odonnell

I don't think insurance can be that bad, have you guys gotten quotes? I'm a guy in my early 20s and I insure my '83 NA as my only car for $45 a month give or take, towing included (of course) through USAA. Maybe it's a location thing, but I've heard a lot of people back up the low 944 insurance rates

Randy V

Your wife seems to have the common sense in your family.



That said, perhaps watch this -

Tom R.

I started a thread a few months ago. A 150hp 944 would cost me more to insure than a 240hp E36 M3. Go figya!

The bad about the M3 with a young driver is that his contemporaries can almost comfortably fit in the back seat.

I want to put my daughter in a 2 seat manual transmission without Bluetooth, etc. Is that a C4?

Sterlingx2011

All respect to the guy in the video, he is very knowledgeable and did his research, but man does he suck the fun out of a room.

Cole

The Porsche is probably the better idea

Cole

Cole

Show your wife (not your son) this video. Tell her "its stock"!


She will be the first out the door to pick up a 944

ninjacoco

Ha, I love lolvoboxes. One of my friends got started drifting in a V8-swapped one.

Still, though, a 944 (especially a lower-powered NA) sounds totally fine as long as you teach your kid how to actually DRIVE the thing. Spend some time on it. Buy the kid a trackday, even. Sign him up for one of the more in-depth teen driving classes if there's one being held nearby. Definitely good that he's done some karting and has some basic car control, so I wouldn't worry too much about letting him loose in a 944. Driver's Ed didn't do squat and anyone who can fog a mirror can practically get a license nowadays, so even "yay, I got a license" doesn't mean much.

I'm guessing the age of the car and the generally older demographic of its owners would mean cheaper insurance, too. I have a Lancer as the DD and it's ridiculous what the insurance is on that one. It's not even the Evo--it's just that owners tend to be butt turrible at the whole "driving" thing, apparently. Grr.

(Caveat: not a parent, never want to be a parent, however, I know a bunch of people with kids, so eh.)

thomasmryan

1996 s320 is the simplest hfm-sfi engine electronics and probably the safest car on the road. Not fast off the line but the short wheel base model is nimble for its heft. The parts prices are reasonable for the ancillaries. The m104 engine is the last of its kind.

Player0

Having slid my 944 in to things before, I'll say it's one tough car. My kids are much younger so I'm real curious about this discussion. Of course I want my son to have the cool car. But as a teenager I would have killed myself in the 944, and I was one of those nerdy, well respected, over achiever kids. We all let that teenage aggression out somewhere. Even if he's really safe and responsible, he's still over confident. These are the guys more likely to spin out at track days.

With that said, if he's going to be reckless in a car, that's going to be any car you put him in, and they're all dangerous. So maybe there's something to be said about not wanting to wreck something he'll have put a lot of time and effort in to. And he'll be fixing the 944 quite a lot. Is he ready to give up a chunk of his life to this thing?

I wouldn't want to hit a deer in a 944.

My kid, I guess I'd put him in something a little higher up with more airbags, traction/stability control, maybe AWD and high crash ratings.

Cole

There is no substitute for proper driver education. That does not mean "track days" with enthusiasts playing the roll of instructors. Too many club level instructors don't *really* know how to teach driving and often don't know the facts themselves.

Best thing you can do to save your kids life is to take them to Master Drive in Colorado. Take a family vacation road trip/flight if you have to, but put the kid through the skills course.

I've been an auto enthusiast for over 40 years and I've almost never met another enthusiast/racer that knows everything this company teaches.

https://www.masterdrive.com


Fwiw, the owner raced a 951 in 1986 and still tracks one, the GM has a 951, the Chief Instructor of 20 years has a 951, at least one head instructor is a long time 951 owner and the company had a fleet of 944s for many years.