I agree. I love my 4-speed.

 

I LOVE MY 4 SPEED TO. Just keep it on boost and hold on to the steering wheel!

 

It's seems like every non 930 Porsche owner tells me I need a G50. The only problem I have with it is 0-30mph is a little slow and the gearing doesn't work for an autocross. The 930 has gobs of torque from 3500 to 6000 so why would you want to be shifting gears all the time?

 

Great, thanks! I have not driven the car yet, so am still looking to see what to expect. Just wasn't sure how the 4 speed transmission is after 20 years..

Any other things to look for when I see this car? Are there particular places that would be leaking oil if they were?

 

If this is a eurospec car and you live in the US, I disagree that the value is not affected. The car should be a good amount less than a comparable US spec car if you live in the US...you will have to get it to pass emissions (hopefully everything was converted correctly), and it will contine to have the "grey market car" stigma when you go to sell it.

Just my .02...
Goodluck with the car! If you love it, use the fact that it's a grey market car to your negotiation advantage!

 

Ok, I have been reading a bit on the grey market/euro spec issue. Are the terms used intechangeably?

Is there a difference? This car, while a Euro spec, was registered initially in the US when new.

 

Well yes and no. You figure that from approximately 1980 to 1985 (1986 saw the official return of the 911 Turbo to the US) any 930 that's here (in the US) is an ROW or Grey Market car...meaning that it had to undergo the US federalization process before it was allowed in. However, I guess a US spec 1986 930 (a car that was orginally destined for the US) could have been modified when it got here by the previous owner(s) to have the European exhaust, fuel head, etc. In other words, the removal of all that crap that limited performance, thus bringing it up to "Euro spec"

 

And there are plenty of those 930s.

But it seems the lastest trend is converting 930s to EFI.

 

It sure does. I'd love to do it. In time...I need a little more experience in this area. I think it would make for such an incredibly dependable car. I already think very highly of this car's ability to withstand abuse.

 

It could be a late production '85 that was titled in the US as an '86 when it was brought over. Additionally, even in '86 there are some minor differences between US and ROW spec cars (lighting, ride heights and etc.) However, you are correct in that from '86 on all major systems were identical. Red Rocket is of the same opinion I am, my '85 eurospec 930 w/4-speed is easy to drive and I really like the spacing on the gears. Besides, when you come right down to it, 5th is more an "overdrive" than anything else. Plus, I'll compare rebuild checks with you any day of the week on my 4-speed vs those fancy 5-speeds. As for the VIN, the info is partially correct. WP0 will be the first three digits of any Porsche, built in Stuttgart, Germany. In the late 70's the seventeen digit VIN was adopted as the International standard and has been revised only slightly since. So the letter W IDs the car as German, the P means its a Porsche, and the 0 (the letters I, O, and Q are never used) means which division or company of the parent it came from). However, only what Porsche refers to as "Rest of World" (ROW) cars, or eurospecs as we lovingly refer to them will have the ZZZ code in the 4th through 6th positions of the VIN. In the US and on US spec cars from Porsche, these digits describe things like the body style, engine type, model series and etc. For the ROWs however, Porsche didn't use these fields but just filled them with Zs.

 

...guess I'll break them mold here on the G-50, but before I had the current race car I had a C4 with G50. I can tell you that they shift a whole lot smoother and can be shifted much quicker (actually about as fast as you can move) than the 930 trans. 930 trans is bullet proof, but you're not going to be able to shift lighting fast.

My current car has 930 4 speed.

 

TM 1 If the deal on the grey market car falls through, you might be interested in my 79. I am selling because I also have a 88. The 79 is silver with maroon interior.(it really is a good color combo). The car is a 8.5 out of 10. It has 41,000 miles. I just put a complete B&B exhaust and a K-27 7200 last year. I do have all the original exhaust as well, and I will offer to sell it with the original exhaust installed. Let me know if your interested, or if anyone else is interested shoot me an email.
gizmeaux1@***.net

Eric

 

Thanks all for the information!

Eric 930 - where are you located?

Also, This particular car is a Euro spec (ROW) Car, would the speedo have been changed when first registered in the US? and if so, does that also change the odometer to read miles instead of km?

 

Usually, the speedo was changed and set to the equivalent mileage by the importer. However, alot of them were bought new by the brokers and had only the usual Porsche delivery mileage on them anyway. Check the title carefully. It should disclose any speedo variances if there are any. If the car checks out as complete and solid then I wouldn't have any fear in purchasing the car, I might negotiate a little harder on price though, simply because so many people are afraid of ROW cars. I've got two of them, an '84 Carrera 3.2 (My girlfriend's) and my '85 930. Both have been nothing but reliable and a blast to drive. Good luck with your decision. Eric 930's '79 sounds neat too. As far as the G50 versus 4-speed, the G50 can definitely be shifted faster than the older 4-speed. All of those old Porsche boxes had to be shifted a little slower to not beat the synchros. But I have one less shift to throw.