944 turbo

[IMI A]

Just bought so excited! Had her inspected and report back is she is flipping time warp just buy now! Fun at (slightly) less insane speeds and panzer tank build quality I was thinking maybe a 996 C2, 40 Jahre or 6 GT3 for classic fun next and pottering around at a track day but couldn't resist this. My first love of Porsche was a 944 turbo s and had my very first had drive in one of these beasts aged 17 going on to cover circa 300k miles in 944 turbos. I even love the funky plaid interior think its stunning our first one we had from new was black with black no sunroof.

Have not decided about tinkering watch this space as on modern set of TracTive and small tweak to 300bhp and 327ft lbs this thing will be a b road monster. Cant decide whether to upgrade her as she's so very original and been wrapped in cotton wool all her life. An old article by Chris Horton from almost two decades ago in a Porsche mag too so nice.

Only ever had a drive in my first air-cooled when I was 30 ish (72 RS Touring) and I was hooked on the good stuff. However these 944s still have that Porsche Classic feel and I think they've got cool with age. Drove an Audi Quattro and E30 M3 back in 1988 and a 944 turbo s knocked the spots of them IMO. Raced a 930, 911Sc and 3.2 Carrera up the A1 in 1988 too. They didn't stand a chance this chassis so much easier to get the most out of (930 yuppy had his eyes popping out he looked so worried at speed) :grin:

I'd like to thank the current owner who is approaching 80 in the next few years for looking after her so well. I hear this 944 turbo is credit to you sir I've not seen her yet :worship:

 

[Chief]

Awesome purchase sir :thumb:
I'm currently looking for one myself.
I'll look forward with interest to see what mods you do :?:
Keep posting please!

 

[IMI A]

Will do. I wish I'd bought her as per that 911 and Porsche World article by Chris Horton for the princely sum of £8000 :grin:

I'd been keeping my eye out for one too but its hard to find a good 944 turbo that isn't a money pit! I think I may just do the TracTive and leave the remap although its so tempting as Porsche really held this model back to try and keep the venerable 911 top dog. Same car in 944 turbo GTS form was running 400-500bhp at Le Mans. Finished 5th too! These were genuine race cars back in the day hardly any differences between this particular example and a 944 turbo Cup. Rapid on circuit they handle so well.

Nos 27 released this the other day. Thought it was good

 

[IMI A]

Found some v.good recent vlogs on these 80s shoulder pads. To die for the larger teledial wheels and exhaust note (11.39) on the turbo cup car in the third interesting vlog - very special indeed and reminds me of some great times. So happy to get my mits on the sports car that stoked my first interest in Porsche sports cars as a teen. I'd need to see the option codes on Jayemms 944 but she may not be a "Silver Rose" or M758 spec as that colour looks normal silver met to my eye. May just be a slightly later 1988 250 bhp turbo se which is how Porsche were marketing the non Silver Rose cars later in 1988 and they're virtually the same cars which made some Silver Rose owners angry

When Porsche released the first 70 Silver Rose M758 option cars i.e "M758 - SPECIAL MODEL 944 TURBO S 1988" 7 of the first 70 were not specced in "Silver Rose" colour but still M758 spec 944 turbo S.

I remember being at Charles Follet as a teen and a Silver Rose owner snooping around our panther black met M758 option code 944 turbo s and then walking into see the sales manager and going f.mad at him. He was upset as he was told they're only available in the pinky silver colour.

Good Silver Rose models today are flying in value. I saw the one below sell at auction for circa £30k plus fees hence maybe a touch more than £30k if you inc auction fees at a guess £33k ish. She is up for sale today at Fairmont Sport and Classic for £37,750 and compared to a Carrera 3.2 Clubsport which the Silver Rose was being pitched against in a road test by Autocar in period & I saw a CS sell for £140,000 on CC just last week.

The burgundy plaid interior on the Silver Rose very cool and OTT and those M758 option code 944 turbo S have so many cool special features hidden under the skin they're all too long to list I'll bore you if I go through all of the changes but things that stand out for me in particular are special features like extra chassis bracing around the suspension mounting points and hardened 1st and 2nd gears with a separate oil cooler for the gearbox like the turbo cup cars. The list of unique features just goes on and on 8)

I remember taking delivery of my Boxster S in 1999 and felt a bit underwhelmed at first with it until I got it on a twisty track. I actually went back and saw the race car driver, Scott Kavagnah, who sold me the Boxster S new via Porsche East London and quipped are you sure my new car has 250bhp? My 944 turbo S would run rings round it although I did appreciate the very low running costs of the then new 986/996 models!









Saw this really very lovely baltic blue 944 turbo at R21 concours last year and thought must get one of these they're ageing so well and look so well proportioned from a design perspective. There were so many amazing Porsche there inc the concours winners Gentian 992 GT3 Touring & Gentian 718 GT4 but if I had a choice to leave with one from R21 last year I'd genuinely have picked the 944 turbo. Just look at it in Baltic :worship:

 

[nigel99]

Welcome to the 944 club. I have a 1990 S2. It's a fantastic car, a lot of fun to drive. I'd recommend the Bilstein B6 suspension upgrade as made significant improvement on handling.

Mine is currently having a bottom end rebuild after the engine gave way on a trackday, but I can't wait to get it back for some more fun, albeit less aggressive!

 

[IMI A]

Thanks Nigel. My 997 turbo was delivered on Bilstein B6. Bilsten as OEM supplier a good solid damper but not a patch on TracTive coilovers which are fully active and firms like Pagani are now speccing on their latest hypercars they're so good - promise I have TracTive on my 997 turbo and they're the devils work :devil:

 

[nigel99]

I've only good things about TracTive, especially on the GT3 forums. I have the dsc module already, but understand they compliment each other.

 

[IMI A]

Nigel with TracTive coilovers suspension becomes fully active and work 16x faster than your GT3's current Bilsteins. They work with your DSC box better than your Bilsteins. You also lose that very firm GT ride on say a choppy UK b road hence your GT3 becomes more useable and notably faster on both road and track as you will have so much more confidence in your 911,

In my 700PS 997.1 turbo I had to be careful in the past giving it the beans on b roads nr me. My 997 was amazing on fast a roads & autobahns/motorway but over a series of say successive undulations (say three bumps in a row) on a b road ride would just become crashy/scary at the sort of crazy acceleration and speeds these modern 911s are now capable of. Literally nothing can keep up with my 997 down a choppy give and take b road with TracTive.

I expect our 944s will have virtually no roll through that corner in your lovely picture above - it almost feels like my 997 now has an active roll bar like our 991 turbo's PDCC (active arb) the forces applied to the TracTive coilovers on the loaded corner is so noticeable.

I'm going to use our 944 for a few thousand miles as is and just get a feel for her again for now.

But in the future the temptation to upgrade this beauty with modern 2022 components is strong.

By way of another example for the 944 turbo there is a guy in Florida who can reconfigure the 250bhp 944's KKK K26-8 turbo which are laggy in stock form to boost from 2400rpm and produce 350bhp with 350ft lbs all the way to the redline without any drop off in power up the RR using the stock K26 housing but with modern exducer and inducer technology and all plug and play using stock oil lines etc. I'd obviously need supporting mods with better cooling, forged rods, motorsport head studs as head gaskets a weak point on the 944 turbo from the factory but compared to a mezger 911 flat 6 I reckon that work would come in at less than £12K. On a flat 6 its circa £25k for a forged engine. Not many people know this but the 4 cylinder in our 944s our designed by Hans Mezger too

Combine this new modern turbo technology with TractTive I'd be running with the fox and the hounds at the odd track day and on road it would be lovely to have fun with the local hooligans in their modded hatch backs - I can tell you they're rapid fast the turbo'd hatchbacks around my neck of the woods and quite mad too - they love my Minty but its not a fair match! On a serious note for general over taking in every day driving the 944 turbo would be transformed with these small tweaks - must resist :grin: :hand:

https://www.evergreenturbo.com

Pic of K26 by Charlie at Evergreen Turbo 8)

 

[HMG66]

Superb cars if you get a fully sorted one ..one my favourite of all the cars I drive.

Surprising quick and capable even by todays standards once that turbo kicks in but you don't have to drive them anywhere near the limit to get some fun.

The pic was taken enroute to LM Classic last year, where we did 3 track laps
(amazing to experience driving round the old circuit)..

 

[IMI A]

^^^^ Guards 944s look stunning. A beautifully written article for Hagerty by Steve Bennett on relative values vs driving experiences between 88 944 turbo s and period 911 Carrera.

https://www.hagerty.co.uk/articles/classic-car-reviews/rematch-porsche-911-carrera-vs-944-turbo/

My only comment being a good Carrera 3.2 is circa £70k-£75 nowadays so 3x the value of a good 944 turbo.

The Carrera is 6x the value if you go for a similar mileage 3.2 Carrera Clubsport vs a 944 turbo S. The answer is to have one of each!

By complete coincidence Steve Bennett is also TracTives UK distributor. Do get in touch with him if you're thinking about TracTive.

https://www.ttsuspension.co.uk

 

[IMI A]

A few pics of my past older air cooled 911s. I think my old 944 turbo s would murder all of them tbh both road and track maybe the 993 could live with a 944 turbo s not sure TBH. My old banger air-cooled 911s definitely more of an event though and feel more special. I still fall of my chair at the thought how much these three beauties all sold for! No regrets delighted how well these did for us paying for moucho school and other fees! All 3 were amazing experiences :worship:

 

[1marc]

S2, not Turbo, but these things can be made to handle very well.

 

[IMI A]

And just to round current Porsche line up which will sit next to our 944 turbo our two current 911s. We were missing having a classic Porsche in the family!

Thanks for the fantastic 944 pics more the merrier :thumbs:

 

[GMG]

...lovely cars,really lovely...my Dad had one back in the day; a silver rose purchased from an Engineer at Lotus...set up at Hethel!

...I remember a few things; the unbelievable gearchange,steering feel and punch...

...he sold it to trade down to Mondial T which was awful in comparison :dont know:

 

[HMG66]

That article is spot on.

The 944 turbo was surprisingly refined for the 80s, but comes alive when you give it a bit of welly. A mate of mine had one when new BITD and it stuck with me....many years later I had to get one.

By comparison ..you have to learn to earn your fun in the 911 3.2 Carrera, even more so with a 915 box which don't like to be rushed.

Some people think I'm bonkers when changed my 996 turbo for an aircooled car but I just love being so much more involved in the driving experience and you don't need to be doing hypersonic speeds to feel like your having fun.