V2Rocket

that's known as "the 924 position"

morghen

epic...but i guess its only valid for "modern native americans"
I also have no problem to check the fuses...and to be honest i never really had to as i have never had a failure or a fuse blow on my 924s...well except one time on the 931 when the PO used the wrong relay for the radiator fans and i first started the AC (ran both fans and blew a fuse).

Do you really need to change fuses often on the late cars that this matters?

Dimi 944

'89

snb13

I'm 6'3" and 275#. I also have very little trouble changing the rare fuse in my '83. I just sit or kneel on the garage floor and lean in.

pfarah7

Quite right V2!!

In full disclosure, I removed the seat and assumed the position when I replaced the entire fuse/relay block. The wiring was such a mess that I had to reroute every wire (remove from each connector block) which took a full day! Another PO disaster...

Otto Mechanic

Normally my philosophy has been to start with the most recent version I can afford that's in the best condition I can find, then work backwards over time (which is strangely similar to the way I look for women). The exception for me was my '85 928, which I bought new but don't regret really since I've never liked the body changes Porsche made to the 928 S4s. For the same reason I wouldn't buy a 911 made after 1990 and prefer the 1986, but it's only a matter of esthetics (well, mostly. I've always thought the 1986 930 looked like a killer whale waiting for someone to throw it a Miata).

I prefer the turbo style body on the 944, which includes the S2. Had I found a late model turbo, specifically an '89 Turbo S, before I found a very nice '89 S2 I probably would have bought it, but that's a car for another day.

I came up with this approach (youngest to oldest) when I bought my first 914. I wish I'd have bought a later model 914-6, but never got around to doing it. Life's short. Eat desert first.

Oh, and never forget color; very important. Don't even think about changing the color of a car from factory, you'll pretty much destroy any value it had. In my opinion Alpine White is the only color for a 944. Red is of course acceptable and black looks great but will never look clean; as soon as you let them out of the wash rack they roll in the dirt.

In summary, what you want is a 1991 Alpine White 944 S2, but, if you were only willing to expand your horizons just a little, you'd be shopping for a 1986 Anthracite 930; it would kill you just as soon as look at you, but it would do it beautifully.

PS: Unless you're willing to think about the 944 S3 aka the 968, which I believe looks like the illegitimate spawn of a 944 that was left alone in a garage with a 928 and a bottle of tequila. I've actually attempted to reproduce this myself, but found I was perhaps misled by the seller of my 928 (Carlsen Porsche. Wait, did I say that out loud?) and now have a pair of females! So be careful who you buy from unless you're intentionally buying a neutered (automatic) 944. Be especially careful about buying one "soft in the head" (an S2 Cabriolet). They've been known to roll over in the night and kill you in your sleep. It could be worse than that though; if you just happen, by accident, to cross a fertile Cayenne with a 928, you could get a real abomination. You've probably seen a few in the wild, they call them "Panameras". Makes me shudder just thinking about it. Like Cockapoos and Labradoodles. Ugh.



Regards,

Ashman

I find one of the interesting things about these cars is that they overall are very similar, but as you do more research and go further down the rabbit hole you can clearly see how the details evolved over time.

As most have said, there was a big update in 85.5 that changed a lot of the car.

However, even within those two groups (early/late), there were differences. For example, 1985.5-1986 version had front struts with replaceable inserts, whereas years after you have to either replace the entire strut (more expensive) or convert them to replaceable inserts. Also, later years had split torque tubes which have their issues and are harder to rebuild.

You will probably find little detail differences between model years all throughout the run, and every design change has its fans and foes.

This doesn't help you much other than to say that whatever model year you get it will have the potential to be a great car with the right care and feeding. Other model years will have some things better, and some things worse, but they're all great automobiles to own.

Arominus

I actually think the 88's were the best, the market crash in 87 and resulting exchange rate had porsche cutting costs in the 89's. My S2 didn't get script door handles yet my 88 S did, there were little things to cost cuts that hit in 89...

Swenny

You're all blind! The 1987 924S in guards is the most sexiest Porsche out there!.

scotts911e

Swenny, your nuts if you truly believe that!Or unless your joking but I don't see a smiling emoji anywhere either!

jderimig

84. Best dash. Light chassis. Forged rods. Crossdrilled crank. Strongest steel control arms. Most robust DME construction.

hanick

How do the 83 and 84 compare?

FrenchToast

Let's not forget all the early cars have a hollow LF spindle. Not a very strong part.

MAGK944

jderimig

The DME PCB on the early cars were much higher quality then the 85.5 costed down part. You rarely hear of early DME needing to be "reflowed" or replaced compared to later DME's even though the 83 and 84 have vastly higher production numbers than the later cars. Downside is you can't easily "chip" them and you have to suffer with that lost opportunity for that 1-3 extra HP a chip will give you in a NA.