marksportcts

I always wondered about this as well. The 944 is a great road car, but to make it into an off road/rally car, how would the suspension setup hold? I don't see too many RWD rally cars, mostly AWD and some FWD. Easier to straighten out a car by pulling than pushing.

924RACR

There's plenty of RWD cars rallying; in fact, cars are classed differently based on drivetrain, tire selection, and other less important factors...

Yabo

There is classes so RWD doesn't matter. And there are alot of RWD rally cars, bmw's for example. There is RWD/2wd classes in most cases.

You don't really need to be lifted much. it's not like you are serious off roading, most rally roads are pretty well groomed. If you watch a WRC review some of the cars spoiler lips are only 3-4 inches off the ground.

tifosiman

I raced in the Subaru PRO Rally championship series for a couple of seasons here in the US.

IMHO, the 944 series cars would be a pain in the *** to Pro Rally. They are fairly fragile and I really wouldn't want to worry about the mechanicals. You have enough to worry about in regards to body panels, tires, wheels, etc.

I know people have rallied 944's and S2's, there are a couple of them on the list. I'm just saying from my experience I would want something a little more bullet-proof and cheap to repair. I'd also prefer a front wheel drive or all wheel drive car.

Luis de Prat

Porsche did.

cie_lab

awesome stuff!

definitely need to scan in that Porsche vs. Volvo poster

What would be considered most fragile on a 924? CV joints? Torque tube? Mounts?

924RACR

Not much, really, in my experience... was kinda laughing at that earlier post!

Anything can be damaged if abused or improperly set up - head gasket, or rod bearings, etc... but build it properly, maintain it properly, they're pretty bulletproof.

My only mechanical DNF in I think 4 years now was due to a cheap junk $2 switch I should never have installed in the first place. As it was, it lasted 7 years before dying...

Oh, yeah, they're pretty darn rugged too... I've put this car into the wall a buncha times - still straight, still very fast, top 5 in the country in fact!!

tifosiman

How much Pro Rallying have you done in your 924/944 exactly? Road racing and DE'ing is in no way similar to the pounding and mechanical abuse that Pro Rally subjects a car to. Don't get me wrong, I think for a road car the 944 series is great. But there is no way I would be interested in prepping and running a 944 in any real rally event. There are much better suited cars that cost less to repair when things break (which imho would be less often).

924RACR

I didn't think anyone here was talking about ProRallying... more like Club Rally and RallyX.

Maybe I've done no ProRallying... but how much wheel-to-wheel racing have you done in your 944? Or in a 924? Admit it, we both have our own areas of expertise... and I can feel pretty well-qualified to make some pretty definitive statements about durability and reliability of the 924/944 series...

You spend yer money and you takes yer chances...

tifosiman

The original poster asked about off-road rallying. 99% of TSD events are pavement only at sub-speed limit. Rallycross is on a smooth surface by comparison to a real Pro Rally or World Rally event. I've done all of those for many years.

The roughest TSD events I have ever been on were ones that were in the Ohio Rally Championship (ORC) series back in the late 80s and early 90s. The ORC was really borderline on a Pro event, as the CASTs were usually higher than manageable on the fire roads and snow that the events were held on. So the driver was basically going flat out all of the time and always down on time. That series generally had an "underground" feel to it, with a don't ask don't tell force majeur attitude. Almost every car that showed up was a full-blown prepped car, many were ex-works cars that the owners brought out to dust off and some were pro teams that were using the events as a shakedown for an upcoming divisional or pro event. Even then, the make-up of the fire roads were smoother than most roads found at a Pro event (of course except for transit zones and tarmac stages).

I don't mean any disrespect but the amount of wheel to wheel racing I have done with my 944 is immaterial based on the subject of this discussion.

Cheers~

Luis de Prat

All hail the '80s rally king.

tifosiman

Now that's a rally car.

V2Rocket

GG noob.

greenshoes3

Lancia Delta Integrale > Anything Audi has ever or will ever build. On the topic of rallying a 924/944, I don't think it is a good idea. There are many other cars that would be cheaper and better to do it. The 944 will end up becoming a money pit to beat something cheaper like it always does.

Luis de Prat

While I agree that 944s are not the best rally cars, I wouldn't be so harsh. The 944 chassis was developed for prototype endurance racing (e.g. Le Mans). To this day, they still give the 911 and other more modern cars a run for their money on the track.