Hot For A 928 . . .

jyl · jyl's Garage

This weekend I went to a local 928 gathering. Boy would I like one of those cars! The cockpit feels like a leather-wrapped spaceship, there's actually some room for luggage, the body is distinctive to say the least, the cars are uncommon enough to be interesting, and the engines pump out 330 FWHP if you get a later model. With a large-displacement conversion (>6 liters) you're at a CA smog-legal 400 FWHP. A supercharger conversion gets you to 500-600 FWHP. Sure, the car is heavy but that's a lot of power. Not a replacement for my 911, but I'd like to have both in my garage. First I'd need a two-car garage, I guess.

Tishabet · 05-10-2004, 11:21 AM

They're gorgeous, and I too have always wanted one. There are a few unfortunate things about them though.....they're REALLY difficult/costly to maintain, they have a LOT of electrical doohickeys that are prone to failing, and it's pretty hard to find them with a manual transmission. But I still really, really want one. Plus the sound of that Porsche V-8 makes me weak in the knees.

cegerer · cegerer's Garage

Probably one of the best sports GT cars for the money out there. Unlike 911's, "newer is better" really does apply here. GT-S's are still generally +$30K for a good one, but a GT or S4 can be had for a bargain. Grip levels are incredible, although they lack that 'fun-to-drive' factor of the 911.

Tishabet · 05-10-2004, 01:06 PM

Did anyone read the Excellence article about taking the 928 out to bonneville?

campbellcj · 07:11 PM

Hey guys this isn't really "off-topic", is it?

I always liked the "shark" but tales of the maintenance complexity/expense scared me off.

However, I have seen a couple of gutted 928 race cars that were very cool. A "928R" kind of street/track concept would work for me...lose some poundage and lose a lot of the luxury doo-dads such as the vacuum locks and non-essential computers.

I have a video of a blown 928 hillclimb car that is pretty friggen fantastic. Torque does wonders for an overweight car.

AFJuvat · 05-10-2004, 07:18 PM

The 928 is a seriously fun GT car - not the same kind of ride as a 911 or 924\944\968.

When it comes to 928, you seriously get what you pay for. A 928 can become a money pit very quickly.

AFJuvat

Adam · Adam's Garage

I miss my old 5-speed 928. It was a real hotrod.

Seriously quick car, once you've mastered the dogleg box. The dogleg box actually made sense after a while. You didn't need 1st unless you were blasting off the line. It had more than enough torque to idle away from the lights in 2nd.

epbrown · 05-12-2004, 02:18 PM

I'm shopping for a 1983 928S as we speak. Seriously good cars, and not as trouble-prone as everyone makes out. I think the 944/928 bad raps come more from their resale values than their maintenance costs; you get the cars so cheap that regular Porsche-sized maintenance seems high in comparison. I think of it as the running costs being the same, with a lower entry fee to the game.

Emanuel

nostatic · nostatic's Garage

why an '83? I thought conventional wisdom was to go '86 or newer.

epbrown · 05-12-2004, 06:42 PM

Same year as the other two!

Aside from that, 928S have a sort of slippery slope when it comes to performance. If you decide to get a 32-valve, you're looking at 85 and up and an extra 50 or so horses. Get an 86.5, and you get the 87 suspension, which is better. Chip either and you're adding another 20 horses. Then for a bit more money, you get the '87, which looks nicer and has more features. Then you're looking at the 89 and up GT and thinking about selling the house...

The 911s move up incrementally, the 928 improved by leaps and bounds.

The '83 is fine for me: easier to work on than the 32-valve 5.0L, plenty of torque, and not as huge a nightmare if the timing belt goes. A few simple mods to free up the breathing can make it more sprightly if I want, but I don't need the full 171-mph rocket-sled of a car experience.

What's weird is how hard it is to find a decent one for sane money (less than 10 grand) in the colors I want. I'd never have believed it could be tough to find a red 80s-vintage Porsche.

Emanuel

azasadny · azasadny's Garage

I have always wanted to drive a 928 and a 944 to have something to compare to my 911...

motion · 05-14-2004, 07:58 PM

Oh man, 928s are sweeeeet. My first P-car was a 1980 928. Original owner was the police chief of East Berlin. Black and white checker interior. What a great car! A GT is still on my wish list. I cannot think of a better way to get from point A to point B quickly than a 928 GT. It's truly the ultimate GT car.

350HP930 · 05-14-2004, 08:49 PM

Whenever I think of a 928 I think 'Risky Business'.

epbrown · 05-17-2004, 07:56 PM

Most people think of Risky Business or Scarface. I think the first 928 I saw was drawn - it's the car Bruce Wayne drove in "Batman: Year One" written by Frank Miller, drawn by Dave Mazzucelli. Wayne totals his black 928 after driving home bleeding to death from a gun shot wound, courtesy of Gotham PD.

Oddly enough, the first time I thought "cool car" about a 911 was also a comic/graphic novel. A character named Phyllida West in "I Am Coyote" drove a targa. I didn't know what the car was at the time.

Art, having driven all three, I can offer some insight. The 944 is fun - much more rev-happy than the 911, handles great, and a bit more comfortable than it's air-cooled sibling. Since getting mine, it's been my daily driver: better heat, better AC, better mileage, more storage space. I think of it as Porsche's answer to the VW GTI. Excellent city runabout/commuter car.

The 928 is fun in different ways - same great handling, ridiculously comfortable, but their weight always throws off my driving reflexes: things I think I can do I can't and things I think I can't do I can. One car I tried had some suspension mods and in that one, you could do anything - it was just a big 944. That one was also a 5-speed, which meant it had serious get-along. In the manuals, you hit illegal speeds way too soon, because you're used to watching the tach instead of the speedo, and 5000 rpm in a 928 is illegal in any gear

If I get a 32-valve (meaning if I can't find a nice '83 for less than a nice '85-86), me and a buddy with an M5 are going to take a road trip to Bonneville in August/September just to see what they'll do. Should be fun to hit those kinds of speeds - once - without risking lives and licenses.

Emanuel