Darksideduece

Has anyone here or does anyone know of anybody that has successfully turbo'd an N/A 2.5L. I am looking at purchasing a mint condition '86 944 base model, and I have been looking at bolt-on power mods, and there doesnt seem to be much out there really. So I was wondering if anyone has ever put a turbo on the base model? If not, I have no problems with fabricating a system......but I dont know what parts could be used that are out there for the actual Turbo(headers, crossover pipe, intercooler, etc). In the end, I know the biggest problem would be the ECU. Is there anywhere that could upgrade the ECU for this? If I can successfully get this done if there are no other sources, then I might consider offering it to those who want to do the same(I have shop space and resources to do this is there is demand). What do you guys think?

Auto_Werks 3.6

no

M758

There was this place in Germany that did did really nice design work for that and in the mid-late 80's. Their turbo'ed 944's were pretty fast and reliable. I think there were even built from the ground up on an assembly line.

Seems like maybe getting one of those might work our pretty well.

potent951turbo

I am not one to beat the search option much but this must get brought up 1-2 times a week it seems. Most people will agree that it is not worth the trouble to turbo an NA, and in the long run it would be cheaper to just buy a turbo model in the first place. Your money would be better spent and more rewarding on suspension mods etc.

Mongo

Turbocharging the 8-valve naturally aspirated 944 is possible. However, the reliability of the 944 engine would be seriously compromised. NA's come from the factory already running a little lean in upper RPMs. This is done for the purposes of passing smog. Putting a turbo on a car already lean would KILL it. However, remapping the ECU to balance the air/fuel ratios with the turbo in would yield more power and use the turbo more efficiently.

Your second issue would be gas. The 944 NA is already 9.5:1 compression. It's currently configured to run a minimum 87 octane. With a turbocharger and chip added on to increase power, you WILL need to run something over 94 octane. I don't know if you live on the West Coast or not, but you can't get anything above 91 at your average gas station here.

Have you considered going the 'all-motor' route? 944's with compression bumps, bores and strokes yield much better results and are a more reliable setup while still being naturally aspirated.

Welcome to Rennlist, BTW...

xsboost90

it cant be done...impossible.

Darksideduece

Yes I have considered keeping it N/A. But I am all about being different and trying things others havent. I have turbo'd just about every car that I have owned that was N/A to start, and have had no problems. Point me in the right direction for major N/A mods and I will check it out.


As for the search option, I know how it works, and couldnt find anything on this issue last time I looked.


And thanks for the Welcome, glad to be here joining the Porsche family.

2BWise

Find the searchbar you must!

Yabo

You can turbo it. At least one has here. You WILL need to fabricate almost all exhaust, intake, etc. You can do stand alone engine mangement.

The only reason not to is that even when your done a 951 will still perform better, and you will have spent more money than buying a 951. (and time)

The 951 has better brakes, transmission (which you will blow the NA transmission), clutch, it goes on and on. 951 has lower compression pistons.
You can get a poor condition 951 for what you can get a good condition 944 for.

bluedevil

I feel you bro on the 944 NA but everyone is right on this page, just buy a turbo if you want that power. I have my NA for the fun of driving on the road daily in LA and to maintain the NA is a bit easier then the turbo to include easy on the pocket book. If you looking for a car to drive on weekends and to events and to tare up the road jump to the turbo but if you looking for a fun car to drive alot then get the NA and make it nice.

Royalty

haha nice

MichelleJD

Andy did it. Can't remember his screen name. Do a search - I believe he went into a lot of detail about the conversion. Hell of a car and a great guy too.

Mongo

I saw a 951 motor swapped into a 1986 944 NA once. It was done very clean and was a total sleeper!

cie_lab

I'm still in the process of my conversion.

So far, I've converted several hundred hours of employment into several hundreds of dollars towards the upgrade. The upgrade will be complete when

a.) The car is paid off
b.) The car is sold
c.) both

your BEST conversion for the money would be to find a dead chevy and put that engine in the car.

or a dead '05 Pointiac GTO

marcone

Darksidedeuce....

want power? I have a 3.0L 944S2 with 55k miles, All you need to drop in and kick ***.
2200.00
Killer torque and power. Sexy looking. 16v so has Lots of high end Horse as well...

Just throwing it out there

Marcone
905 921 8472