Tell me about 924 Turbos

[wayner]

Where do these things sit in the grand scheme of Porscehdom today?

An old has-been
An interesting car
An up and coming collectible?
Ruan as far way as you can

See poll

[porsche4life]

All of the above?

They are pretty cool little cars in my book and fairly rare. Magnus bought one so it can't be all bad! They are definitely going up in value, not likely to ever be crazy high but up is up...

[fastfredracing]

Interesting little cars.

[wayner]

Thanks guys!

Keep the opinions coming. Also be sure to vote in the poll at the top

[porsche4life]

Interesting that you put run as far as you can as an option.... Do you have a specific car you are looking at? I'd run from a basket case, but a running driving one I might consider...


Oh and these are the Audi motor turbos. They won't get much love from the 911 purists....

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Fun but lots of lag - particularly by modern standards

[DanielDudley]

As expensive to run as any Porsche ever made. They are fun to drive, and the turbo boost makes them seem a heck of a lot faster than they are. Hard to find a nicely taken care of example. A 944 Turbo is a lot more car.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

True and the aftermarket mods available for the 951s are orders of magnitude better than 924 turbos. Then again, that can be a really BAD thing (for your wallet) if you get a 951 or otherwise turbo-ed 944. Ask me how I know.

[wayner]

Originally Posted by porsche4life

Interesting that you put run as far as you can as an option.... Do you have a specific car you are looking at? I'd run from a basket case, but a running driving one I might consider...


Oh and these are the Audi motor turbos. They won't get much love from the 911 purists....

I f I got one it would be with the intent of making a clean stock as delivered car, with the exception of the few accepted mods for reliability, not outright performance. A time capsule.

[klaus]

With only 12,000 produced world wide, and many many many of those dying off over the years it wouldn't take much of an increase in demand to start driving the prices up. Or at least that's the case if my old econ 101 classes are still valid.

Having been in the 924/44/68 world for a couple of decades now I can count on 1 hand how many nice 924s I have seen, and of those only one was a 931. I have seen more 931 hoods on 951s than I have seen 931s period.

924 GT / GTS cars are quite expensive, so maybe there will be a trickle down to the cars in the 931 family, or is the 4 cylinder water cooled Porsche world too crowded to have the narrow body car really gain in value? I would guess that if the price trend we have seen for the 944 Turbo S cars continues then folks will start exploring the other rare alternatives of which the 931 definitely qualifies.

[Dan J]

I was a Porsche dealer tech when those little jewels were new.
When new they were the worst car Porsche ever made. Now?
Good Luck

[wayner]

Hmmm. Long hood 911s were just old has beens when SCs were the latest and greatest, then 3.2s.
People opted for newer/better, but once there was enough distance between them and fewer to be found, suddenly the long hood 911s were recognized as a separate breed rather than just a weaker sibling.

Klaus, your response is worrying me. I can't be trusted not to pull the trigger...

[VincentVega]

Look into finding an exhaust manifold. Maybe sure you have alternative transportation.

[Arizona_928]

A VW version of the 951. The only cool thing about them is the vents in the nose panel. I'm jaded though. I have owned a 951 for many many years, and will buy another one in heart beat if I had the money, and whelp a bigger garage.

[Scuba Steve]

LOTS of plastics in there that you'd better hope are serviceable, otherwise you'll spend a bit replacing them. The dash and anything that attaches to it in particular are bad. Just factor in needing to have the dash sent off and restored upon purchase, there are probably only about a dozen worldwide that aren't cracked.

[john walker's workshop]

P.o.s.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Interesting that the guys that work on them all say "run". I've had two 951s and found them to be very frustrating to work on, I suspect a 931 is no different.

[CJFusco]

More input from a guy that was in the 944 world for over a decade: I would say that the 931 is "interesting" in that they are a little bit of a curiosity/novelty nowadays; the 944NA that followed it was better-engineered, more robust, more durable, just as fast (not very), and had a 100% Porsche engine (as opposed to the 924 series, which borrowed its engine from an Audi van). They will likely be collectibles at some point, but their reputation is that they aren't very good cars. They would likely be fun to drive, especially if one were to freshen up the suspension a bit, as they are very light and had a near-perfect 50/50 weight distribution.

If you're looking for something quirky and different, but aren't expecting anything amazing, then go for it. If you're looking for something closer to the Porsche driving experience, though, you might want to consider the following options:

944NA (especially the early cars): just as fast, but better-built. Light-weight. Easy to toss into corners, especially after very moderate suspension mods (thicker sway bars, strut tower brace, slightly lower springs). 2.5 liter Porsche engine, essentially half of the 928's V8.

924S: Basically the same thing as an early 944NA, but in a narrower, slightly-lighter 924 body. Same engine as 944NA.

944 Turbo (951): FAST, especially after some bolt-on engine mods. A bit heavier than the 944NA and 924S, but it more than makes up for it with raw speed. The rush of the turbocharger in this thing is addictive. In my experience, these cars are also overly-complex and maintenance-heavy.

944S2: More powerful than the 944NA (3.0 inline four), and faster, but also heavier. Not quite as quick as the 951, but a smoother power delivery; a good, comfortable highway cruiser.

968: Like the 944S2, but newer/better/more refined.

[CJFusco]

Originally Posted by onewhippedpuppy

Interesting that the guys that work on them all say "run". I've had two 951s and found them to be very frustrating to work on, I suspect a 931 is no different.

Bingo. The 951 is a huge PITA to work on, and (in my experience) needs near-constant attention. I did, however, become a fairly competent DIYer simply because I owned one and tried to keep it running for 6 years!

[motion]

Run! No, Do It! No! Don't Do It! Do It!!!!