Ganja Porsche

Ok, my friend is going to be trading his truck for a 1981 Datsun 280ZX, the guy he's trading with my whole family knows, he does work on cars and stuff as a personal business. That's besides the point. Today at school, my friend was telling me about his experience with it yesterday and how the guy who was trading with him was just slowly driving and said something along the lines of 'wanna see how this can beat your little friends 944' and punched and so on. My friend wasn't challenging me or anything we were just talking and stuff. Now, I am almost positive I could destroy this car, let's hear everyone give their compare and contrast of the two vehicles... =)

Eric

Craig,

I will tell you this, in high school, my buddy's 81 280ZX auto. smoked me in my 79 924--I know that there is a world of difference between a 924 and a 944, but the 280 also has two extra cylinders to play with.

Eric

slevy951

If it's a turbo, it'll waste a 944 NA. But, the handling is awful on any of them....

TimC

That's a load of malarky. A friend had a 280ZX for awhile - a 2+2 at that - and it's handling was ridiculously awesome - WAY more so than I figured from road testers, etc, always referring to the car as a "boulevard cruiser" - once again, the idiots at R&T fall on their mongoloid faces. It actually was more balanced (totally neutral) than the understeering 944. I couldn't believe the radical slip angles and throttle steer he was able to pull off, and just casually bring it all back when it got too hot. Unfortunately, it was not running well (needed various things that exceeded value of car) by the time I had 944 and visited him in CA - running those two cars through the mountains would have been F.U.N. as well as interesting to see who pushed whom.

T

Es3L

Around the big long 5 S-turns in Centennial Hills, Las vegas. A co-worker, in his 280zx and Me in my 83 944 were playing , and when he hit a turn at 45 he almost lost it and i passed him going 60. Handling on the zx basically sucked. no more "racing" stories, i learned my lesson, my car isnt a honda.

ELLSSUU

DEFINITIVE REPLY!

I had a 280zx with aftermarket sway bars and the optional wider wheels and Gatorbacks. I now have a 951 and have driven a 944. The 951 will suck the headlights out of the 280zx and a stock 944 will certainly out handle the 280zx. Sure the 280zx is a fun car but it is not a really fast car. It is a cruiser not a sports car. It's easy as pie to work on and cheap to boot. Is it a 944? NO, but it's a "helluva" lot cheaper to work on and modify? You can put an end to that bunch of nonsense!

Kierf - ¿§?

While I'm a fan of old Zs, you guys are pretty much right...they were pretty good cars in their own right, back when they were new. However, I really like what people are doing today with them. LT1s engine swaps, 305s, etc...this is my favorite one though...a Supra twin-turbo motor in a '76 280Z... http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/aw-cg...195198&r=0&t=0

ian

I would have to say stock vs. stock a 944 will blow away a 280ZX. The 280ZX's had gotten to heavy and less torsional regitity than us 44 guys.

But I also agree that they can be made to handle really well. I had a 280 Z, that we:
Swaped out struts and shocks for some Koni high performance versions.
Lowered the car with some stiffer Eibach springs.
Installed upgraded sway bars and Urethane Bushings.
Added some 8 inch wide Pannasport rims with some sticky rubber 225 front 245 rear.
Tower braces in front and back.
And when all was said and done that Z would stick to the road. And I would say it out handled the way my 951 came (which is why my car now sits on coil-overs, wider tires, and M030 sways bars).

That supra engine in the Z is out of this world, for those of a tamer mind you could always install the 280ZX turbo motor in the earlier lighter frame of a 240.

Tom R.

In 85 I had an 85 RX7, my buddy across the street had an 81(auto) & 84 ZX, and his dad had an 84 944(auto).

The porsche smoked both the rx and 280zx both on the straights and curves. The 300zx was quicker off the line than the 944, but at 80 the 944's handling made up for the lack of HP. I drove (and drove in) all three cars during the 80's on a fairly regular basis

I drove a low mileage 83zx cross country in '90. I had an 86 RX7 at the time. I don't know which was faster, but driving through Arizona at about 100, the zx felt a lot less stable than my RX. In fact the handling didn't feel nearly as crisp as my RX's, which had more miles on it.

End result, the 944 handles better than any stock ZX, supra or RX7 made before the last generation of each, which used the 951 as the benchmark to beat, and i believe did.

Note, all the above applies to NA cars. You can look into my old posts to see how my borther's 944 and my 944S2 compare to my RX7 convertible.

Oh yeah, in '82 I put Bilsteins, Addco sway bars with urethane bushings, and Phoenix Stahfflex tires on my 77 celica liftback (auto), and destroyed my buddy in his ZX on the turns. Especially the one by Jones Beach! The straights were a whole nother story though. My 83 RX7 destroyed the celica in every respect. The 944 destroyed my RX7 in every respect. Should I continue the circle?

J Berk

Ganja ( nice name!)..

Long ago...in a past life...I had a 79 280ZX 2+2 and then an 83 280ZX...while I truly loved both of these cars ( although the 79 was somewhat of a piece of S$(T, the 83 was a low-mile dealer maintained beauty)and I think that by virture of the in-line six they had more low-end tourque than my 944, I believe that in good tune, with equal drivers the 944 would take the 280! As someone mentioned....the 280ZX was at that point more of a Grand Touring car and less of a pure sports car....that said...I was actually looking for a good rust-free one when I found my 944....glad I did!

MAS

Here are the times for an 83 280:

1983 Datsun 280ZX

9.4 sec 0-60 16.9 1/4 mile

A stock 944 from the same year is faster.

You're now comparing a 944 to a car of the same era... the 280 was no rocket, not compared to modern cars.

-MAS

Rob Glass

If you want a fast car buy a $3500 5.0 Mustang. Whats with the speed thing? Both of the cars compared above are slow compared to todays standards. Half of the talk on this site is about how to get the na 944 to go faster. Well, that is difficult to do. The racing talk seems asinign. A piece of junk rust bucket 280z non turbo is about the ugliest car on the road. At least the 944 looks good! My 944 just doesnt feel quick enough to challenge people light to light.

Ganja Porsche

rob, wtf. How many cyl's is a Mustang 5.0 again? What class would it be in again? I don't give a **** about cars that aren't comparable or the same class or close to. I might compare my 944 N/A to a 96 camaro or something simply because it can and WILL beat it in alot of areas..."if you want speed buy a mustang" WTF, we want a porsche so we have a porsche....ARGH.

Rob Glass

Go smoke some more Ganja. Did you read what I said ? I was commenting on the fettish people seem to have with speed, so I brought up a cost comparison example. I doubt your na car would beat many cars on the road. What is the deal, just because your entry level/volkswagon car has a Crest on it...right? I have always stood my ground that the 944 was not a race car. That's why they made the 911, 993, 944 turbo etc. By the way mr. Ganja, what is your level of education out of curiosity. You defeat your own credibility with your profile name!

Rob Glass

Oh yeh, I noticed mr. Ganja that your email was craig944. Is this the same Craig that was kicked off the board a while back?