944 S ....Whats the consensus????????
#32
RL Community Team
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Rennlist Member
I would agree with much of what has been said here. The only significant maintenance "extra" compared to the 2-valve N/A cars is the chain and tensioner. The tensioner is expensive (I paid US$310 for the genuine OE part) but the other bits (the chain, oil supply tube etc.) are cheap and the amount of extra work over and above the timing belts etc. is not that much (I'm in the middle of it myself right now). There is a school of thought that it is only the plastic rubbing blocks on the tensioner that are really a concern and these apparently are available (from Zims I think) seperately. However, as my car has 147K on it (with no tensioner change in the records) I'm playing it safe and re-doing the whole shooting match. Really not that expensive if you do the work yourself (which is lots of fun anyway).
I was actually looking for a 2-valve N/A car, but the S came along and was a good deal for me. I knew fully about the extra maintenance of the tensioner and it did not discourage me at all. In addition to the plusses and minuses well documented in the previous posts, I would add:
1) Great sound at higher RPMs.
2) The little "16 Ventiler" side molding on the fender.
3) The cool looking magnesium valve cover.
Hey, its the little things that make a difference!
Your possible car sounds nice and has low mileage. If you do your own work, you can do all the important preventative maintenace for under $1000.
Kind regards.
I was actually looking for a 2-valve N/A car, but the S came along and was a good deal for me. I knew fully about the extra maintenance of the tensioner and it did not discourage me at all. In addition to the plusses and minuses well documented in the previous posts, I would add:
1) Great sound at higher RPMs.
2) The little "16 Ventiler" side molding on the fender.
3) The cool looking magnesium valve cover.
Hey, its the little things that make a difference!
Your possible car sounds nice and has low mileage. If you do your own work, you can do all the important preventative maintenace for under $1000.
Kind regards.
#33
Burning Brakes
Join Date: Nov 2003
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If the same thing happened to me now, god forbid, I would pop a S2 or 968 engine in there. I am sure I could do that for much less than $6.2k! Last year I was a victim of circumstances and had to do what was necessary.
#34
RL Community Team
Rennlist Member
Rennlist Member
Yeah, I agree with Jon (above). There was recently a 2.5 S motor (with all electrical etc.) low mileage, very good condition available in my area for about US$3200. It has since sold, but I thought it was a good deal..
#35
Love mine. Cooler (more rare) than a non-S. And you'll spend more time above 4K rpm than you think. And you'll worry more about your head. Throttle body is mounted such that it's going to be a pain to replace the switch (I think I got to remove the intake manifold). Chain tensioner service is easy. Oil pipeline (j-tube) for the tesniosner is not cheap (~$100), though. Glad I got the S and not the 8V-NA. Knowing what I know now, I'd have spent more and gotten an S2 (next time).