I have a 1988 porsche 944 turbo (s) currently listed on eBay. Based on option codes, wheels, speedometer, and other items, I believe that I do have a turbo S. I have been called out and was told that this is only a turbo. One of the reasons was that the picture I have listed of the speedometer has a glare over the 180mph mark on the speedometer. Someone said that the turbo s goes to 180 and the standard turbo goes to 160 on the odometers. I double checked and my speedometer does in fact go to 180. Again, there are other items at hand, but I would really like some help with this issue. I am not try to misrepresent anything, I just want to make sure it is accurate for the buyer and for myself.
Thanks in advance for everyone's help

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1988-Porsche...h=item48a08d7e...

http://s1378.photobucket.com/user/twistedbelly/library/

vin: WP0AA2957JN151711

 

I'm gonna say you have a well optioned 944 Turbo (non-S) because the sticker in the back lists your engine as M44/51. A turbo S would have had M44/52. A previous owner could have added everything to the car to make it look as if it's an S but the engine code remains the same. Even with an S engine installed, it still came from the factory a non-S.

 

royalschwarz is mistaken. All 1988 944 Turbo S option code stickers indicate the M44/51 engine, and this wasn't corrected until model year 1989 Turbo cars were made.

twistedbelly, you have a real Turbo S. Verified by the presence of the AOR transmission and the additional port between the #3 and #4 intake runners on the top side of the engine, as seen in your listing's photos. Not to mention the Club Sport wheels, 030 and 220 being present on your option code sticker, split fold down rear seats and headlight washers, and several other factors.

If you want incontrovertible proof, just take a picture of the M44/52 engine stamp at the rear of your engine near the exhaust manifold.

 

also, if you feel your wheel fenders they will all have been rolled.

There will also be an extra gusset by the passenger side strut mountish

 

All I know, it's a beautiful car!!

 

shouldnt the sticker have M758 on it?

 

No,
that code applies to the Silver Rose or Silberossa edition which was built early in the run as opposed to the later built, higher hp/torque rated, '88s and '89s, which were ALL available in various colors besides the rose metallic.

This car appearing above IS a late build S as shown by all those options as mentioned earlier, such as the M030 suspension , the 220 limited slip, the split back rear seats, etc. You may also determine the model of an '88.1 and '88.2 by the original owner's manual cover AND by the date built, as all the early lower hp cars have early dates only and the 247 hp cars have late year build dates. If the Warranty book is original to the car, the cover will read '88.2 turbo. And you can verify the original book by the white build code tag which will be inside and be identical to the tag you show on the inside of your body.

You may also ask your Porsche dealer to verify 247 hp S vs. early built 217 hp cars by supplying your parts department there with your serial #. They have it on their computers what this serial # represents. Porsche is very good about delineating the model cut off dates on these and lists the same delineation on the models of '85.1 and '85.2 naturally aspirated 8 valve cars as well.

The '89 cars, which reverted back to the name '944 turbo', all came with the same spec as noted above, EXCEPT the split back rear seat.

The Club Sport wheels (*FUCHS*) came on almost all of these higher output cars, with the exception of folks specifying a phone dial in either cast aluminum OR cast magnesium ( which are extremely rare ). The 'mag' wheels are also prone to cracking and susceptible to chipping easily when mounting tires.

By the way, this is a very WELL optioned 951, and am quite curious why you are selling it. These are getting hard to come by in great condition with low mileage and bring pretty good money for the right car. This appears to be such a 951.

 

I stand corrected and that was all I was basing my assumption on. With that said, you may indeed have a Turbo S. Another clue besides the wheels, AOR trans, M030 and 220 options, rolled fenders, dual airbags, ABS, etc is that your car has the gussets on the frame rails as seen under the power steering reservoir. So if you don't have an S, a previous owner went to all lengths to make it look like one. Still can't explain the lack of the M758 option like V2 pointed out but a lot of cars had options not listed on the sticker.

 

as mentioned in the post directly above yours,

The M758 option code ONLY applies to the SilberRossa cars in the turbo 944. That is the option code given them by Porsche to denote the special-ness of the paint and interior code.
Which just happened to also include all the suspension and power goodies. After they were built, the colors became available on all the turbo S cars.

( In similar fashion, M757 was the code for the other plaid interior/plush carpeted Celebration/Jubilee cars, a naturally aspirated special 944 lineup which also came out in model year 1988. Like the Silver Rose S, but the turbo S was never part of the celebration even tho kitted similarly with interior offerings. ) The 911 and 924 carried their own M 7__ numbers denoting their own special place in Porsche's build that year. LOTS was going on that year, with many cool things across the lineup. Only the 928 was unaffected by a special model iteration. So, it never got an M7-- offering.

 

I'm pretty much selling it since my wife and I are expecting again. I don't really want to, and don't necessarily have to, but it just makes the most sense right now. It's an awesome car, that I've always wanted, and the performance work that has been done to it is definitely an added bonus.

 

I def appreciate everyone's help figuring this out.

 

I just had a potential buyer direct me to this website that identifies/registers all 944 turbo s models

http://www.944silverrose.co.uk

it looks like mine does in fact fall in the vin range of the 1988 turbo S
WP0AA2957JN151711

 

Interesting stuff.

For 968s and most of the Porsches produced during the nineties the first VIN released to production was always #61. Porsche retained the first 60 VINs for development use. Is this not the case for these cars? Do you actually have #1 registered?

Second question, did Porsche continue to make non-S 217hp turbos later in the 88 model year along side the non-silver rose S versions?

 

No