dionphaneuf

I've come into some funds that would allow me to pick up a solid car to replace my beloved 97 Miata. I have 3 criteria:
1. Fun to drive. I live in the Bay and want to go onto a track 2 or 3 times a year, autocross with friends (ie for fun, some competition) 2 or 3 times a year, and go on spirited back roads drives.
2. It has to be vaguely practical. I need to drive to work (<100 miles/week) and go on the odd road trip.
3. It has to be cool/unique.
I've looked at a lot of other cars (986, Cayman, E36 M3, etc), but none of them do all three of the above as well as the 944. The miata isn't so hot at 2 (it is loud!), and while it's great at 1, I'm too tall to track it unless I weld in a new seat, which I don't want to do. Plus, I've always loved 944s.

With that in mind, I've found what appears to be a solid 951 not too far from home. I have a (very) slight preference for the S2, but this one looks great and is available now (good records, appears straight mechanically, but AC doesn't work). Plus, turbos are sweet!

My questions are, if I am handy and can do all my work myself, how much should I budget in maintenance yearly, if the lack of sport suspension or LSD should be a deal breaker on this car given what I want to use it for, and if am barking up the wrong tree entirely and should look elsewhere (ie at an NA, or another car that i can't think of beats the criteria).

morghen

Never owned a 944 but if it were for me to buy one I'd get an S2.

black944 turbo

The 951 is a great car in all aspects of the word. I want to caution you though that it will not be the best auto cross car. In my experience they are either lighting the rear tires and going side ways (lots of fun) or have fallen out of the power band. It will be excellent at all of the other items mentioned above. They are quite reliable if you find a nice well cared for example and is fairly dyi friendly. I would not worry about sport suspension as you will need to change it by now due to age. My car does not have an lsd and I feel that it still performs exceptionally well.

As for mainlanders bank on $1000 per year if you do the work yourself.

AZ520

Base 944 N/A would be my choice, simple and inexpensive.

SloMo228

I'd go for an S2 out of those choices, personally. Nothing against the 951, but I just prefer NA engines. The S2 would likely be better at autocross thanks to its more linear powerband and better low end torque. But the 951 will be faster on a track and can make much more power, much more easily, than the S2 can.

black944 turbo

I agree with the above comments, however there is no comparison to the fun you can have when the boost comes on in a 951.

Ky944TurboNewbie

As far as doing the work yourself, It is very doable. I started working on my 951 with limited experience. I had only really done oil changes prior to working on my 951. At this point, with the help of forums, I have done nearly all maintenance myself and feel like I am better at maintaining my car than most generic mechanics would be because I understand this car.

You need to have a good set of tools. There are not that many specialty tools required although there are a few.

MAGK944

Ideal dd, autocross and track capabilities in one car will require some compromise but imo you will be closer to those needs in an S2 than a 951, and maintenance on a boosted car is more costly. Boost is more fun though! If you can, go on a test drive in an S2 and a 951, your local PCA group is a good resource for that.

odonnell

Your maintenance costs will vary wildly depending on the needs of the car outside of routine work (which is well documented elsewhere and isn't overbearing). All cars this old have parts that break every few decades or simply wear out. So every year, there are going to be a few things usually, and a lot of the time it'll be things you take the initiative on because you want to make the car better or you simply want to upgrade.

I spent probably $1500 in my first year of ownership on my NA. That was to get it up to speed and make it a reliable daily. For the next few years the only things it needed outside of oil changes and etc were small electrical parts that were $5-25 each, every 6 months or so. Then I went crazy and have probably put $5k into it purely as restoration, upgrades, and modifications.

Tl;dr it's highly variable but it doesn't have to be expensive, unless you want to take the platform further with mods.

Voith

You'll need more power soon so 951.

Aivar88

or get S2 and if you need more power later, you can install turbo and have even more power than 951 will ever have. but thats gonna take you back some serious $$$$ or if you diy, might not be that bad. fun it would be!

V2Rocket

the S2 is the best of the bunch.

GPA951s

I have never owned anything but 951's , I would not even attempt to autocross it, however on the track its an absolute blast! The easy upgrades give you some fun power, simple MAF, chips, banjo bolt change and boost enhancer and its so fun to drive as a daily, just roll on the throttle and get pushed back in the seat (just let off before you see the cop) They are more complicated and time consuming when it comes to service but then again, you don't need dial indicators to set up the timing during a belt change. Everyone has their preferences, another thing to consider would be the value when/if you are ever ready to move on, Typically the more mods you put into it, the less money you get out of it, when you are ready to sell, they are easy to put back to 100% stock. Look at the Hagerty valuation chart for all models..

jhowell371

What V2 said. Near standard Turbo power, 211 vs. 220 horsepower but you have lots of torque with no waiting. The Turbo has a higher top end and slightly faster 1/4 mile times but.......on a tight twisty road with short or non existent straightaways where the turbo can't be used to full advantage the edge goes to the S2's 3 liters. These are my type of roads so after previous turbo experience and careful consideration I bought an S2 nearly 4 years ago. I still have my cherry 84 too but it seems a little slow now
Deep down also I prefer the engineering finesse of a N/A DOHC engine with 4 valves per cylinder.

KVDR

...or a 968