Thinking of getting out of 944s

[speedracing944]

With over 10 years of ownership, wrenching on 944s, and enjoying the 944 Pelican community I am starting to think about getting out of 944s. My 2 children are getting older and are having a harder time fitting in the back seat and my wife and I are expecting another baby. This leaves us with a 4 seater car but with 5 people in our family. We all love the 944 and like to take it on day and weekend trips. It will be painful to not be able to take trips together. That is why I am tossing the idea around about changing to a different car.

I am trying to think of a different sporty car which seats 5 people and has a little more room in the back seat. So far the search hasn't turned up many choices. The list of qualifications are as follows;

1) Seats 5 people with room in the rear for an infant seat. The fronts seats can be moved up to accommodate the needed space. The rear does not have to be as big as a Cadillac but should be larger than the 944.

2) Light weight under 3000 lbs. A sporty car has to be nimble on its feet.

3) Rear wheel or an AWD system which behaves similar to RWD.

4) Manual transmission

5) I would like something sort of rare and or obscure. No cookie cutter Mustang type cars.

6) A lb/hp ratio of at least 15:1, 12:1 would be a more ideal starting point. Lower is better for obvious reasons. so a 3000 lb car needs at least 200 hp or 250 hp for the 12:1.

7) Good brakes and suspension to match its sporting nature

8) Fairly modern, equipped with seat belts all around. I am thinking newer than 1980.

Some wants which would be nice to have but would not be a deal breaker.

1) turbo charged
2) good aftermarket support for modifications
3) absolute bullet proof drivetrain


Please give any suggestions of cars which might fit my needs. Feel free to post pics of said car.

Here are a couple of cars which I have found.

First is a Audi Quattro Coupe from the '80s.



How about a Maserati Biturbo Coupe




There is the BMW M3 but this seems to infringe upon rule #5 as there are tons of these around.




Although I love the e30 M3.





1991 Mitsubishi VR4





Show me what you suggest.

Speedy

[callmethewander]

how reliable is the maserati? that or the audi would be my pick.

[Cocacolakidd]

Porsche Cayenne TURBO AWD - or just a Porsche Cayenne

[speedracing944]

Originally Posted by Cocacolakidd

Porsche Cayenne TURBO AWD - or just a Porsche Cayenne

Would violate rule #2 and #5 (maybe not the twin turbo for #5 as I don't see many).

Speedy

[aero four]

I have heard it mentioned that the Maserati Biturbo was so poorly cobbled together that half of them needed restoration from the factory. They had evil handling in the wet, cheesed-off build quality, an interior designed with dubious taste, and a malevolent on-off switch carbeurated turbo engine.

I would suggest a Saab 9000 Aero or 900 SPG - both are very fast and practical. However, all of its luxury baubles and spaceship-style power seating means that my 9K Aero clocks in at nearly 4,000 lbs. Also, FWD. This also rules out the delightful Alfa 164 S.

Have you considered the one-year-only (in the US) '90 Audi Quattro Coupe? The I5 in them is supposed to be bulletproof, although they are tough to find and command a relative premium due to Audi fanboys. Even better would be a '94 UrS4/'95-96 UrS6, which, while heavier, can be tuned to ludicrous extremes with only a boost controller.

I'm not sure what your budget is here. Other extremely interesting cars that may come close to meeting your criteria include the '87-88 BMW M6 (though heavy), the '82-86 Alfa Romeo GTV6 (so long as you love to wrench), and the '85-87 Mercedes Benz 190 E 2.3-16.

[Dave L]

Maserati huh?

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2009/08/14/delozier.maserati.cash.KUSA

I would look for an 80's e28 5 series BMW. An M5 would be perfect but a 535i would be nice too.

[speedracing944]

Alfa Romeo GTV6




M6





I love the SPG but it is front wheel drive. I had a lead on a real nice one 9 months ago.




1990 Audi Quattro Coupe





Keep them coming. I never knew about the 1990 Audi or the Alfa.

Speedy

[speedracing944]

Arrgggg! The Alfa only seats 2 in the rear. Alfa is out.

Speedy

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Read this if you're even remotely considering a Maserati biturbo:

http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1658545_1658533_1658531,00.html

Or this (guy hated his so much he turned it in under "Cash for Clunkers"):

http://jalopnik.com/5337515/maserati-biturbo-gets-cash-for-clunkers-death-sentence

However if you're into weird cars that have a bit of history to them but for which you'll put in 10X the amount they'll ever be worth, then the biturbo is perfect for you. So's a 951, for that matter.

[running_cold924]

my vote is for a newer 5 series beamer....hell of a car for the money. good resale too!

[Schumi]

I don't think you would regret an E36 M3 no matter how many other BMW's you saw around.

The Alfa GTV6 would be amazing. Rear transaxled like a 944 (with a rear clutch- unlike the 944). But very rare and probably hard to find one in your area in good condition.

A Saab 900 Turbo Cab seems like it would be fun, they are easy to crank up the boost on and have some real, real fun in. I rode in one that blew my socks off once. Probably not the safest car in the world however.

A newer Audi A4 (2000 ish) is a very safe car with similar maintenance and reliability to a 944. However they are heavier cars and don't have the power to weight you are looking for I don't think.

[Techno Duck]

I would stay away from the A4's. Unless you go with the 1.8T atleast they are dog slow (but your probably used to that with the 944... ). And the 1.8T is not the easiest to work on yourself.

You cannot possibly go wrong with the E36 M3. Finding a clean unabused one may take a little while..but that is a fantastic car. Even the E46 M3's are starting to come down in price. You can find them in the low $20k range.. the E36's are all usually in the $10-15k range depending on condition. Who cares if they are relativley common.. they are both great cars.

[Mericet]

You could also look at the Alfa Romeo Milano. Somewhat funky styling, but almost identical in mechanical aspects to the GTV6. As with P-cars you want to see some service history in these as well. Another plus is that the Milano also came with a 3.0 V6. And they sound absolutely incredible! Check out http://www.alfabb.com/bb/forums/index.php? for more info and cars for sale. There is a rare Callaway GTV6 for sale at the moment.

[yellowline]

Originally Posted by Schumi

I don't think you would regret an E36 M3 no matter how many other BMW's you saw around.

I LOVE my 328, and would recommend a BMW. They only imported about 10,000 328 E36 coupes, so the setup is not too common (although the body style is very recognizable). Makes for a good sleeper, since it's identical to a 318 coupe on the outside. The 328 has the M3 transmission, which is pretty strong. Finding components that would bring you up to or beyond M3 specs (brakes, LSD, suspension, rack, tires) is not too difficult.

As far as the M3 goes, people are asking silly money for truly good M3s, and the cheaper ones have mostly been abused. I think you'd be less likely to find an abused 328.

Building on the quattro coupe, an older Audi S4 (the mid-90s boxy kind) would be for you. Can you forgive the size/weight? The turbo 5s are pretty strong, they only come in manual, and have plenty of room. Audi helped Porsche with the rustproofing process on 944s...perhaps this car would have that level of rustproofing? You are in Wisconsin, after all.

[jcommin]

I would look for an 80's e28 5 series BMW. An M5 would be perfect but a 535i would be nice too.


I'm with Dave on this one. The e28 5 series is a very nice car. Seats 5, can come with manual, big trunk, very sport, gets good mpg, solid drive drain, etc. My son has a 1990 525i, 130,000 miles on the clock - very solid. Don't know if the 540 was available in that series, but if it was, it would be my choice for a 4 door sedan.

[legion]

Wait, don't you have to get rid of three cars to "get out of 944s"?

And CONGRATS!

[p-talk]

How about an Audi 200 20V? The 10Vs are sweet, but 20vs are the ultimate. Or a mid-90s Audi S4/S6. Here's a pic of my 1990 Audi 200 Turbo Quattro Avant daily driver, the perfect compliment to the 944 IMHO. A chip and WG springs gives you an easy 225+ hp, it's fun to drive, classy and rare .

Originally Posted by aero four

(* SNIP*)

Have you considered the one-year-only (in the US) '90 Audi Quattro Coupe? The I5 in them is supposed to be bulletproof, although they are tough to find and command a relative premium due to Audi fanboys. Even better would be a '94 UrS4/'95-96 UrS6, which, while heavier, can be tuned to ludicrous extremes with only a boost controller.

I'm not sure what your budget is here. Other extremely interesting cars that may come close to meeting your criteria include the '87-88 BMW M6 (though heavy), the '82-86 Alfa Romeo GTV6 (so long as you love to wrench), and the '85-87 Mercedes Benz 190 E 2.3-16.

[legion]

What about an old MB S Class? Plenty of room in those...

[PHillary]

keep the 944 and buy a (96-2002) 3500-5000 redeo truck, pathfinder, rav4 or something of the like. Look into classic car insurance (100-200per/yr) and drive the 44' on the weekends.

[speedracing944]

Originally Posted by legion

Wait, don't you have to get rid of three cars to "get out of 944s"?

And CONGRATS!

Yes I would have to get rid of 3 944s.

And Thanks!!


"keep the 944 and buy a (96-2002) 3500-5000 redeo truck, pathfinder, rav4 or something of the like. Look into classic car insurance (100-200per/yr) and drive the 44' on the weekends."

The 944 is not my primary vehicle but more of a fun 3 season car which I like to enjoy with my family. We take plenty of day trips and occasionally take out of state trip and weekenders in it. The car is title as a "Hobbiest" car in which I never have to renew the plates.

The current fleet is...
2000 Oldsmobile Silhouette minivan for the long distance family hauler

2002 Mazda Protege for fuel efficiency

1993 Ford F150 4X4 extended cab for farm work and getting around when there is more than 6 inches of snow on the road

1983 Porsche 944. This is my 3 season, dry weather fun car which I have had for over 10 years

1987 Porsche 944S purchased from Legion to make into a Corvette LT1 500 hp monster

1985.5 Porsche 944 parts car purchased from chitown944



I have long considered the Audi 200 wagon back when I wanted to replace my Saturn. I ended up purchasing my mother-in-law's Mazda instead.

Speedy