[Jay Laifman]

I test drove two 914s over the weekend. I posted these comments to another 914 focused site and no one has come up in defense of the 1.8. It's like it's 2.0 or nothing - yet there are 1.8 and 1.7 owners on the board.

So, here are the details on the cars: one was a '75 1.8, the other was a '73 2.0.

The '75 1.8 was stock, with no extras, no center counsole, no anti sway bars, stock plastic steering wheel, with a rebuilt 901 tranny. It had worn paint (dark red, brown interior). It did have real Minilites and Bursch exhaust. Asking around $6k.

The '73 had all the '73 standard options, Fuchs, pretty nice condition, bright yellow, nice stock leather steering wheel, and nice Webers. Asking around $13k.

The 73 clearly had more power. But, I have to say the 1.8 was a very sweet engine. The car actually seemed lighter actually, more chipper, a sweeter car. Why? Yes the 2.0 revved up and made a strong growl, but it didn't seem as rich of an engine as the injected 1.8. I don't know if it was the Bursch exhaust speaking or not.

The 75 tranny shifted better, but the return spring from R/1st was not nearly as strong as the one on the '73. Is that external to the tranny or inside?

The '73 also felt a bit more solid, with no rattles, none. Maybe that was the anti sway bars and nice attention to finding noises.

The '73 paint showed some small bubbles on the fender near the top corner of the hood. I looked at all the nooks and crannys that I could. I didn't see any cancer that jumped out at me.

So, why did I like the 1.8 FI one better? Maybe during autox or racing, the '73 would show more pedigree.

Does anyone here want to stand up for the 1.8 over the 2.0? Or is that just an absurdity?