servite888

Hello Everyone!

I am considering purchasing a 914. I see that many of the cars have Dual webber carbs instead of the fuel injected engine. Could some one tell me what is the big deal? What is the disadvantage of getting rid of their fuel injection. does the carbed motor have better performance? better of worse mileage? (if so, how much?) or just more reliable. Sorry if It has been brought up before, but I haven,t seen too much about it and would like to get an owners perspective. What kind of mileage can you get on a 914? Does anybody miss not having A/C on these cars? Thanks in advance.
John

skl

This has been discussed many times but without a different cam it will run worse with just carbs on an otherwise stock engine. With the right cam and adjusted carbs it will run great- I know from experience. A good running FI is the best but the systems are getting 35+ years old with expected problems...you'll get a 100 different opinions as to which is better and nobody is necessarily correct.
Try a search or ask over at 914club.com and wait for the fireworks!

racer

Agreed. Some love FI. Others love Carbs. My 914, when a 1.7, had carbs, no cam changes, and actually worked fine. I needed to learn how to "start" the car (2-3 hits of the gas pedal before cranking the car) but I never had issues with them.

While carbs are not original, I woudn't "not" buy one because of them.

The AC units (factory or not) are powersucking. Not worth it imho. I can't imagine Wisconsin is a climate that requires frequent AC use.

Mileage (even with carbs) was pretty good. Highway cruising is close to 30, city closer to 20.

Rotten Robby

Sorry Racer... Wisconsin has 100 + days with monsterous humidity. In the Midwest they have all four seasons in their time. The temperature range goes from more than 30 degrees below zero to more than 100 above.
I still would not have AC in a 914 though.

JW911

I had carbs on my 914 (many years ago) and they were great. The throaty sound of those 4 intakes sucking in air only inches behind my head was incredible. Mileage was quite respectable. 20-30 mpg depending on city or highway.

97Targa

What year 914? It might not pass the smog inspection with carburetors.
Pretty sure it wouldn't pass the visual portion here.
Not sure how it works where you are.
All of the 914s that I've seen with the dealer installed
a/c were hacked up pretty bad. With crude cutting and
folding of the sheet metal .

racer

Well. I guess Peter Egan better write more about the weather and less about his fantastic cars, tucked away up there in Wisconsin

While emissions could be an issue, you might get around that with some kind of "antique" or "classic car" status that would exempt you from inspection. I know many east coast states have these options.

skl

Another reason I like carbs is the appearance- classic boxer engine with dual carbs- gets rid of all those FI wires, etc...

yarin

I'm a techonology guy and ended up converting my carbs to Megasquirt custom programmable fuel injection.

In general the consensus is that people who had issues with stock FI ended up switching to carbs as a cheaper & easier alternative. Nothing is better suited for a stock motor than factory fuel injection. The stock cam is pretty undesireable from what I hear.

You can also go aftermarket fuel injection and keep the carb look

Slantnose!

Carbs are alright if you already have them, but I think if I had the stock fuel injection, I'd still keep it.
Way back when no one understood that fuel injection and did rip it out.
We did anyway.
There are some new fuel injection kits out there that really have my interest lately...

Marc

V2Rocket

If you're worried about emissions just buy a 914 from CA...it'll be in better shape than a Wisconsin car too (no salt)