What year is your Prelude? I found my 2nd 944 for $5000. It is an early '85 with 72k miles on it. All records since it was new. There are very nice examples out there, you just have to look.

The 944 is not fast in a straight line. Before I turbocharged my Miata, my 944 would be about dead even when accelerating in a straight line. Now the Miata will beat it like a red headed step child. If you are interested in handling and not the stoplight drag scene the 944 is a solid car. I put about $1200 into suspension, tires, wheels and it would stick to the road like nobodys buisness. I had 245rear and 225front tires. I have a video up on my website of me doing a lap of the Nurburgring....

www.turbo-miata.com/videos.html - look for this video - "-A video of me doing a lap of the Nuerburgring (58MB) (in my Porsche 944)"

These cars respond really well to suspension mods. I finished the Nurburgring about 2min ahead of my friend that had a stock 944. I would say we are about the same skill level too. My fast lap was about 11:30

btw - I have about the same amount of money into the Miata as I do the 944. I recently did the Nurburgring in 9:40 in the Miata. (sorry couldn't resist)

 

I've driven alot of fast cars and while my S2 is by no means "fast" its not slow either. In fact I can keep up with most newer much more powerfull cars in light to light action. On the highway is were you will most likely get toasted. But I'm very havppy with the low end power of the S2 and for everyday driving its hard to beat.

 

Come up to Kansas City and drive mine. It is a very nice example-however I don't think you are going to be very impressed with the acceleration. These cars aren't made to drag race, but to road race.

 

I'm not trying to preach, but I feel that the japanese cars don't deserve the hatred that they often get. I have two brothers, one with a '96 prelude and one with a '93 sentra se-r. Although these cars aren't flat out sport cars, they are vastly different from the average civic and sentra. The prelude, se-r, and the 944 are about the same off the line and although the prelude and the 944 handle about the same around town, the 944 would probably reign on the track at high speeds. When you find the right 944, don't expect it to be a torque rich, frame twisting muscle car. After all, the 944's definitely aren't the fastest cars out there, but then again, they aren't the slowest.

 

I often get asked why I am driving a 944 NA as I am a car dealer and have a great deal of different cars to choose from.

For me and the experience that I have had with "sports cars" you have 3 categorys..

#1 Quick cars, 0-60 mph

#2 fast cars, top end speed

#3 performance cars....

In my opinion the 944 is the proper performance car, OK it's not very quick , it is fast, and boy can it handle the road.

I have seen a lot of cars of different calibre dissapear in my rear view mirror when going around the bendy roads, and also on the motorway.

It for this reason that I feel safe and enjoy my daily drive in a 944.

Regards,

John
Belgium 1988 NA Alpine White.

 

I sent you a PM last night, give me a call.

 

Dan, i really don't want to make any enemies on this board. 19 Posts has nothing to do with chalenging one's level of knowledge. Especially, it has nothing to do with my level of knowledge. I've been on this board for a pretty long time. A person who is into racing of various types and considers himself a knowledgable car enthusiast just won't go out and bluntly state: "Everyone knows that German Cars are superior to Japanese". Period.
I guess we have some differences between our views but what the hey, let's not become "internet" enemies. Happy motoring man!
vlad.

 

Jamie944,

When I first started driving, I got to drive a 944 NA (early one, I think it was an 84) and I hadn't ever really driven anything fast, so at that point it was a quick car....of course this was 15 years ago!

I had a chance to drive a couple and thought a few times I'd found the car for me, but I also looked at and drove MANY dogs in that time. Including a couple of 944s that were like the one you described that were such junk. The problem is that these cars are now very inexpensive and any schmoe can go buy one and have a Porsche, but what most of them don't understand is how to take care of one and they get neglected. Some of the ones I thought were good for me (there aren't many around here for sale you can drive back to back) turned out to have all kinds of problems when the PPI was done. I drove a beautiful black 951 once that I thought was going to be it for me, but it had been wrecked and the PO said he couldn't tell, but it was obvious by the way the thing drove and it was slow as well because of the seriously cracked exhaust header.

In the meantime I owned and drove a couple of 5.0 Mustangs and a Supra MKIII which were all fun cars. Being that they were quite a bit quicker than the 944 and 944S cars and me wanting something that could get out and pass another car if need be quickly, I was looking for a 944S2 or a 951. The 951 is what came up first around here and what I have now after a superb PPI came back with only a couple of minor things wrong which are now fixed except for the A/C compressor. I also wanted the turbo car as I wanted to get some more power, my goal being a fairly modest 300RWHP or so (yes, I know I'll want more when the time comes) and the NA cars would all cost a bundle to get up that level of power. That said, since these cars have to have the oil warm before getting on it, for the first 10-12 miles of driving you are going to only a little slower than an NA 944.... I tend to baby mine over those miles and don't even go really above about 3k rpms.

If you are really concerned and really want more power, start looking for the 951 or an S2 (if you don't want to mod up the power a lot) and I think you'll find what you're looking for.

I certainly wouldn't mind having an NA car around to daily drive as my commute isn't that far and the turbo is never used to or from work as it never gets fully up to the right oil temp, but money is an issue on that right now, so I'll keep the 951 as my car.....

As for other cars, well let's just say that I've driven a lot of them. Few of them get a lot of praise from me. My biggest complaint with most of the other cars is road feel (lack of), overboosted power steering or brakes, lack of solidity in their feel/construction, and I could go on, but I won't. There are some great lil Japanese cars out there and although I've had 2 Mustangs, their quality and lack of an IRS hurts them a lot IMHO. But loads of V-8 torque is always fun......hehe But in the end, there are 5 zillion of those cars out on the roads. A Honda Accord with a bunch of things on it is still a Honda at the end of the day. Porsche is on a whole different plane of existence to that. It means something to people on another level. Someone asks what kind of car you drive and you say a Honda you will get one response....say Porsche and you get an entirely different one. I get kids and adults staring at my car with no body mods on it at all. It's something that is special and IMHO, something that should be driven and shared with all those people who don't have one, but want one for some reason don't currently have one or can't get one. I always loved seeing them drive down the road and even once I got into mine and see another Porsche, I still look as it goes by, even 914s, 924s and 944 NAs. We owners share a special common bond. Look at what we do on these boards for each other....most of the other car forums I've been on there is none of that camaraderie that there is here.

Anyway, nuff said.....now get out there and test drive some more Porsches!

 

Drive up the coast next summer, and pit this Honda against my NA on any open Auto Cross or DE event. I'll show yout just how slow an N/A is.

See you there.
TaboII

When the Green flag drops the Bull **** Stops.

 

Since it looks like Jamie may not be a troll in disguise, let's look at this in a rational manner. He states that he has extensively modified his honduh. If it is in good tune, has extensive suspension work, and good tires, I would expect it to perform better than a ratty 944na. The picture changes drastically if you start with a decent 944, throw in the same money on suspension and engine work, and take the time to tune it. Then it's a vastly different story. The honduh would feel like a cheap tin can with an engine. The point here is, you can't judge the entire 944 series on one badly kept example. I personally know of several 951s that will give you religion if you don't have it. The 944na, when well kept with similar modifications like the honduh, would simply amaze you for being a 15+ year old car. There aren't too many Japanese cars that can make the same claim. All said and done, the 944 series, and Porsches in general, aren't drag cars. They weren't designed that way but some folks insist that straight line grunt is the sum total of a vehicle. I severely disagree. If you've really done your homework, you would know that with equal drivers, equal modifications, the 944 is still an extremely good car.

 

Andrew nailed it for me -- I love driving around in a Porsche b/c we're always waving to each other on the road. I even got a wave from a 911Speedster the other day -- that was so cool! I'm sure similar camaraderie exist elsewhere, but I haven't experienced it.

 

I have a 944 Turbo S- Stock, 84 944 Race car in 944-spec trim (stock power, 2450lbs, stiff street/race suspension), a stock 84 944 and an 01 VW GTI (Still trying to sell )

Anyway the Turbo is fast and a great handler. In fact plenty fast for the street and can get me in big trouble if I attempt to use more than 50% of the car.

My 944 race car is faster than my Turbo on the race track in spite of giving up 100 hp at the wheels. It will smoke and average spec miata and stay with a well driven one.

I used to run a 01 VW GTI on the street. It had nice power, good comfort and gas mileage (avg 30 mpg). Its flaw was a soft suspension and severe understeer at the limit. It was good to about 7/10th before it went into termainal understeer mode. Lesson was not to push the car. Also the suspesion was quite soft and floaty even when new. Bottomline is that it was a nice "sporty car", but no sports car. Good power from the 150hp 1.8T made it fun.

Now my 84 944 I running daily. It has 74k on it and spend most of its life as a garage queen. I is a nice daily driver with plenty of low end torque to crawl in traffic. One thing I had to get used to was the long gas pedal travel. In my GTI just a slight movement I was at nearly full throttle. I only leared this on occasions when I wanted more, but almost immediatly floored it. so that is how they made it seem so quick. My 944 by contrast has 2 to 3 time the gas pedal travel (stock throttle cam with proper tightened cable). So when I used the same minor travel I did not give it much gas and it felt slow. Now that i am used to it it feels fine. I just replaced the shocks at that got rid of the wicked steering vibration at 60mph. The car just flows so smoothly now and handles much better than the GTI ever did. I also have an 83 944 that I orginally obtained as a parts car. Well it is now a stock autocross car and handles quite well. It also needs shocks, but inspite of that did very well at its first autocross.

These cars are no longer very "fast" in straight line. 20 years of time and technological advancement has caught-up and made many "family haulers" faster in a straight line. Any modified car has the potential to be pretty fast as the example of my 944 race car vs the 944 Turbo S. However my replacement of shocks in my 84 has shown me just how crisp these cars handle. It still amazes me to and they are blast to drive. In fact last Friday I went out with my Fiancee to downtown Scottsdale (the rich part of town). I saw plenty of Porsches, 2 996's and 3 Boxsters, but only one 944.

My 84 944 Daily Driver

 

i only have one thing to say, The 944n/a might not be a 0-60 in 4 sec but if go to a race track with a lot of turns and you bring your honda i can...wait i know i would win, and if you drive my car and i drive your honda YOU would win. Its just the way this car handels in turns that makes it a amazing car, and when you hit the higher RPM's its not a slow car. AND its 16 years old.

 

I don't really know why I'm replying to this, as it'll probably be as productive as posting to a street racing thread...

I have a 1984 NA and a 2003 Subaru WRX. In every quantifiable way, the WRX is the better car. It's faster, quicker, has higher handling limits, is quieter, and is more comfortable. A modded Prelude is a quite fast, good handling car and would likely be in the same boat.

That said: The 944 still has something special that makes me truly enjoy the car in almost every situation. The 944 has a unique feel and character all its own and nothing I've driven is even vaguely similar. Basically, don't buy a stock 944 expecting it to be a world beater. They aren't, in any quantifiable way. Put some $$$ into suspensions or buy a turbo and do the same and it's a different matter entirely. Like M758 said, a race prepped 944 is a _very_ capable car even in modern terms.

--Kevin H.

 

Quote:

I have a 1984 NA and a 2003 Subaru WRX.......

Thats 19 years of lighter material, equipment and technology. I agree with you when you say there is something about the 944, i think that thing is the fact that its a 19 year old car and is still a great handling car, solid engine etc.