Techno Duck

Depends what you want this car for. If your intent is to be competitive at an auto-x the 951 is not the choice. By the time you get full boost on a 951 at a typical auto-x its time to brake. The 968 is a much better choice. The 951 is much better suited for a road course.. when i went from my n/a 944 to the 951 i did 3/4 of a season of auto-x before i didnt really find it all that fun anymore.

For a daily or weekend cruiser both cars have there merits, you need to drive both to see what you like.

For a long term project that you can keep modding, the 951 is the way to go.

I think a good alternative, maybe even a better one is an E36 M3. Similar price range to the 968, maybe even cheaper for the M3.. you can clean ones under $12k easy. In my experience ive found parts to be more readily available and a little cheaper for the E36. Similar power between a mild modded 951 and stock 968 and stock E36. Its lack of a 6th gear makes it a good GT car rather than a great one i think.

reece146

Thanks for the responses so far.

I've done enough wrenching on multiple friends BMWs (E30s, E36s, E46s) to not be really interested in having one for myself. If I wanted cheap and easy I'd buy a C5 Z06 and be done with it.

As for turbo lag I'm expecting off boost it'll still be mountain compared to a F20C. Keeping an engine that has a binary switch for powerband between 6k-9k versus a "normal" car between ~2.5k-7k is a world of difference IME. And it won't stay stock anyway.

I'm not interested in a stripped out track car. I have my buddies cars for that experience.

For LSD I'll probably do an OSGiken this time around.

Another question: The S2000 had a great shifter: played the transmission up and down the gears like a musical instrument practically when the course merited. How does a 951 transmission compare?

lart951

What is autocross?? Parking lot racing lol give me a break

dinodanny

Interesting. I've been thinking of going the opposite direction, selling my 951 and buying a S2000. I love the 951 but after 15+ years with 944s I'm looking for something newer and different. I can tell you this though, having driven the S2000 back to back with my 951 the S2000 won't plant you into the back of the seat like the 951 will. Also I find that my almost 30 year old car has a more solid feel, quieter and better ride and handles just as well as the S2000.

phlfly

Bit hat engine is 3.0 l with 8v valve train. It was very strange production from Porsche. I have 2.7 so it's same block as 3.0 so I was thinking to do a project to replace crankshaft from 3.0 and it will or should increase 20-40 hp.

reece146

When we'd run the runways we'd get runs up in the 2 minute range and pretty high speeds (~160 km/h). Well into third gear with the S2000. Those were the events that the S2000 did well in. The S comes alive on track above 100 km/h. The short game sucks if the gearing doesn't match the course.

If you want something that is track focused then the S2000 works quite well. For a touring car not so much. I went as far as to remove the soft top mechanism from the car and bolt a carbon fiber roof to the car to save weight and reduce noise but it wasn't enough to civilize the car for touring road trips. Spending a whole day in the car sucked.

Between that annoyance and spending $5k for a blower kit as the next logical modification I figured it was time to switch ponies and try something else. Other guys in my club went the blower route and big NA stroker route and the cars didn't seem to last on open track work (lapping).

A warmed up old FR Porsche is pretty cool even if the buy in price is low. A warmed up old Japanese car is just a warmed up old Japanese car.

I originally was thinking about getting into another 911 but then I remembered how much of a PITA working on rear and mid engined cars can be. BT/dt and it sucked most of the time beyond an oil change. I prefer FR.

333pg333

Our form of Autox has been won year after year by Sean Buchanan in his modified 944 turbo. It smashes 968s on the track as well. Daily driver.

reece146

Yes, I figure a turbo anything set up with a modern turbine has to be better than what I had.

Anyone have compressor maps for the stock and commonly swapped in turbines?

Dougs951S

I've owned both, a 3 liter N/A car and a heavily modified 951 that is my current toy. The 951 is stupid fast on highways and would probably kill an S2 or 968 from 0-100 starting in 2nd gear. For autocross, it sucks because its laggy and the power comes in like a lightswitch, it can be kind of hard to modulate mid corner. A general rule of thumb is that a 951 will perform worse in autoX than its weight and power would suggest. For short track racing, I'd pick a 968. For Road racing, there simply is no contest and a 968 has no hope of keeping up with even a very mildly modded 951.