Up for sale is a 1987 Porsche 944S, with a ’89 S2 3.0L engine(more on that later) and a desirable LSD trans. This car has been dependable transportation since I purchased it back in Oct. ’03. Unfortunately though, I’ve recently noticed that I have oil in the coolant overflow tank. If you do some research, this is a common problem with 944's. I’d rather not sell the car, but right now I don’t have the extra funds or time to fix it. This 944 has a clear title with 138k miles.
The car runs great and is a blast to drive. My plan was to set-up the car for some Auto-X’s and possibly a few track days, but never really got the time to do either, so it’s only been driven on the street and I did run it at the local drag strip, my best out of three passes was a 14.7@96mph (not too shabby for a stock naturally aspirated 4 cyl.)
Below is a breakdown of different areas of the car and I’ll try to give a good description of each, and of course if you have any questions, feel free to shoot me an e-mail.
Engine – Yes, this car has a ’89 S2 3.0L Engine in it, which would explain the decent ¼ mile times. Somewhere along the history of the car someone decided to swap out the 2.5 S long block for a 3.0 S2 and then reinstall all the S engine components, I have no idea why, but if anyone was interested in doing this swap on there own 944S, it would be very straightforward and runs great! Not sure if you’d be able to pick-up a few more HP with bolting on the S2 intake set-up, but the way it is now, it runs very strong, has good low end torque and pulls great from 3.5k rpm to redline. Other than that the engine is basically stock and all maintenance items are up-to-date. Also, I just replaced the motor mounts last summer.

Trans. – The original non-LSD trans. was replaced by an LSD unit back in the Fall ’06. I obtained the trans. from a Rennlisters classified ad. I know the LSD-units are a desirable option when it comes to the 944 since a majority of them did not have it. The only problem with it is that sometimes it takes a couple seconds to shift into 1st gear once you press the clutch-in. My guess is that the 1st gear synchros are worn. It doesn’t really bother me much since I drive on the street. Also, the trans. is filled with synthetic Amsoil gear oil. I did install a short shift kit from Paragon Products, which was a huge improvement from stock and the original sloppy rubber trans. mount was replaced with a solid alum. Lindsey mount, which does make the gear noise more audible but I like it, plus you can’t feel the trans. move when taking off from a stop. One more thing, I did repack the rear cv joints(driver and passenger) with fresh grease, they started making a clacking noise and they’ve been good ever since.

Suspension – The stock suspension was basically worn out when I got the car, so I started by replacing shocks with Koni Yellows all the way around. The fronts were converted using the old strut tubes to accept the Koni inserts. I then painted them “Koni yellow” to look good. These are all rebound adjustable. Next, I swapped the front springs for a pair of Weltmeister 200lbs., which dropped the front about 1.25” and looks good. The biggest suspension project was replacing the stock rear torsion bars for a pair of 27mm Weltmeister bars to match the front spring rate and lowered the car to match the front height. Overall, the car handles very well.

Exhaust – The original exhaust was in poor shape so I had a muffler shop install a Flowmaster 50-series muffler and new tip that closely resembles the stock one. It has a nice low growl to it and definitely won’t be confused with the any “rice can”.

Wheels&Tires – This car sports a set of 16” 944S2 wheels, It has 16x7 in the front and 16x8 in the rear. The tires are Kuhmo Ecsta SPT, Front – 225/50/16 - 50% tread and Rear- 245/50/16 - 15% tread(will need replaced within the next couple thousand miles) These tires work great in either dry or wet conditions and are a huge improvement over the Kuhmo 711’s that were originally on it.

Brakes – Brakes work great and are in good shape. Both front and rear pads have been replaced roughly two years ago and have plenty of life left.

Exterior – This is definitely NOT a show car by any stretch of the imagination. The paint is not the greatest, but looks okay from 20ft. At one point in its life someone had a cheap Maaco-type paint job done on it and you can definitely tell. There’s some rock chipping on the front air dam and various scratches and dings on the car, but overall the body is straight and doesn’t look like it’s ever been involved in an accident. I tried to shine-up the paint with a high-speed buffer, but to look good it would need a new paint job.

Interior – Once again, like the exterior, it leaves a lot to be desired. The leather seats are worn, but the all the power adjustments work on the driver-side seat. I did replace the original floor mats with a set of black ones from a 968. The carpet isn’t the greatest but the mats cover-up most of that. I installed one of those dash covers to hide the cracks in the original dash. It has a Kenwood CD head unit with four MTX speakers in the stock locations that the previous owner installed, sound quality is pretty good. Also, the power sunroof didn’t work when I got the car so I removed those components and installed manual latches, works fine.

Problems - Ok, so now for the bad stuff with the car. I just recently noticed that oil has mixed-in with the coolant, yes the dreaded milk shake in the overflow tank. I’ve checked the oil dipstick and it looks clean, no problems there. Apparently this is a common problem that can be fixed with replacing the oil cooler seals, but I’m not making any guarantees that this will fix the problem. The car doesn’t overheat and runs fine. Also, as far as I know the A/C doesn’t work, it was never a concern for me.

Additional Info. – I do have the original owner’s manuals with the car as well as some old repair receipts from the past two owners. Some of the major repairs were: Power Steering Rack and hoses were replaced back in Dec. ’01, Clutch Assembly(includes pressure plate, clutch disc, release bearing, pilot bearing and guide tube) replaced on Dec. ’01 and the Waterpump and Thermostat were replaced back on Mar. ’01. These three repairs alone added up to over $3k.

Hopefully that gives you a better idea of the history and condition of the car. If your live near the Dayton, Ohio area and would like to take a look a the car, please let me know and we can schedule something. Please review the description and pics provided and if you have anymore questions or need more pics let me know. Thanks for looking!

Somewhere along the history of the car someone decided to swap out the 2.5 S long block for a 3.0 S2 and then reinstall all the S engine components

Did you fix the milkshake?

I saw that for sell also. It was on craigslist right? how much did you pay for it

Very nice -- it that nautic blue exterior?

Interior is very easy to work on -- just keep an eye out for various parts being sold. Just needs some TLC. I'd get rid of the silly-looking shift-**** though.

hmmm...looks like a stock S engine bay to me...how can you prove there is actually a 3.0 litre block in it?

The S2 block and head I think would run great in an S, even with an S DME.

AFM is the same, same flywheel, pickup, injectors, FPR... Without the wonderful S2 airbox and intake you'd be enough down on power to probably stay on the S DME maps.

-Joel.