Low mileage 951 reliable?

[Silver00Spike]

I was thinking of buying an 88 or 89 turbo s with under 80k miles. I heard that these cars need a lot of expensive maintenence. Would a car with that little mileage still have major things break. I understand I would have to do the timing belt and other regular things. I also heard of an upgrade that allows this car to take on Vipers, would this be the $3500 356whp kit, or is there a bigger one? Would you recommend me keeping my supercharged 1997 BMW 318ti or getting a low mileage 951?

[SoCal Driver]

Go with the BMW. More room in the back.

[Silver00Spike]

What if I don't care about room in the back?

[ronin]

if you take care of them, 951s are very reliable. maintenance on BMWs isn't exactly cheap either. as for taking on Vipers, the 951 is pretty fast but it's not a drag car. on the track, the 951 would be much better

[Silver00Spike]

What upgrade kits are available for this engine other then the one I mentioned?

[ronin]

which, the Porsche or the Vette?

[Goku]

If you are going to upgrade the thing, don't get a Turbo S. All the S upgrades are just going to be replaced by aftermarket stuff if you are doing that. Just get an 86-88 with low miles that isn't an 'S' and save thousands of dollars and use it for making it faster.

Please don't spoil a collectors edition (the 'S') by just ripping it apart. It's worth more fully intact and stock.

For cool upgrades you can't find here look at
www.lindseyracing.com

[Silver00Spike]

Does the "S" make more power and have better suspension and brakes?

[Silver00Spike]

I was gonna keep the stock "S" brakes and suspension, and just get a 944t package from lindseyracing.com

[Goku]

It makes about 30hp (something to that effect) but in the long run the stuff it sounds like you are putting in it you would have zero difference between the S and a normal turbo. Unless you keep it stock, the S doesn't give you any pluses over what you can do with a Turbo.

[Goku]

So get a 944T with the sport package, the LSD tranny and the upgraded brakes for 1000's cheaper and get the upgrade kits for that. In all honesty they make more chips and upgrades for the 86-87 than the 88+. They are harder to find stuff for when it comes to the computer.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=6434&item=2443136376

US $16,500.00 and still going, where you can get a NICE 86' for under 7-8k. For the price you can get a stock S you could get an 86' in near perfect condition and have 350+ HP and better suspenstion and brakes.

[ae1969]

... even with a low mileage 951 you still have some issues to address.

- clutch
- seals/rollers/water pump
- timing belts

All the rubber/seals wear with age and can fail on a 15+ year old car.

But if these have all been looked after you can look at upgrades. The 88 turbos and 89 Turbos are basicly the same.

If you are looking at taking out Vipers with a stock 951 forget it. So what you would need to do to stay with a viper and beat it on a rolling start.... is the following.

Disclaimer: This worked for me, there are many options for power, find one you like and go with it.

1. Wastegate. The stock one will not hold (It wears over time). Tial 46 mm would be on everyones wish list, but I have a lindsey racing wastegate that is holding just fine.

2. Many turbo and Maf combinations available I will tell you what I have but there are many good options. I have a Vitesse Stage 2 kit.... ~$3000 (turbo, MAF, chips, Piggyback controller to fine tune your A/F ratios)

3. Large injectors. ~200

I was able to pull (at 15 psi) from a friends suped up camaro (he runs 12' sec 1/4) from ~50-120 mph on the way to the drag strip..... Once we arrived at the track he cleaned my clock. I could not get the power to the ground, wheel spin like it was going out of style. SO this week I bought an LSD tranny that is getting worked on as we speak...... Next year after I install my new intercooler I am looking at running 18 psi on a daily basis if the pumps start running better gas (only 91 octane available)

The 944 turbo is difficult to launch from a dead stop so a rolling start is ideal......

DOn't forget if you want to play you have to pay. So be prepared to replace CV's and all kinds of parts with that kind of power.

Have fun!

[1.2gees]

I would suggest buying something already modified, and not especially seek out an 88S or an 89 unless you plan to track the car. I'm from the school of thought that miles don't really matter beyond a certain point. I have a 209k mile turbo that looks fine, and drives pretty well. I did have to do a fair amount of work on it since I bought it (@3100), upgrading along the way. One of my good friends recently bought a 100k mile 944 turbo, and he's dealing with the same issues that I've dealt with... Do you plan to do your own work on the car?
Ahmet

[stupenal]

You should be putting down some AMPLE power with your DASC 318ti. You should be getting around 190-200 rwhp with a car that light.....

But then again, the 951 looks way more sexy.

[Lawrence Coppari]

Agree with Ronin. I have a fairly quick 951. With proper maintenance, the cars do not break unless you abuse them. If you do the maintenance yourself, the cost is relatively low. Bought mine with 89K on it. It now has 145K and about 50 DE's under its belt and is still going strong.

My upgrades are Powerhaus. I run 1.1 bar boost. From about 60 on, it'll outrun most other cars. I don't do burnouts or anything like that. They are not designed for that.

[Silver00Spike]

But then again, the 951 looks way more sexy.

I consider my front end to be as sexy as the 944, but the back of the 944 really dissapoints me. If I got one, I would black out the rear tail lights. On my car, I cut off the front glass on my headlights for that e34 look, and blacked out the rest. Thanks for all the replies.

[1.2gees]

I wouldn't mind seeing a picture of that, if you can make it work?
Ahmet

[Silver00Spike]

[Scott R]

Taking on Viper's is not the 951 crede, unless you are talking about a corners based track. Sorry to say that a Viper will stop you in the 1/4 mile reguradless of money invested.

If it's a Viper you want to"beat" per say, then a Viper you should get. Save your money, and get a Viper to race a Viper if thats what concerns you.

Personally I would rather drive slower German innovation, than a Dodge product. Don't they make versitile mini vans afterall?

[Silver00Spike]

I saw turbos on linsdeyracing or something that say they are good fro 650 hp, what does "good for" mean?