corners IMO

I have toyed with TVR`s for years (annual shall I shant I pilgrimage to TVR centre near Barnet) but I cannot bring myself to part with money as they are too unreliable (regardless of what the owners tell you)

911`s were my favourite since as a young man I saw the release of the 930 turbo in 1976 but when I tried them they are so cramped and uncomfortable unless you get a left hooker.

I toyed with building an Ultima but the money was too much. I even went back to thinking about another classic car (I rebuilt and subsequently owned a concours Rover P5B Coupe for 10 years)

Thought about Fisher Fury`s but have had enough of kit cars for the time being.

Scooby`s.....................well......................[:'(][:'(] what is all the fuss about, absolutely horrible with a bald tattooed Essex man persona. Dreadful cars in my book. I test drove two and they are fantastic into a corner but in the corner you will never know when it goes IMO, bloody dangerous unless you know what you are doing. Not neutral and confidence inspiring like the 944. Probably why my 944 leaves em out of fast roundabouts.

I looked at Elises (I`m too tall) having driven a turbod one at Bedford (only a 993 left it oon the straights and it was all over it through the corners but didnt have enough grunt to pass) it also had been rebuilt twice and caaught fire regularly [] but the stories re the K series engines are legendary (despite what the owners say) even Cateringvans now use a Toyota Celica engine note: see how much second hand K series go for (if you can find a decent one) A 240R is on my list but too pricey.

I then thought of a track day car (Peugeot 1.9 GTI) etc etc but couldnt be arsed to strip and rebuild (gain power) etc etc.

I then looked at 944`s on Pistonheads classifieds/e-bay etc and noted the realistic pounds per punch they offered. I did some research and then realised what a dynamic car they are. I tested about 15 before I found one of the right price and quality and now own a silver rose spec 250 bhp turbo. I intended to strip it out and track it all the time but its too good. I am blown away with the performance through the gears and the handling (less enthused by the lag but I`m working on that) and the brakes are great but need to be MUCH better in my book so I'm working on that too. I also reckon you could lose up to 70 kg if you threw all the unneccessary bits away.

Comfortable, refined cheap to run (so far) and everyone I`ve taken out has been stunned (they dont say "its not a real Porsche" any more) Its superb giving all the other cars out there a damn good slap as required. Last week a brand new M5 gave it loads and (seriously) only just went away from me as the speed went up to...............(well it was on a completely empty dual carriageway with about a two mile straight with perfect visibility) my car must have given him a fright. Interestingly the M5 seemed to have v v hard suspension, bouncing noticeably (love to track one, they are supposed to be awesome) wheres the 944 always (to me) sounds as if its having trouble coping but soaks up the bumps perfectly. 944 with Mo30 seems to have definitely the best ride/handling compromise I`ve driven.

To sum up they are the best compromise for the money I could find and I love mine. I still cant believe its got all the gear (c/d and a/c etc etc) and still goes so well. Interestingly the wife (who hated the others) will come out in this one and *cough* not seem to notice when I`m driving briskly which is a great complement for the car so a double whammy then []

 

[Davyboy]

I first went to the Nuburgring in my Impreza WRX in May 2002....apart from being really really wet, I'll always remember being overtaken sideways by a 944 of some description, I think it was Champagne coloured.

On my 2nd visit a few months later, I realised 2 things:

1) My car was not as fast as I thought

2) Most of the real quick people who were doing lap after lap, drove BMWs or Porsches.

When I came back I put my car up for sale immediately, although for a good while I was going to get a yellow Misubishi Evo 7. After a month of failing to sell the car, I started thinking about taking part exchanges, and one guy offered me a Black 944 S2 cab. Nothing came of it in the end, but I started looking at Porsche 944/968 and 911 as a possible next car.

After much websurfing I thought that a 944 Turbo looked a good bet, and I think I decided then, that this was a car for me. I joined the Titanic forum and Paul Smith offered to take me out for a drive, and I had no doubt that I would have a Turbo!

I looked at a few - before spending a fair chunk on a lovely 45k mile car. I have now owned it 3 years and the car has now done 75k.

 

[Guest]

Thanks for this post guys - very interesting reading for me.

I love my 3.2 Carrera but have been thinking about more practicality and I've had in mind a 968 but it occured to me the other day to look at 944 Turbos - quicker and cheaper and there are still some low mileage ones around. So to read all of your positive comments is very interesting and may be making up my mind for me.

Plus the forum looks like it's much better attended!

 

[Guest]

Agreed about the mileage condition thing - I've now had 2 3.2s - a Targa and now a Coupe - which I've bought privately and I think that it's true of all Porsches, along with a good history.

So what am I looking for then:-

Which is the best one and what's the right kind of money to pay for it?
What are the weaknesses and what jobs need to have been done?
How is it for daily use?
Are they pretty rust proof for the winter?
MPG?
Running costs?
Can you get your clubs in the back? (sorry!)
Why not an S2
Why not a 968?
Why not an Impreza?