944obscene

As far as I can tell, and from what my mechanic has told me, my car is stock. Through and through. Just after I got my car, some people in my group of gearhead friends wanted to see what it could do. No one expected it to really shine, since it's a 1980's turbo car... They call it a fake porsh lol.

Anyhow, we messed around and found out that this car is pretty stout. I'm talking, better than an STI in a straight-line, from 40mph stout. No? How about at least four other cars that have dyno'd at least 270whp, including a hopped up 350Z? Or maybe a new GT 'stang with basic bolt-on's (as I understand, they push 300 at the crank, stock). My car just seems comfortable with a bunch of other cars that should be 300bhp. There's also a modded Mazdaspeed 3 in that group. It's rediculous.

I'm not really sure what to think about this. The car seems to run fine. I pulled my plugs to replace them, and nothing looked out of the norm. In fact, when I get on it, people complain about the car smelling rich. And that's with a stock exhaust on. I'm just wondering what could cause this. Also, given the recent K26 thread, I find it hard to believe that I'm pushing 300whp, like several people I know assume.

Should I be worried about something? I've poked around and found nothing extraordinary in the engine bay. I haven't looked at my chips... But chips aren't gonna turn a stock k26/6 951 into an STI beater.

To clarify, I'm actually more concerned that something is wrong with the car, mechanically. It was fun at first, but I've gotted worried lately.

V2Rocket

the 944 is considerably lighter than any of the cars you listed...the Z is about 600lbs heavier and the stang is about the same iirc. i believe an STi is around 3400, but the 951 is still 3000 or less. in addition, 40mph in 2nd gear is right in the sweet spot of turbo spool which means you have access to alot of torque pretty quickly.

Catfood

Not too surprising really. 944 turbos are quick little cars. If you have a chip youll be around 300 horsepower. If not they are still quick. What year STI was it? You shouldnt have a problem pulling one from a roll in stock trim. Even 350Zs are not that fast of cars. Dont underestimate your old porsche. My chipped 944S pulled a car on one of those supercharged pontiac GXPs. My buddy was pleasantly surprised.

Mike C.

Statistical variation...

V2Rocket

considering those have 240HP and weight 4000lbs i hope you won lol

944obscene

I suppose the best comparison (and closest race) was my good friend's supercharged Tiburon. It laid down almost 280whp. IIRC those things weigh in, comparable to a 944. Certainly a 951. I'm going to chalk it up to well thought out gear ratios and a nice torquey motor. I got steady pulled by a modded SRT4, but I talked to that guy, and there was no way I would have stuck with him. Open exhaust and other mods. He was at least 330 to the wheels.

How much of a factor is weight, from 60-120ish? Just curious. I just think that it's more of a fight for your motor to move a car through the air, and fight the transmission resistance, than it is to move a certain amount of weight. Not to say it is a negligible factor, but still.

I guess 951's are just quick? Makes me wonder what she'll do after I get my 3inch pipe and boost control on. Gonna go with a dual port WG and and black **** MBC. Hopefully I'll get rid of the AFM here shortly as well. Of course there will be an O2 sensor installed to monitor everything. I figure I really need one now, along with a real boost gauge.. And Tom Charlesworth wants to put Cup tuning software on my car.

alxdgr8

A boost gauge will tell you pretty much if it's stock or has a chip.

Van

In '88, the turbo S was the 4th fastest production car and the quickest thing Porsche made that year - according to one the the car magazine articles I have.

That makes it a legitimately quick car.

Also, a roll-on from 40 is a sweet spot for these cars.

Keithr726

I'd get a boost gauge and wideband to start. Open up the DME and KLR and find out what chips you have. Post some pictures and let us see if we spot anything.

Barry Lenoble

Hey,

I think there must be a difference between German HP and other HP.
I remember back in the early 90's. I was driving my Buick Grand National (270 HP from a turbo 6) and a 928, driven by a woman, came along side me. I floored it, the trans downshifted, the boost came up, and I took off. The woman then jumped on it, and left me in the dust. The GN was pretty stout, but the 928 embarrassed it.

I consider the 89 944 turbo an early supercar. As previously written, in 1989 it was one of the fastest production cars built.

Barry

Catfood

The pontiac Grand prix GTPs are heavy, but they are supercharged and make 280 ft lbs of torque. They run the quarter in 14.5. I was one car length from a dig and held that to about 100. After that my 4 cylinder did not make enough torque to win. Good thing we ran out of road. We repeated the race 3 times with the same results.

Josh B

Alan - you've been on the board long enough to know that someone is going to say "take it to the track"

That said if you are planning on eventually modding the car why not go ahead and take it to the dyno to get a baseline run? Have the operator capture hp/tq/AF curve and boost. While you are at it I would get a compression and leak down test. Those numbers tell a lot about an engines health. Then fish your DME and KLR boxes out of the passenger foot wells and check the tabs to see if they have ever been opened up?

Matching up with other cars makes for way too many variables to be accurate for determining the HP on your car.

fpena944

If you recall the early 1990s Mustang GTs were found to be overstating their horsepower. They always claimed 225 hp but were later found to only have 215. Now I know that's only 10 horsepower but still you see the point.

Kind of crazy to think that V8 was creating only 7 horsepower more than my little 4-cylinder.

roman944

I would start by looking for squirrels inside your engine

or take apart the turbo and see maybe one crawled into there

you'd be surprised how fast these little critters are

just make sure you feed them, with sugar

V2Rocket

well, 928s in US have been at least 290HP since 1985 and are about the same weight as a GNX (~3300lbs)...