Dubai944

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The car is far from perfect. Sure the weight is balanced which makes a nice benign handling road car, but the weight is concentrated on both ends and the polar moment of inertia is high, the suspension design is antiquated. the CoG is high etc etc. You can improve the standard car a lot and make a decent race car, but it can certainly be modified beyond that for improvement. Just like most of the fastest 944 based race cars which have had the front and rear chopped off and complete suspension changes, Tony's car is hardly a 944 anymore. You can build anything with good fabwork and there are dozens of ways to come up with a better design than the standard car.

There would be a lot to make it work, but a mid engined setup would certainly be fun to see.

alordofchaos

+1. any links? All I could find is this
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Getrag

which shows Getrag G40/50 — 6-speed for the 968, and Getrag 233 — 6-speed for the Toyota Supra Twin Turbo

(944/951 aren't listed )

DEMETRIOS

Are you serious? GM still makes pushrod engines 60 years old tech and you say the 968 motor is old ? Get me a modern production 3L 4cyl NA motor with this output,

DEMETRIOS

I threw a Mercedes M119 in a 924 engine bay an i noticed that with some work it can be turbocharged too.The motor is all alloy with sodium filled exhaust valves,variocam 6 bolt mains, oil squirters, double chain driven 32 valves and above all 5 times Lemans winner with 16 and 32 valves version Since 1986 these motors were produced with racing specs.With less weight than 928 is far more powerfull and reliable.Now all these guys with the Supras ,Nissans ,Gm and so on super motors ,can they show a Le Mans, or Nirburgring race chart ?When was the last time that a Japanese or US made car won the WRC or F1? MERCY!!!!!!!!!!!

rgs944

LSx engines are a great update to the 944 based cars. Why would you put out that much effort and blood and do anything different? Now a V6 in a 914, that makes complete sense for one of the best production track car's ever made that is just missing the HP.

alan t

Yes I was serious. I was referring to the 968 motors being old in age and mileage. The V6 comparisons were around ten years newer and many were available with sub-50k miles. The supercharged versions are also more easily modified for more power than the 3.0L NA. There also aren't as many 968 motors around to purchase..especially with lower mileage.
Say what you will about pushrod technology being old, but "modern" GM pushrod motors are capable of big HP numbers and can be pretty reliable.

xschop

The S-10 4l60e bellhousing is the key to the GM v6 swap.... I still haven't ran across one.

V2Rocket

I get all wiggly thinking about a 3800SC in a 944...

BTW, if anyone's interested and local there is a complete (pan to air filter) TransAm LT1 at the Ontario Pick a Part (CA)...

SloMo228

If I were going to swap out my engine for a V6, I'd be looking hard at GM's new Ecotec3 4.3L V6. Direct injected, all-alloy, about 300hp/tq, and it looks pretty compact. From what I've read it uses the same bellhousing as the LS and likely the same motor mounts as well, so you could even use a lot of the available kit parts for the LS motors.

A V6 makes some sense over a V8, as long as the power output is acceptable to you. I have a blast in my 944S that makes 188hp, so ~300 would be plenty for me. The basic engine architecture is the same, so lopping off a quarter of the engine means the V6 will weigh less than the V8, and that weight will be concentrated further toward the center of the car, as well. Plus the shorter V6 will provide more room to work on the front of the engine, when necessary.

JimV8

If I was going with a V6 (perish the thought) I'd consider the PentaStar 3.0 to 3.6 Dual overhead Cams, 24 valve aluminum block. The neat part with that engine is the exhaust manifold is cast as part of the block so one would only have to pick up the exhaust at two points. I don't know if it would fit but it looks narrow enough. The 3.6 is good for 305 hp and it can be supercharged or turbo's and it has good company in that it powers Maserati.

odurandina

I doubt the 944 or 968 can be configured to allow for the installation of one of the popular multi-valve h.o. v6 engines mentioned above.

I personally believe; unless you're swapping the tired/dead 4 cylinder motor for a well-built 3.0/968 turbo, (a considerable undertaking) or going v8, far too often, what we end up seeing instead - is a moderate to catastrophic waste of resources expended and very little coming back in the form of a satisfactory, long-term solution and driving pleasure.... it's sad to have seen so many people make poor choices on engine replacement in the form of used or run-of-the-mill rebuilt oem, or the high slung/running at the brink of meltdown variety, just to see a-b-c engine fail not long after. the % of failures in this context is frankly, bizarre.

I can't for the life of me imagine why....

short of a V-12, this is about the best sound you're going to hear coming from a 944/968....

odurandina

with all the nice 5.3 engines available, V8 vs V6 engine in the $$$ context is a bloated concept and is the least of your concerns.

except for Tony G, I've probably got the most expensive V8 engine ever done in one of these cars,

and it's still not the part of the project that broke the bank.

Fishey

The most expensive part of my build has been my engine $900 (L33 5.3) but adding all the other stuff up its only about 1/4 the total cost for this conversion.

I am also rolling the dice on having to tear it apart (motor) because I am using some questionable cylinder heads. (Possible Porosity issue) but I have other plans in place if that is the case. I also have access to alot of things most people don't including CNC machines/Fabrication/AN line crimping tool/Tuning/Dyno/etc..

However, for $3600 not many people are going to be turning a reliable 400-410whp.

The only V6 motor I would put in my car is one of the new Macan Turbo setups and I would only do that if I had limitless money. That way I could run the car in Time Attack events in the street modified class (+2 cylinders same manufacture)

Eddie93304

I have an 86 NA and I'm really thinking of a modern German engine for my car.

At our shop we have an Audi 2.7tt out of an A6. My bosses B5 S4 (Stage 3) makes 400 whp. I love the power of that engine, and we're quite familiar with them.

This engine needs the heads redone, and maybe bolt on a set of rebuilt KO4's. I'm parting out an 87 NA 944. As soon as I pull the engine out, I'm going to take some measurements. To me, had Porsche continued with the 944 platform it should've been either this engine, or something similar to a I6 BMW.

I know that the brake booster could be an issue, along with the width of the frame rails. But the engine is there if I want it. I want to keep the car German. And since Porsche and Audi collaborate often, I think it would be a neat car.

I absolutely love my 944. Finding a 951 would be nice, but I love the power and economy of a modern V6. I fell in love with V6's in the 80's when they ran them at Indy. Those were the days man. You just knew the V6's would out run the V8's. It was just a matter of them holding up and not blowing up within the last 10 laps! LOL.

It's been difficult to find info on the bell housing possibilities for this swap. I hear that the 924 turbo bell housing or the Audi I5 may work. This stuff keeps me up at night. With a mild tune the engine would make lots of usable power.


To me this set up would totally rock. Diagnostics are done through VAGcom, so that's easy. Nothing against LS engines. Those are awesome, but I'm not an American car guy, otherwise I'd have an LS powered Vette and call it good.

Maybe someone has specific insight on this swap. I'd appreciate it.

67King

Why is that a considerable undertaking? The 968 engine is darn near a stand-alone, only a few wires in the harness interface with the rest of the car, and those are either power or gauge wires. And with a good exhaust and tune, the 968 engine can make a TON of power. Mine makes 244 at the wheels (which is probably over 280 at the crank). Not LS levels, but a whole lot simpler and less expensive, and despite what our egos tell us, 300 horsepower is really hard to use on the street. I rarely get to open up my daily driver (535i w/ a Juicebox).