Porsche 911, 3.6 , 1992-1994 Which One?

[on-ramp]

I'm looking to replace my tired 1983 911sc with a 92-94 911, which still has the classic body style before the redesign in 1995..

So which model would be well suited as a daily driver? I've heard some not-so good things about the 4-wheel drive, C4... should I stay away from that? any recall items for replacement?

What i really like about these models is the clean look without the huge spoiler in the back, like the turbos or the 84-89 Carreras... Although when the spoiler rises at speed, it looks proper and not overdone.

Thanks in advance.

[Bill Verburg]

I would avoid the 4wd versions like the plague, you could be looking at some very big maintance bills.

'92 - 94 have most bugs worked out

[on-ramp]

I was just looking at my "Original Porsche 911" book. There's a model from 1991 , the C2 RS. anyone own this car?...(this is not the RS America model)

[Bill Verburg]

RoW 964RS was a limited production car, not sold in the US. Most were privately imported as a race car and can never be subsequently licenced for street use.

All will be very expensive

[unclebilly]

I wouldn't be too afraid of a 89-92 car in nice shape and don't be afraid of a C4 either. I love my 90 C4 - it is a great car and everything works as it should with nearly 150k miles.

The head gaskets (or lack there of on the 89-91 cars) have nothing to do with oil leaks as is commonly spouted on this board. Think about it - how does a steel ring gasket around the cylinder bore seal in the oil? My car does leak some oil but it's not from the head gaskets - that is for sure.

The dual mass flywheel can be a problem but you can swap it out for a light weight flywheel as has been done in my car (I think).

Otherwise, these cars are great drivers. My 77 widebody outhandles the 90 but the 90 is WAY nicer to drive.

[Don Plumley]

92+ C2 is optimum. 92 gets bigger rear brakes and aero mirror as standard.

[Joe Bob]

Buy one....take the engine out and stuff it in the SC....sell the 964 for parts.

[911Urge]

The 964 series is an outstanding car. Power assist steering, power brakes and a climate control system that works. Its a blast to get the car over 4k rpm's as it feels like a turbo kicks in.

The earlier versions (89-91) did have some issues with leaks around the heads but those cars should have been fixed a long time ago. Also 89-90 had different shock mounts making replacement more costly.

Since you are coming from an SC you will feel more at home in a C2 in terms of handling. The C4 will feel "heavy" and has some inherent understeer that can be corrected with proper driving technique or suspension tuning. This is not to say the C4 is bad - it just handles differently. You should really drive both. Forget the entire C4 is for bad weather only argument - they are great on dry roads too. I have pushed my C4 to the limits where I can feel the AWD system assisting me on corners in dry conditions. There are several people that race the C4 and swear by it over the C2 so the AWD system is quite sound.

There were minimal recalls on the 964 series, they were:

Recall 92V142000: Cruise Control Ball Sockets Revised 89-92 964's
Recall 93V204000: Rear Heater Resister Defect 89-92 964's
Recall 96V147000: Steering Noise & Excessive Freeplay 89-93 964's

Sometime in 92 or 93 the A/C system came with R134 vs R12. The 92+ also got the better brakes and aero mirros.

[jpc1818]

MY 89 C4 kicks ass. The negative stigma commonly given to the C4 is totally unfounded. The AWD system does make the steering feel "heavy" but the car is much more advanced and safer. Besides, whenever I tell people its an 89 with AWD, they are like "wow i didn't know AWD was available then".

The only difficult thing I have found is that it takes some genuine ingenuity to spin the back tires!!!!

Much better than my older 911's.
Fun to drive, COMFORTABLE.