my brother is interested in getting a stock 944 for autox and track driving. will it be competitive for autox.

payed only $1000 for it in good running condition.

any input will be greatly appreciated.

 

Auto-x: Not nationally competetive, but might be in your local area.

As for track, think about the abuse you're going to be giving a nearly 20 year old car. Might want to get a tow vehicle and trailer for it...

 

If you are really a "Cheap Bastard" then run far and fast from that car. You will pay nearly twice the purchase price to change the clutch, among other things. I have a couple friends with 944s and was looking at one myself. Their advice was to budget about $2000 in repairs if you buy one, no matter how old or new it might be. That seems to be the average.

 

I did not know that these cars were so unreliable. I know that this car is still daily driven. I did do a search and found out that repairs do cost much, but they did say that if properly maintained then it will be very reliable. It is a porsche and it will be much more fun to car than a CRX, right?

Thanks still would like more input,
CB

 

Yep, listen to what Matt and Craig are saying. I honestly think Craig is being a bit "easy" in his estimate. I read this and thought about it over dinner and came to the figure of $3,000 to budget for maintenance. I am looking for a CRX/Civic to track since I have done all the expensive stuff to make it road/track worthy and I WILL NEVER GET THAT MONEY OUT OF IT!

 

what about running auto x and track events for fun and commuting the car. Is that still a bad idea?

Thanks,
CB

 

20years old will mean things like new rubber parts all around, and other sorts of parts (plastics) that have worn out. Porsche parts usually aren't cheap! It's a cool car, especially the Turbo'ed ones, but Honda's are soo much cheaper for parts costs.

 

Not so much unreliable, but that parts and maintenance costs 5x a Honda. $300 control arms, etc.

Gary

 

Pick up the last few issues of Grassroots Motorsports. They find and fix up a fairly clean 944 for a project. They aren't un-reliable. But parts are made of gold it seems. The clutch is a cast iron bitch, I hear.

 

According to what I have heard, AMEN.
Actually, I'm only posting a friend of mine has the opportunity to pick up one for free right now. The only thing is, it needs a clutch. He is not sure it's worth it.. he won't be open tracking or autoxing it...
$2000 seems about right for the clutch if you can find a good, inexpensive shop (from the research that this guy has done)..

 

On the clutch itself, unless you are going with a Cup racing clutch it can be done for $1,200 (ask me how I know) and that is with all the essentials. My price tag of $3,000 was for all the other piddley maintenence items and ye occasional control arm or rear ride height adjustment.

 

Don't listen to any of these guys. Well... actually, there ARE some very valid points. With any car that old you're going to have to replace things here and there. If I were buying an 18 y/o car, I'd want it to be something made very solidly. Look at it this way, in any el cheapo you're going to use for a track car, eventually parts are going to have to be replaced anyway. Chances are when you replace these parts whether it be Porsche or not, you're going to put aftermarket stuff in. The aftermarket stuff for 944s really isn't that expensive.

If you're looking for an auto-x car, go with a Honda. If you're looking for a daily driver, you really could go either way. If you're looking for a track car (we're talking track car, inot street car you take on the track) go with the Porsche. I'm partially biased because my track car is an '85 944 and I absolutely love the thing. My dad's been driving an '83 944 on the track for 2 years and he hasn't had to do any major repairs yet.

Bottom line: Honda for Auto-X or SCCA or nice looking AND affordable street car. Porsche for non-contact racing like Porsche Club of America, http://www.944Cup.com or affordable "okay" looking street car.


[Modified by SpeedFreek24, 10:40 AM 12/12/2001]

 

Now that's what I'm talking about. I think my hearing is selective, but I really like 944's. They very under appreciated cars.

I can't go wrong for $1000. It is not going to be an only or primary car.

Thanks again,
CB

 

That's the favorite line of people that have unreliable cars. "Oh, they are reliable as long as they get proper maintenence." Basically what that means is that expect it to break. A lot.




[Modified by Black96Cobra, 11:05 AM 12/12/2001]

 

944 less reliabel than Civic, more reliable than 911 and that's exactly where they stand in terms of racing too.

 

We get two of the Turbos through the shop regularly with 130k-160k miles on the clock, and although they are very fast and handle like a dream, they are money pits. Essentially everything that *can* go wrong on them, does go wrong eventually. I think of it like this:

944 Turbo new in '87 = $55k
944 Turbo maintenance then = $1k/yr
first 5 years ownership = $60k

944 Turbo now in '01 = $10k
944 Turbo maintenance now = $10k/yr
next 5 years ownership = $60k

It all evens out eventually.

But back to the point, NA 944's are great fun to drive. They handle very well even if they don't have an overabundance of power.

A well-treated and maintained one can be a very good buy in terms of "smiles per dollar", but... those also aren't the ones on the market for under $2000.

Parts do cost more than parts for asian cars, but not so much that it breaks the bank (with the outstanding exception of a clutch job). There are also plenty of dead ones around, so used parts are easily findable.

Then again, a 944 does have that certain german panache and character that no japanese car will ever have. It is also RWD, which means it is more true to the original "sports car theory" than many cheap japanese cars.

All in all - it sounds like a cool project.

Good luck,

Jon

 

I couldn't have said it better myself. The turbos have a tendency to be more costly to maintain than the NAs for obvious reasons. The ones under $2000 are perfect "project cars" but they won't win many races.

 

Are you gone drive it with no power steering? Because in 83 the first year out they had no ps and ugly dash, then in 1985 1/2 the dash looked a little better.
I used to have an 87 long time ago (in 1992).
The happiest day of my life was when I sold it, in 1992.
I just don't think much of them expensive VW's.


[Modified by civicturbo, 10:08 PM 12/12/2001]


[Modified by civicturbo, 10:11 PM 12/12/2001]

 

IMO that is what makes an 83 desirable. I actually looked for a while for an non-PS rack for my 87 but to no avail.

 

OK, I changed my mind. If it's to be a car that is ONLY used for auto-x and track (it is trailered and not daily driven) then, yeah, a 944 would be sweet. Great handling cars. But if this is something to fix up to drive on the street and to take to the track occasionally, I'd look for something a bit newer and more reliable.

 

Now you're beginning to see the light. Mission accomplished.

I actually took the power steering out of my 85.5 for weight reduction. It sucks driving around the paddock but you'd never notice on the track.

 

Picking the car up tonight.