1986 944turbos an newer

[brian carignan]

I'm looking for another 944 for my gf. We want a turbo an have tried looking on the net for two hours for some specs. Any of your guys know off the top of your head what the difference is between an:
'86 turbo
'87 turbo
'88 turbo
how much hp they each got? major diff's?


now is there models such as
'88 turbo s ...an this one has something like 250 horsepower an 235+ torche? any other info you think I should now, please pass along.

Really looking forward to driving these babbies after the n/a

thanks,
brian

[Blackfoot]

I sense disaster.

____________________
Cars

[Brando]

Buy her a 924. Sell your 944 and get yourself a 951.

[Rich Sandor]

Yes, the 944 turbos did change from year to year and the latest ones are the best ones. Here's a short list off the top of my head what the differences were:

86 951: no ABS, no airbags, early wheel offset, forged rods, 217hp.

87 951: ABS and airbags became a standard option. Late wheel offest. still 217hp

88 951: same as 87, pretty much

88 951S: The turbo "S" was supposed to be a small run of limited edition "silverrose" on red plaid interior 944 turbos, with some upgrades based on the 944 turbo cup cars. 928S4 brake calipers w/ ABS. m030 suspension upgrade as standard. (was optional $$ on all other models) The "S" also has a larger hotside on the turbo, which along with modifed chips put the power up to 250hp. You can tell a REAL turbo S by looking at the frame rail by the headlights - on a real turbo S they are re-inforced. Porsche made quite a few real "Turbo S" cars with the silver rose/red plaid colour scheme, but they were soon available in different colour combinations too.

1989 951: In 1989, the "S" was dropped from the name, but the 1989 model was essentially the same as the 88 Turbo S. The bigger S4 w/ abs brakes (standard), m030 suspension (common option) LSD (standard option) etc etc. Canadian model commonly did not have airbags!!!

1990 951: These models were the same as the '89 except they had the S2/968 stlye bridge spoiler! They were NOT available in the USA!!! Only Canada, Europe, and "ROW" (rest-of-world)

1991 951: Same as 1990 expect not available in North America at all.

Note: The 90 and 91 944 turbos were built in Zuffenhausen, Stuttgart, wereas all other 944s were built at Nekarsulm, some miles away from Stuttgart!

if I missed anything serious let me know, i'm half eating/half typing

[dogslovetrucks]

88 NON-S

[dogslovetrucks]

Crap- hit enter too fast...

The 88 Non-s is a bit slower 0-60; 1/4 as compared to prior years. (I'll look around for the exact specs- I've got 'em here somewheres)
86' may be the best bang for the buck- you can get a pretty nice example for not a lot of $$$
Just make sure you complete a PPI and pick a good one!

[Rich Sandor]

There is nothing more expensive than a cheap 944!!!

'Tis better to spend $10,000 on a cherry 944 than to spend $5,000 on a cheap one, and another $5,000 trying to fix it when it breaks down!

[nize]

Originally posted by Rich Sandor
[B87 951: ABS and airbags became a standard option. Late wheel offest. still 217hp
[/B]

ABS was NOT standard in '87. it was not even an option. at that time, porsche had the best non-abs brakes in the business so they never had them as an option. they came standard starting with the silver rose (turbo-s) in '88.5.

[scottmandue]

Originally posted by Rich Sandor
There is nothing more expensive than a cheap 944!!!

'Tis better to spend $10,000 on a cherry 944 than to spend $5,000 on a cheap one, and another $5,000 trying to fix it when it breaks down!

YES!

And then we have to endure the ongoing post by the dork that "this car is a piece of crap!" because he bought a 944 for $1000 and comes here to brag about what a great deal he got then in the following weeks can't understand why the car is falling apart.


Brian, do yourself a favor and buy the nicest condition turbo you can afford/find.

[Rich Sandor]

Originally posted by nize
ABS was NOT standard in '87. it was not even an option. at that time, porsche had the best non-abs brakes in the business so they never had them as an option. they came standard starting with the silver rose (turbo-s) in '88.5.

Actually, it WAS an option in 87. Why do you think they switched to the late offset? And I drove an 87 turbo with ABS that I almost bought instead of my 86.

so there.

[rb101]

My 87 'S' has the ABS on them as an option.

[Rich Sandor]

AND, even though it was listed as an option, something like 99% of the US market cars had them from 87 onwards. So it would be more accurate to say ABS was standard for the US market from 87 on. (even though it is listed as an option in the back of the car..)

The funny thing is, the european market, which you would think would be ahead of the US since that's where the cars were made, had many more cars sold without ABS, Airbags, or sunroofs for all the model years - even most of the european Turbo-S cars came without the sunroof, whereas most US turbo-S cars came with the sunroof!

[brian carignan]

Yeah, were not looking for a cheap 5000 turbo. Actually looking around 8,000...probably gonna sit on this for another week or two considering were moving to san diego from ny so we imagine we'll see a few more cherries than we've been seeing here. great specs guys, thank alot.

Rich, your profile is hilarious an your car is sick, nice job!

My girl would slap me if I ever tried to put her in a 924, she was going for a 928s but I think the 944turbo will be better for her an then I can keep my n/a an get a 928s. how cute, a lil porsche family.

later, thanks guys,
brian

[Rich Sandor]

If you are going to get a 928, (not the best choice with today's gas prices..) I highly recommend springing for an S4 or later, and putting the teardrop mirrors on it. That combination makes the car look like a BRAND NEW car. The older 928's with the old style bumpers look so dated.

[scottmandue]

definitely wait until you get here to buy the car, in S. Cal you can throw a rock with your eyes closed and hit a Porsche.

[Dave L]

You may see more in SanDiego but also keep in mind that they will be driven 12 months of the year have higher mileage and will probably have a cracked dash. I bought my 9'86 44 a few months ago in Toronto, no cracked dash, mostly original paint and 160,000Km (about 100k miles) Buying in NY might be a longer search but you will probably have a better chance of finding a "cherry" garage queen.

[brian carignan]

Was just doing a lil more reserch, looking on autotrader.com a saw a few cars that the owners said they have 944s an they rate 188hp an 187 hp? Are they wrong or what's the deal?

brian

[rb101]

The 87-88 944S's were 188hp, 89-91 944S2's were 211hp, 86-88 944 turbo were 220hp and 944 turbo S's were 250hp. In german http://www.nize944.de/Info944/Motornummer_haupt.html , I can't find it in english right now.