High mileage workout

[badjones]

Hey there. Seeing as the early 944's are really gettin old now I was wonderin how they are standing up to the years. Any high mileage examples still gettin driven daily and maybe driven hard still. Mine is, What punishment are they being dealt and how are they stackin up. You know, oil use, repairs necassary etc. This is maybe the way to define how truly good, or bad these things are without the glorious image of some of the more "sought after" models. What you reckon? Just a thought. Cheers from down here. B.J.

[ERAU944]

i'm not sure what you'd consider 'high mileage', but my '84 is getting close to 102k, my 951S has nearly 110k on it. there are many more around with higher mileage. these engines are fantastic! my 944 doesn't use any oil, it leaks a little (i know i know, one day i'll get around to it). i'm not sure about the 951S though, i haven't driven it much at all, since it's in need of a bit of work. hopefully i'll get around to it soon, so i can add more and more miles

[itsa914]

I meet a Porsche mechanic that just sold his 84 944 with 329K miles. I seen the car, looked in great shape. Of course it was well maintained.

[pozican]

215k on the NA, and when I drive the twistys, I'm still never afraid to take it to redline.
Pulls hard (for an NA), reliable, bulletproof, I mean hell, I taught the girlfriend how to drive a stick in it.


Turbo has 193k, pulls insanely hard, just got done doing head work, the bottom end was just rebuilt, and I'm popping in a new tranny.
Runs great

I may have to sell them though

[Jeff Laurence]

My '87 944S has 275,000kms on it- it's on it's third or fourth
set of exhaust valves ---if you know what I mean. I only bent one set-- the PO bent the others.
Runs Great now, though--
Jeff

[nynor]

my '83 had over 150K when i traded it. ran strong, no leaks, did not burn oil.

[Sterling Doc]

I raced a 924S last year with 173K miles. Orig head, rest of motor gone through once 40K miles ago. Used about 1/2 quart of oil per race weekend. Ran strong, was bullet-proof in racing conditions. Steerling and brakes still tight. The rod bearing's need to redone once every 1-2 seasons depending on how much you race. The rest of the mechanicals are very stout. Keep up with the maint., and they'll run very well for a loooong time.

[Techno Duck]

Bought my 944 at 60k miles. Have done about 15 auto-x's with it and no real issues. 88k miles roughly the head gasket went. Other than its never left me stranded. Currently at 93k miles. Uses about a quart of oil every 3-3500 miles, depends how hard i am driving it.

Oil pan gasket is starting to get wet, but not dripping anywhere. Rod bearings and a front end reseal are on the list of to do's for August.

[Tervuren]

On my '85 944, at the time of it being hit, the only problem it was a mild front end oil leak, and the shifter seal on the transaxel had gone bad. The AC system was rotted when my family originally got the car, also we replaced the master and slave clutch cylinders. Also I'd say it was time for CV replacement as well, but it got hit just before I was about to fix it all. Thankfully I'd waited, or else that would of been a big waste.

[callmethewander]

my '87 na has 119,+++ use it daily, regularly appraoch redline, corner fast love it and it runs great! my '88 944S only has 80,000 feels like a new car, seems to have been very well maintained, my '89 S2 has 117,+++ runs great handles great, but it does "consume' a bit of oil. none of them give me the feeling that there ready to bite the dust.

[ilikemy944]

Newbies.
Theres 200K+ on my 944, almost 200K on my last 951 (never had any engine work and still had only 1psi difference across the cyls on a comp. test).

I have seen turbos and n/as at 350K+

120K miles is a baby.

[badjones]

This is what I'm lookin for. I have no concerns about my NA lasting as it runs well for 120000miles, goes reasonably well and handles excellent. It is fantastic at eatin road at sustained high speed, 80, 90 mph and because of the handling can make up for steady accelleration by maintaining high corner speed. It does all this with excellent road feel and what I consider to be a high level of ( sports ) comfort. Mine will swallow oil fairly quickly when really gettin worked hard and seems to blow smoke above 4500RPM at full throttle but if driven conservitavely seems to hardly lose any. I just wanted you guys to express yourselves about these machines and compare their realistic virtues. Oil is cheap. I wonder if the ones that use "no" oil ever get flogged at full throttle, or maybe there is a marked difference in how these things are assembled and their machining tolerances. Come on, what about horror stories. Cheers. B.J.

[sasquatch]

186,000 hard miles on my 87 na. It is regularly hillclimbed, auto crossed and driven hard in the twisties. Original motor. No leaks, does not burn oil, less than 3 psi variance in compression. Headers, FRwilk Chip, racing exhaust, full coilover suspension, and on top of that, a show winner.

Only failure ever was the stock differential went at 170k. Tons of hard auto cross launches probably did it in. Replaced it with a used S2 transmission and it is flawless again.

I have owned this car for the last 90,000 miles. By far the most reliable car I have ever owned. Yes, it is meticously cared for.

[callmethewander]

jay, what kind and grade of oil do you use? my '87 seems to burn the least when i'm running pennzoil 10w-40

[callmethewander]

mechanically i think these cars are fantastic, it's the seats the dash and the sunroof that are troublesome, but that may be normal, the body, suspension and drive-train last so long that the regular stuff where's out, whadya think?

[AaronM]

157,000+ on my 951. Runs great. The engines in these cars are incredibly solid.

[speedracing944]

149,000 miles on my '83. She dynoed very healthy, runs great and has never left me stranded in 100,000 miles. She regularly sees redline and is flogged around on the twisties quite a bit. I do think it is time for some new suspension bushings though.

Speedy

[VINMAN]

180,000. on my 86 Other than the 6 clutch master cylinders,Not one single problem, until my recent cooling issue. ( and hood latch problem.) Did a clutch change at 165k. Starting to burn some oil. I run it on 20w50. Dash started cracking last fall.
The 85 I had before this one. I bought at 143,00 the owner never did a belt change on it, I pulled it apart . the belts where in excellent condition a little loose but stil strong.

[944 boy]

My motor had 200K and still pulled 134HP pn the dyno having never been pulled apart EVER.

[sasquatch]

Originally posted by callmethewander
jay, what kind and grade of oil do you use? my '87 seems to burn the least when i'm running pennzoil 10w-40

I run Shell Rotella T synthetic 5/40 in every car and motorcycle I own.

Can I advise you not to run Penz? I have torn multiple motors down that have used Penz and the were very carboned up in the valve train.