Had a little fun on the interstate the other day. I was merging with traffic when this 944 turbo cuts me off and sits in front of me for a few seconds at about 80. He downshifted and took off, after a few seconds I couldn't resist and laid into it also. It looked peppy from what I could tell. He turned off at the next exit before I could get a clean race, I doubt my 325i could keep up at higher speeds anyway. It had a loud exhaust and a roll cage along with orange wheels. It looked like a track car maybe. :buttrock It was fun though and looked like a fun car.

good kill...oh wait.... nvrmnd;)

yeeeeeah those 944 turbos are fast! they run around mid 13's in a quarter mile. I played with on the freeway and I barley beat him.

yeeeeeah those 944 turbos are fast! they run around mid 13's in a quarter mile. I played with on the freeway and I barley beat him.

Stock mid 13s? You're on crack. Modded the potential is well, scary.

Nice run. =)

I believe with very very cheap mods/chip they run low 13's easy. I wanted one but they are a pita to maintain for a daily driver, and I have no need for more toy cars that I can't DD. Their maintenance costs is obscene though.

their speed potential is insanely high, as well as their maintenance. That is the one thing I always hear from 944 owners. That is like the #1 pro and con for these vehicles.

Stock mid 13s? You're on crack. Modded the potential is well, scary.


I didn't say stock, they can run mid 13's with a chip, taking it from 247bhp to 295bhp.

my 944 turbo went 0-3 at the drag strip. every time i took it it broke. the first time out it ran a 14.3 at 99ish... but that was before being chipped. after chip, it broke an axle on the first run out... the next trip it popped intercooler pipe off repeatedly... never was able to give it a good run, to unreliable and expensive to maintain. i spend 2x the amount maintaining the car then i did to buy the car.

my 944 turbo went 0-3 at the drag strip. every time i took it it broke. the first time out it ran a 14.3 at 99ish... but that was before being chipped. after chip, it broke an axle on the first run out... the next trip it popped intercooler pipe off repeatedly... never was able to give it a good run, to unreliable and expensive to maintain. i spend 2x the amount maintaining the car then i did to buy the car.

The 944 turbo was never made for the drag strip. This is the weakest fault area the car has. No low end TQ must rev hight to launch. If you Rev high clutch and drive axles break. Clutch repair is no fun on this car and it's costly...

The car shines on a road course and autobahn.....A properly running chipped 944 turbo will run with e46 M3's. When modifying these cars, the question is not how many HP can you gain it's how much HP do you want....

up to about 500whp and then it gives up. 951 isn't that stout of an engine... even the big bad 951 on rennlist that people have built barely get into the 600whp range, and thats plunking down some serious change. the bigger advantage is now light it is and how much lighter you can make it. i gutted mine, took out maybe 150-200 pounds of interior crap i didn't need.

so, is it really the poor-man's porsche or not?

so, is it really the poor-man's porsche or not?

it will always be the bastard child of the porsche family. They are very capable cars, and damn tasty in their own right, but like the boxster, will never usurp the carerra.

so, is it really the poor-man's porsche or not?

My car is a 88.5 turbo S version. It was $48k when bought new back in 1988. If you consider this to be a poor man's Porsche so be it. $48k in 1988 is a lot of money.

Who ever calls the 944 turbo a poor mans porsche has never probably never owned one. When I bought mine about 4 years ago I was also looking at the same age 911, 928, and 968 all for about the same price. Also the maintenance on a 944 is pretty high. I spend about 4 times more on maintenance for the porsche then on the bimmer.

You guys are right though with some mods on it the 944 will be easily into the 300-400 WHP. It makes my bimmer feel like a metro :(

it will always be the bastard child of the porsche family. They are very capable cars, and damn tasty in their own right, but like the boxster, will never usurp the carerra.


Is the 3 series the bastard child of the BMW family? Do you care if your M3 will never "usurp" an M5? Do you even want your M3 to "usurp" an M5?

Just because Porsche makes several cars at several different price points, just like every other auto manufacturer, who do people (who don't own a Porsche) snub their nose at the entry level Porsche? Truly baffling.

BTW - The last auto-X I went to had over 70 cars and only one 911 (a 996 TT) beat me. Sounds like an "usurping" to me.

Is the 3 series the bastard child of the BMW family? Do you care if your M3 will never "usurp" an M5? Do you even want your M3 to "usurp" an M5?

Just because Porsche makes several cars at several different price points, just like every other auto manufacturer, who do people (who don't own a Porsche) snub their nose at the entry level Porsche? Truly baffling.

BTW - The last auto-X I went to had over 70 cars and only one 911 (a 996 TT) beat me. Sounds like an "usurping" to me.

I always felt my car was more of the bastard child of the Porsche world than the 944 i had the 928s4 it was priced high for it's time and was porsche's gt but always seemed the least popular even in the aftermarket world. Ofcourse it was very HIGH maintenance also

Is the 3 series the bastard child of the BMW family? Do you care if your M3 will never "usurp" an M5? Do you even want your M3 to "usurp" an M5?

Just because Porsche makes several cars at several different price points, just like every other auto manufacturer, who do people (who don't own a Porsche) snub their nose at the entry level Porsche? Truly baffling.

BTW - The last auto-X I went to had over 70 cars and only one 911 (a 996 TT) beat me. Sounds like an "usurping" to me.

Wow, calm down there Sally. I wasn't trying to insult your car, I was talking about how the general public views the 944. I also wasn't saying the 944 couldn't usurp the Carerra as far as performance goes. I meant when it comes to being the Porsche. :rolleyes:rolleyes

Wow, calm down there Sally. I wasn't trying to insult your car, I was talking about how the general public views the 944. I also wasn't saying the 944 couldn't usurp the Carerra as far as performance goes. I meant when it comes to being the Porsche. :rolleyes:rolleyes


Calm down? I reused your words, Sally. If you didn't mean them to be insulting, don't take them to be either. Geez. :rolleyes

Also, I don't own a 944 so I didn't take what you said to be insulting.

944's are definitely light and quick.