difference between C2 and RS America

[wastintime]

Hey everyone,

Lol, you can all make fun of me if you want to, but I just found out 5 minutes ago that I don't have a 911 C2 like I thought I did, I have an RS America, well it's still a C2, but obviously a little different... I think that's one of the reasons the car is sitting up so high. I think I'm starting to come around to my mechanics theory that my car is stolen or pieced together... it's clearly not an RS America, except in it's height, I've noticed that all the pics I've seen of RS Americas showed them sitting really high in the air like my car. It really sucks because I just ordered lowering springs that won't work on an RS America... crap.

Does anyone know a sure way to tell if a car is an RS America or a C2?

Thanks,
Andrew

[moazam]

Huh? Don't you have "RS" stickers on the side of the car?

What kinda seats do you have, cloth with leather siding? Is the rear deck leather or cloth? Rear seats or rear storage box?

Got photos?

[moazam]

Ok...here we go.

http://www.rsamerica.net/faqs/index.htm#7


"In brief, for all RS Americas the first 8 digits of the Vin number the same, these are WPOAB296, then there is the check digit (see below), then PS for '93 or RS for '94, followed in all cases by 41 and then the four digit serial number.........."

[wastintime]

Oh I'm saying it looks nothing like an RS America... I never even considered the car was an RS America. It has an RS America VIN though... actually I'm not sure but it has the WPOAB beginning, so it can only be a C4, which it definitely is not, or an RS America, except if it was an RS America it should have a P instead of an N... hmmm oh well, here's the whole VIN, I just went out to the car and checked it too, maybe one of you guys with more resources can look it up: WPOAB2962NS420212

Anyway, the pics show that yeah, it looks nothing like an RS, but it's the only VIN I could match, and I don't know if you can tell from the second pic, but the car is sitting really high in the air, and I was looking at some pics of RS Americas and noticed they all sit really high in the air.

I'm stumped...

[moazam]

From the VIN, it does not look like it's a RS America car.

[wastintime]

I know, but like I said from the VIN it had to either be an RS america or a C4, and there's no way it's a C4

[wastintime]

I was going to say I knew for sure the car was built in '92 based on the options, but I guess even that's in question now

[wastintime]

Or maybe a C4 VIN was just glued on the car... although for some reason, without me telling them my insurance company listed it as an RS America so I don't know, that's what piqued my curiosity, I got my insurance bill today and it said RS America... so yeah, who knows...

[moazam]

Funny

How much did you pay for this car...? I hope you got a deal...seems sorta slapped together.

On the other hand, as long as it's stable and is a blast to drive, it's all good.

[Jack Olsen]

It's definitely not an RS America. I've never heard of them having a higher ride height than other C2's.

By the VIN, it's a 1992 Porsche 911 C2/C4 2 Dr Coupe. Incidentally, it's W... P... 'zero', not the letter O.

Is there a digit that indicates that it would be a C4?

[speeder]

You can relax now, you definitely don't have a special car and the lowering springs will work on it.

There is no difference in the RS America suspension that would make springs "not work", other than possibly lower ride height than other models, but my memory is foggy on this. It was not a real significant special model, in most people's opinion. Good luck w/ it, whatever it is.

[Jack Olsen]

Actually, the RSA used springs from the Turbo of the era.

From the RSA website:
The intent was to create a basic lightweight, no frills 911 with minimal luxury options. Fitting the RS America with the M030 sport suspension package, which included the use of much of the running gear from the 911 C2 Turbo, led to higher performance limits. The Turbo's progressively wound coil springs, larger diameter front stabilizer bar, and upgraded shock absorbers were standard equipment for the RS America, as were 17” diameter C2 Turbo wheels. The RSA rims were 7” wide on the front and 8” wide on the rear (as opposed to the 7” wide front and 9” wide rear wheels of the C2 Turbo).

[Eric Coffey]

Wastintime-

Your car is a 1992 911 C2 coupe. The "N" in the 10th VIN digit signifies that it is a 1992 model year. RS America's came out in the 1993 model year (even though some were produced in 1992), so their 10th VIN digit is a "P", just like all other 1993 911's. As previously mentioned, easy visual RSA identifiers are the RS scripts and badge, manual cloth sport seats, 17" Turbo wheels, and a fixed rear Carrera spoiler. You might want to contact your insurance company to correct the error. You might even get a lower rate, as RSA's generally go for $5-$10K more than standard C2's.



Jack-

Technically you are correct about the "0" instead of "O" in the VIN, as there are no "O's" in US VIN's. Just to clarify though, it did originate from WPO, which stands for "World Production Order".

[Elombard]

The biggest difference in my mind is the power steering. should be easy to check that.

[D Hanson]

Post to Rennlist. Adrian over there has done extensive research on 964 Vin numbers and is apparently aware of alot of mistakes Porsche has made with Vin numbers and production numbers of the 964.

[rattlsnak]

Quickest way to tell from the photos...RS Americas dont have electric tails. They have a fixed tail. Door panels are different, very few of them had sunroofs, etc..

[thabaer]

I always felt that the RS America was more of a boutique exercise than an RS version. Not that it didn't have good improvments, but calling it an RS anything was overboard.

[moazam]

Originally posted by thabaer
I always felt that the RS America was more of a boutique exercise than an RS version. Not that it didn't have good improvments, but calling it an RS anything was overboard.

It was lighter and about $10k cheaper. Seems the regular Carrera was more 'boutique' in that sense than the RS ever was.

[thabaer]

Originally posted by moazam
It was lighter and about $10k cheaper. Seems the regular Carrera was more 'boutique' in that sense than the RS ever was.

Absolutely, but then again that's another thread.