Max

I whole heartily agree with Kevin E Davis.

Do we not all have the same hood badges on our cars?

It should not matter if you own a relelic like the 356 or the lattest 996tt!

Pinning one against the other is really child like behavior.


Max<---- wasting band width just replying, what a shame!

Ed Ruiz

For me, the answer was #1, which also happens to be a REAL Porsche and was Dr. Ferry Porsche's favorite car, even though his Son designed the 911 and some stranger (Tony Lapine) designed the 928.

I was not aware that it was a popularity contest? The only poll that matters is the one you ask of yourself.

I get a big grin on my face 100% of the time I get into the 928. Since I drive it everyday, even in the rain and in light snow, (it's nice to have a heater and AC that work very well) that's a lot of grinning!

Better still, you'll have more reliable fun longer with the 928.

George 911-V8

Well from my experience with the 911 since 1994 and it's pros and cons I think its not to good of a car. I had nothing but problems with mine at least 3 to 4 times a year in the shop. I spent a fortune on maintaince and as far as performance goes slow as pig ****ttt. Unless you can afford a 993tt go get a 928. I had a 3.2 motor and it could not get out of its own way. The a/c system if you want to call it a/c is crap. I rebuilt my car top to bottom front to back. I like the 915 gearbox so far although I have about 3k just in parts to keep it together race parts now. I broke second gear in three pieces and replaced the mainshaft so time will tell. I now have the best a/c in a 911 but it cost me 2k in mods plus a little help from our jap buddies to do so. I'm 6 foot tall so it's very small unless you are a jocky it's very cramped and you need a chiropractor for a adjustment after long rides. Buy a 928 its faster and I don't know what your budget is but if your heart wants a 911 please get the 993tt .

SWAMP MONSTER

Howard

Not having experience with the 928 I honestly
cannot comment on how reliable or unreliable it is. I do know that for years I wanted to own one of the them due to the fact that it was one the fastest production cars available. If you plan on DE events or track excursions I will say that I have seen very few 928's since becoming a member of POC at the track. The most important thing is to buy what your heart really desires, if you love shifting get the 911sc, if you prefer an auto get the 928. I'm sure you will be happy with either car and both will be a thrill to own. ( that's it....buy both..problem solved!) Either way, you'll own a Porsche! Good luck !

pacmyster

I bought my 911 a few years ago and I'm currently in the market for a 928 as well... I will never part with my 911 for all the reasons that have been listed above and more. I've loved the looks of both cars since I was a kid and will fulfill my childhood dream of owning both. I can't afford an S4 so my question goes to the S crowd... Is there anything in particular to look for and conversely to look out for besides the t-belt/waterpump change history and what should I expect to spend for a good daily driver??
Pete

Ed Ruiz

Pete:
I think your question might get more responses if posed on the 928 BBS. Nonetheless, I will try to impart what little I know as a result of 11+ years of 928 ownership.

Fortunately, 928s are fairly inexpensive to buy considering what you can get with a bit of patience and some luck. As with any Porsche, you should buy the most recent model you can afford. In spite of what some seem to think, about 30% of them are 5-speeds. (My current 90GT is by definition a 5-speed.) Even so, the ATs are no slouches either.

The most important items to make sure are well maintained is the Cam-belt system (including the water pump) and the electrical system. Another costly repair is the Torque Tube bearings, but ATs are more prone to the failure than the manuals. Another item that has failed for some is the steering rack.

87 and 88 S4s have had an inordinate number of Brain failures, and the Mass Flow Sensors from 85 to 95 have been known to fail as well. The time needed to repair these items is not much, but the parts are rather costly.

The rest are minor problems (like vacuum and switches that work intermittantly), but they are usually easily rectified. Almost all 928s will suffer from a HVAC problem. The cause is usually a vacuum leak.

My experience indicates that the average cost to maintain a 928 falls between $1K to $3k per year depending on the need for tires and major service. YMMV.

Carlos

TP order your turbo now if you expect to have a chance against ANY decent 928. Otherwise get a picture of the rear of a 928, tape it to your windshield and save your gas (see my previous past titled "shark bites 996"). And that 996 was a hell of a lot faster than some old SC. Cabin doesn't age well? Last time I looked Porsche used the same cheapo plastic and poor adhesives on both cars. Maybe some folks find something inherently elegant about a 911 interior design but personally I find the 928 more attractive. Ahd as far as all this superior handling talk let me say this. If you commonly test the handling limits of either car it will end up a pile of rubble. That said, for 99.9% of the time spent behind the wheel there is no appreciable handling advantage for either car. Maybe, and I don't know that I'm willing to concede that it can, the 911 can carve up some twisty back road on a sunny summer afternoon more quickly than a 928. But when we both get to the end I will have arrived in air conditioned comfort rather than soaked in sweat from the poor ventilation. And if it starts to rain on that summer afternoon, Make sure that you brought a towel so you can continually wipe the condensation from the windshield. See if you're smilin' then!

I think people get caught up in the maketing hype. If you compare the beat 911 derivative ever produced to the best 928, the 911 wins. And if you happen to be one of the lucky few who can drop $120k or more on a car to play with, you will no doubt smile a lot while driving it. But if you are not part of that group and cost IS an object. $15k worth of 928 wins hands down over $15k worth of 911 (maybe feet down too).
Drasticly better performance, greater comfort, lower maintenance costs, and unless you want to spend a lot on the rustbucket 911 you would get for $15k, better handling too!

Well put Ed. I think you did an excellent job of itemizing potential problems with the 928. Hopefully a 911 owner will reciprocate.

Steve, 914 guy

Ed, I think the part # is 911 101 121 01 for the L blinder, the R is 911 101 120 01.
Don't get me wrong, I love to look at 928's,
and I love to drive them, I just hate to work on them. Fixing a 928 usually feels like getting your *** kicked little by little all day long.
There's not quite enough room to pull this bolt out after it's loose, gotta take another part off to make room. Can't quite get to that hose to tighten it, gotta pull out the alt. to get it. Something is ripping my arm to shreds again, never happens on a 911.
I don't have a 911 or a 928, I have a piece of crap 914 track car that is quite fast with a less than reliable overbuilt 4 cyl.

If I had to get somewhere 300 - 500 miles away FAST, I'd rather do it in a 928 than any other car. 120 mph feels like sitting in a la-z-boy recliner.

BTW, that little tapping from a noisy lifter some 928's make, it's expensive to fix.
the lifters list for something like $92.00 each. Some people say replace all 16 or 32 at one time.

davor

null"Is there anything in particular to look for and conversely to look out for besides the t-belt/waterpump change history and what should I expect to spend for a good daily driver??"

Pete,

I think Ed outlined the major maintenance isssues well. As to cost of purchase for an "S", I'd say you could pick up an 86 iin good shape for $10k-ish. I believe the 928 market report in Excellence comes out in Dec usually so you may want to keep an eye out for it. I'd recommend looking for an S4 if possible. Major brake, suspension and styling improvements over the S's. They can be had for mid-teens pretty consistently. Try to find one with good maintenance records though.

I concur with those lamenting the fact that many can't seem to respect a breadth of automobiles by a great manufacturer. It's like a sniper saying shotguns suck.

Ed Ruiz

Steve:
My 928 tech loves working on my GT. He says most Porsche techs don't like them because there is less cushion in the book time to do the job listed. For example, the book time to change a 944 T-Belt is 6 hours, but for a 928 it's 8. He can do a 944 belt in 2 hours, while it takes him 5 to do a 928 belt. Therefore, in the time listed, he can do three 944 belts, but not quite two 928 belts.

Never-the-less, he thinks they're easy to work on and fix. Since I also do some of the work, I have found that I tend to agree with him. The major down-side when working on a 928 is that some parts are bigger/heavier and are torqued down a bit tighter than the equivalent parts on a 911 or 944. Getting to them is really not that big of a hassle.

BTW, that lifter ticking sound can be fixed by switching to a thinner synthetic motor oil. My 86.5 928S had it. A month after switching to 10W30 Mobil 1, the noise went away and never came back.

Steve, 914 guy

Thanks for the oil advice, Ed. I'll suggest that, maybe it will help some people.
Maybe I'm just spoiled.
Steve

Flying Finn

Guys, don't get me wrong (or too seriously), like you, Ed said, your answer was #1, then I guess 928 was/is better car for you.

However in my opinion, asnwer for me, was #2 and in my opinion, he wanted to have weekend cruiser, not a car for snow etc. I'd rather have 911 over 928, but that's me, there's no reason get offended here.

I've driven also 928 and it's a nice car & will make you grin and for sure, has the right badge on it too, but what I want from my Porsche, is something that I thing 911 will deliver better.

Anyway, of course, whatever one likes better, is best for him but I think we all can agree that 911 is the car that made Porsche what it is

And wasn't it so (correct me if I'm wrong) that after when Porsche factory was about to cancel 911 and consentrate to front engine cars (back then, when almost the whole story ended...), Ferry said the final word that they (Porsche) will stick with two car line-up and will concentrate on 911. And the rest is succesful history as we all know.

Jeez, sorry guys, I didn't have anough time to make this shorter.

Ed Ruiz

Gee, I thought the 356 series was the reason that Porsche is what it is today.

There are many reasons why the 928 (and the 924/944/951/968) were dropped. Economics was probably the main reason. The thought of dropping the 911 was an emotional one that ultimately could not be accepted by the Porsche family.

Notice that the company will soon produce a FEWC SUV. According to some well placed sources, Porsche will also make a FEWC coupe with the same V8 engine from the SUV. If this turns out to be true, then the 928 will rise again like the Phoenix. Perhaps, they should never have stopped its production in the first place. YMMV.

Flying Finn

Or maybe it was actually bettle?

t.p.

Dear Carlos:
I do have a turbo, an '87 930 that will surely smoke your 928. I don't care what parts you've ordered from Devek.