914 or 912e for daily driver

[FenderGuy]

Well like a lot people that first get into Porsche I was introduced to the 914, I had a blast in that in car untill i got rear ended. Now I have seem to have found a nice looking 914 here in Arizona and I am wondering if I should go back to the 914? I have my mind set on a 912e, but this 914 seems interesting. Only gripe I have in arizona is the car has to have AC, and most 914 don't and even if they did it didnt work well.

[lapuwali]

Well, the 912 will be quieter, which is a plus in a daily driver in my book. Personally, I prefer the 912 over the 912E, simply because they're so much lighter.

Can't help or comment on the A/C issue, as we don't need it here. If I lived in a place where it really was necessarily, I'd not choose either car as a daily driver OR I'd do an engine swap with something watercooled (Soob engine, say) that had the A/C compressor on it and wouldn't overheat from the additional load.

[beemie96]

i believe that car has the A/C, though

[FenderGuy]

yup this 914 has a ac

[cnavarro]

I have owned a 914 and ridden in a 912e. Two totally different birds with their perspective ups and downs. Other than the fact that the 912e was easier to get in and out of, I'd choose a 914. I even drove mine with summer only tires in the dead of winter on snowy country roads and it handled better then my 4x4 bronco, so what can I say :-) Aside fom the fact that the wife wants a late 356, I'd say that my next Porsche will be a 914 again.

Charles Navarro
LN Engineering
http://www.LNengineering.com
Aircooled Precision Performance

[Alfred1]

Aftermarket A/C is available for the 914. Sstine9 installed one from European Cooler Air in his 914.

[Jake Raby]

The 912E is the best daily driver that Porsche ever built.. I have put 60K on mine and love it! You can carry groceries in the back and you have the 911 look with the awesome type IV engine.

I build about 20 or so engines a year for 912Es and have figured out their tricks..

[AaronM]

Since you're in AZ, either should work just fine from a reliability standpoint if you can stand the weak or nonexistant A/C. I would not recommend either up in states where salt is used on the roads though since neither would be galvanized and 914's are notorious for rust. Those old air-cooled engines just run forever.

Aaron

[lapuwali]

Actually, the bottom half of the 912E is probably galvanized. The same year 911s were, and it's the same shell. They went to full body galvanizing on the 911 in '78.

That said, road salt can do a serious number even on galvanized steel, or aluminum. Nasty stuff.

[BigD9146gt]

My personal opinion, i would get a 912, holds value more. I like the body styling of the 911 more, and the motor is better on the 912E as apposed to the early 912 356 3 peice case engines. The crank has a much higher life too. Go figure, i'm a huge 914 fan, but my next project is a 67 911, full cage, aluminum panels, 3L 8000rpm 6...

[stratoblaster]

You might want to consider that you are going to have to go through AZ emissions. Not sure what year but 75 or 76 and later, they lift the hood and do visual inspections. This means "technically" you must have the FI on the 912e. Not sure the emissions monkeys would recognize the difference. Earlier cars, don't require the visual inspection. I don't know since I have never had a 914 or 912 with AC, but either one is probably not very efficient when it is 110 outside. Even the later 911sc has marginal AC in AZ heat from what I understand.

BTW How much is that 914 you are looking at?

[Jake Raby]

The Kit Carlson EMS on my 912E is 100% stealth, I bet it would pass any visual, especially since the 912E is not "known" by so many people.