elvisizer

that sounds a lot like my reaction to the first few 944 test drives I took. in my case, it turned out that the 944's i was testing just weren't being taken care of. have patience, and keep checking them out. when you hit a good one, you'll know it. in my case, 'the good one' turned out to be the nastiest looking example I tested. it had been owned by an airforce pilot who drove it back and forth between utah and sacramento all the time, so the paint was just trashed (faded and stone chipped) from all that desert highway driving. i almost left without driving it, it looked so bad. but he'd taken care of the mechanical while neglecting the cosmetic, and driving it turned out to be night and day different from the others. i think i ended up looking at at least 11 944's before finding a few without multiple serious problems. just drive as many as possible, and when you find one that feels good, get an inspection done.
Good Luck!!

Jim 944S

Bought my 944S for its' great braking and handling. Properly set up, and horsepower to horsepower, I'm willing to bet there are very few stock autos that can keep up with a 951.

Jim 1987 944S

elvisizer

yeah- i regularly nearly hit things when i drive my wife's corolla by not remembering how much more space i have to give myself to brake . . . first time i hit the brakes in that car, i always think they're not working at all for a second and i panic. drives me nuts.

Manning

Oh man these things are sooo slow. In fact they are so slow I have to give my 924S a head start whenever I want to drive it someplace.

Oh, no wait, I was thinking about my fiance's Civic.

Rally Guy

Try an S2 - or a 951 - it's a whole other world of power and braking. I routinely outrun H-cars of all stripes.

There are certinlay "faster" cars out there - I lost bad to a C4 964 the other day (but I can't push too hard - need belts and chain tensioner still) but as soon as the road turns the slightest - I drop everyone.

The solidness and stability of these cars is second to none. - IMHO.

RK

xsboost90

i dont know, mine feels pretty tight, but when i first got it i didnt like the way it felt. I did however beat a civic hatch w/ a gsr swap and plenty of other upgrades in my completely stock 89 944. didnt beat the prelude however, but, that is not on an auto x either. get one thats nice and tight, tighten it up some more, then go out looking for corners, its a whole new experience, not like the drag strip.

Russian Rocket

guys, let's not turn this into the Honda/Porsche bashing post, and especially in a Japanese vs. German bashing one. I test drove some of the 944 that felt like crap on the road, all due to impoper maintanance. my 944 had 4 inches of Ice in the passenger foot well(bought it in the witner), rusted body and all of the hood nsulation was on the engine. It looked like crap, but mechanically it was fine, and much better after a tune-up. it sat in someones backyard for 10 years and still has a 93 inspection sticker. i bought it cheap, did a major tune-up and voila, a car was back on it's feet. Some people just don't care about their cars and save their money thinking "I ain't gonna invest in this crap, i'll buy a new car soon". Luckily 944 are cars that can be brought back to life rather quickly. Change the suspension bits. Do the ignition system, belts, filters and your 944 wouldn't ask for more
Acceleration wise... it depend's on the year, early 944 are faster than the later ones, and again it all depends on the maintanence. I used to own a 2002 GTI 1.8T, a very fast car but horribly balanced in terms of suspesion, and overall ability of handling the power. I drove my POS 944 from Long Island to NJ and had perma grin for the next week. Even with original shocks the car felt much better than my VW on the highway and whatever it lost in the acceleration it always gained in braking and handling. My advice is wait till you get used t the 944 if you'll buy one, every car requires brake in period My friend bought an 87 3.2 Carrera and it took him 6 month to get used to his, he called it biggest POS ever made. Taday he wouldn't give it up for anything. Find one that was properly maintaned, see if everything checks out, buy it, drive it, love it
GOOD LUCK!

p.s. for all the honda/jap car bashers. Your nothing better than some 911 owners calling you 944 a POS Audi. get a life.

Manning

I wasn't bashing my fiance's Civic, I was stating fact. It is not a haul *** kind of car and frankly that is fine by me. Besides it is an automatic.

Russian Rocket

i didn't point fingers, i generalized. Didn't mean to sound offensive and i do realize this is the Porsche board, let's just get along
Vlad.

brrt50cal

I think in all fairness, the Jap vs. German car bashing is a tad bit different from Porsche owners bashing other Porsche owners. Since we all know German cars are superior, there shouldn't be any argument. Even Honduh owners know their cars suck.

Jamie944

My Prelude does not suck. I have had more compliments on this car and even had girls hit on me while my wife was in the car. Looks wise I get a thumbs up everytime I take it out. I didn't rice it out and take offense to being called a ricer. Not one thing has been put on my car that didn't help out function over form. I don't want a drag racer. If that was the case I would've put all that money in a turbo for it. I love driving on tight twisty roads. This car does it better than most. As far a center of gravity it was around 1" lower than the 944. It has fully adjustable coilover suspension from Tien. 17" wheels and upgraded rotors and pads. I have addressed all issues with this car and it is a total package. Even with all of this I still want a 944 or one of its offspring more than any other car. I mean come on my dream car is a sub 10,000 dollar car. I am fine with that. It is what I want. I don't know why people think Honda's suck they are one of the most reliable cars on the road. Same can be said about most German cars.
It sounds like I got a couple of good responses from some open minded people and then a bunch of crap.
Anyway I won't give up my search I just have to modify and expand to other models ie: 951 / s and s2 or a good example of a 944. I do feel that as far as value is concerned my Honda is worth a fine example of a 944. This car will out perform most other cars in all areas with the exception of turbos and big V8's. But what do I know I drive a Honda.
Thanks for the good input and keep it coming on which model is the best and why. This thread is getting really interesting.

Jamie944

Sorry to ramble just trying to cover all the bases.

brrt50cal

I never said Honduhs weren't reliable. I said they suck. You bought it for what it was intended to do; Look half decent and get you from point A to point B. Would I take an American car over a Jap car? Any day of the week. Would I take a German car over an American car? All depends on what it is. In terms of a Prelude outperforming most other cars....um...okay...I guess i'm full of crap because I don't think Honduh's are the best thing going but oh well.

Manning

Dan,

Maybe if you had seen the Civic an instructor was driving out at Nelson Ledges a couple months ago you would think differently. That car, in combination with the driver I'm sure, was just plain fast. Like, many of the Porsches on track had a hard time keeping up fast. And not a spec of cerial (rice in this case).

SidViscous

"Looks wise I get a thumbs up everytime I take it out."

For a prelude? Dude, it's not ugly. But it still corn flakes.

BTW guys. Saw a Diablo yesterday, downtown Nahsua. Bit surprising.