Hey guys! New to the Porsche scene... Lots of questions. Please answer?

[Xenostalgia]

1st: Can someone tell me all the tiny differences between the 944 porsche between 1980-1990?

2nd: What is the most popular year for the 944

3rd: What is the price range? I been seeing I can find one for like 3 grand...

4th: If you have AIM and know alot about this stuff IM me [Xenostalgia]

5th: How fast are they? 1/4 mile and top speed?

6th 944's are RWD correct? What type of engines? Turboed?

[carguyinok]

Originally Posted by Xenostalgia

1st: Can someone tell me all the tiny differences between the 944 porsche between 1980-1990?

2nd: What is the most popular year for the 944

3rd: What is the price range? I been seeing I can find one for like 3 grand...

4th: If you have AIM and know alot about this stuff IM me [Xenostalgia]

5th: How fast are they? 1/4 mile and top speed?

6th 944's are RWD correct? What type of engines? Turboed?

In1983, the Porsche 944 was introduced to take over the 924. They came with a 2.5 liter inline 4 cylinder which was considered half of a 928 V-8 engine. The chassis and body shell were from the 924, but it had flared fenders, a rear spoiler, and a front air dam. The 944 1985 1/2 model interior was redone to look more like the 911 with a new dash. In 1986 the Porsche 944 Turbo was introduced with a new, sleeker front bumper. For 1987, the 944 S was added to the model line-up. It offered ABS. By 1989, the 944 S was replaced by the 944 S2. The S2 had a new 3.0 liter engine in it, producing 208 hp. The S2's bodywork was the same as the 944 Turbo's. In 1990, the 944 S2 cabriolet was made available. 1991 was the last year for the 944 which was replaced by the better looking 968
I have a 85.5 and love it. You wont win any 1\4 race with it turbo or not. But NO ONE will get you in the turns. Just like driving on fly paper.
Yes, they are all RWD. If you get one 85.5 up... Start building up a small block chevy for a transplant Then you will be damn near king of the road holding your own with 30-40K cars for all around performance.
Price range $1500.00 on up.

[89Turbo944]

Dont ruin the car by putting a V8 in it. That just destroys the car. I have a 1989 Porsche 944 Turbo. I decided to not get the Turbo S because im planing on modifing everything that makes the Turbo S better than the standard Turbo.

The 1986-83 944's have a strang bolt patter so stay away from them if you want to put nicer wheels on it. Get a 1987- newer 944.

And they are fast in the quarter. A 400RWHP 944 runs in the 10's. And it is relitivly easy to get that kind of horsepower out of the 944 turbo.

This is not just another sports car tho. it is a porsche and requies the same matinence that any other porsche requires. Regular prteventitive matinence. Parts arent cheap and it can be a pain sometimes. DOnt expect it to be very reliable if you dont put money into the car.

Good luck

[5 Point 7]

Originally Posted by 89Turbo944

I have a 1989 Porsche 944 Turbo. I decided to not get the Turbo S because im planing on modifing everything that makes the Turbo S better than the standard Turbo.

In 1989, all 944 Turbos came with this "S" package so that's why you don't see a 1989 944 Turbo "S". The only thing they dropped was the "S" designation!

EDIT: Sorry about the date, I was doing a search for something read that and didn't think but to respond.

[ledhedsymbols]

Everything these two guys said is gospel! My first one was an 87 944, and I have since moved up to a 968 coupe. You would be hard pressed to find more sports car for the money. There are only a couple of things I want to add. Another reason for the post 85 cars... The instrument panel was changed from the same one used on the 924, as well as the steering wheel. The later models are MUCH easier to read, especially if you do more than stoplight race (Autocross..... Hint Hint!) Anywho.... The last thing, if you can spend more than 3K for one, get the nicest example with the BEST maintenance records that you can find. This is true of all Porsche's but especially the 944/951/968 series. Check for belt replacements, it's an interference engine, so if the belt goes, so does your upper engine. Bonus if the water pump was replaced at the same time.
The 944 is a great driving car, and the 951 is serious performance. Not much off the line, but they SING at high speed. The 968 is the final evolution, and they did just about everything right on that one. 944 is the perfect introduction to Porsche ownership in my book.

[5 Point 7]

Originally Posted by ledhedsymbols

Everything these two guys said is gospel!

I hope you weren't refering to me....mine was factual...

[83-944]

"The 1986-83 944's have a strang bolt patter so stay away from them if you want to put nicer wheels on it. Get a 1987- newer 944."

The 85- ones had the early 911 style wheel offset. The 85+ 944 had the later 911 style wheel offset. The bolt pattern remained the same though.

A few clarifications. In 85.5 Porsche did a lot more than re do the interior. They went to aluminum trailing arms (hence the wheel offset change), used a "chippable" DME, and a few other engine related things. The N/A S model came w/ 16 valve engine and a stronger turbo tranny. In 89 the standard N/A model had a 2.7 ltr engine. The 89 turbo had 3 less HP than the 88 Turbo S. In 87 Porsche molded in an auto tensioner for the timing belt. The 83 was the lightest 944 and had power steering as an option

Good luck finding one. A popular car would be the 85.5- car. Easier to work on, replacable ball joints, no idle stabilizer valve to jumper out, gauges are easier to remove, the DME can be chipped w/ a little soldering skill and uses some VW/Audi components for more readily available repair parts..

[83-944]

Need more little details? The 83's had 3 blade radiator fans stock while the 84+ had 6 blade better fans. Easy upgrade.

The Oil Pressure Relief Valve (OPRV) on the earlies is a spring and plunger type while the laters used an odd single unit OPRV.

When you pull the oil filter off you must be careful not to spill oil onto the sway bar bushings causing them to swell and fall apart.

The rear hatch glass on some will eventually "de-laminate" causing a rattling noise and water leaks. You must remove the glass and re-glue it on. This doesn't happen on every car and the rattling may just be loose locking pins.

The 87+88 N/a models have a 10.2:1 CR v/s 9.5:1 CR on earlier models resulting in 8 extra HP. You can shave the head to gain this compression easily. The 87+ also have a slighlty more aggressive cam (so I've been told). Adding the 8 valves on the S gave 30 more HP. The S head bolts on to a 2.5 block but the intake, exhaust and wiring harness must be changed as well IIRC.

[neo the hacker]

The aluminum wishbones can be replaced with pre 86 ones if working to a budget, but if you have a porsche then you shouldn't really be skimping for cheaper options.