My search for a p-car has gone far and wide. I started looking for a 951 because of the performance/price ratio but have not found the right one. I know of a really cheap 931 for sale but I can not find much information on the model. Any 931 owners out there who can direct me to some good info? Would $1500 be a good price to buy one? Are these cars underpowered and are there any mods out there?

 

As a precaution: I read somewhere that the most expensive Porsche to maintain is the 931. Beware of cheap ones that may require a lot of work. I would personally hold out for a 951.

 

... had a 931 before I bought my 951, drove it about to 185,000 (120,000 miles by me) and it was the most tempermental car I've ever owned, and that includes 3 Fiat X1/9s. When it ran well, it was sweet, handled great, but too many problems that were engineered out of the 951 were what did me in. Turbo-manifold bolts were a frustrating problem, and the dealer wanted $75 for each bolt and each nut, 6x$75 is not cheap for something that should not be that big of a problem. Another was turbo coking problems, twice at $550 a pop -- yes, I would sit there idling the car for 5 minutes after driving it changed the synthetic oil every 3K miles. ...then don't even let me start about the cracking wastegate J-pipe -- I had that welded at least 15 times (dealer wanted $300 for that one)

Now my '89 951 has 188,000 miles (118,000 by me), and the only major thing I've had to replace is the clutch at 135,000 miles. I have some power steering and oil pan leaks, but nothing even remotely similar to what the 931 had.

Others may have had better luck than I, but neither my 951 nor any of the CRXs and Integras I've owned have been so attention starved.

If you only have $1500, I would suggest you look at something more reliable, as you can easily spend that amount getting new exhaust manifold if that one should crack. They aren't cheap cars to maintain...

 

The 931 had about as much power as the later 944. The 924s (87-88) had the same engine as the 944 and if you get an 88 it has about the same power with possibly less weight (depending upon options).

 

Hardly the most expensive to maintain; like the 951 or any other Porsche, you just have to stay away from the dealers. On the bang for the buck scale, they're quite similar to the 951, only cheaper! My neighbor has a 951S, still likes driving my 82. Stick with the 81-82, the '80's are not quite as good for numerous reasons (mainly technology).

I have maybe $3k in mine and love it, it's my daily driver. Still needs cosmetic restoration, but is reliable. And way too much fun! The manual steering is addictive - can't live without it now. And I have still not raised the boost or any other mods, except good tires and a set of Bilsteins. Check out www.924.org for the real story about 924's and 931's.

 

As for the asking price, depends very much on condition; I bought one of mine for $800 (that's the '82 daily driver), and one for $1000. OTOH, neither were running. I also had to drag them up from the southern states. If the car is running right now, has a good trans and turbo, and isn't crunched, $1500 may not be a bad deal.

I wouldn't say they're underpowered - after all, though the power output is the same as the 944, they're lighter, sleeker, and have boost (and can easily get more). Stock boost is about .43bar; it's generally felt that they can run 1 bar with an Andial 930 wastegate spring or boost controller without an IC if you run premium gas. I have stock boost in the 82, and just run 89.

Of course, chassis is same as the early 944, so any upgrades desired are readily available.

Also keep in mind that these turbos like synthetic just like any other; use it, and the turbo will live. Don't use it, then don't be surprised you'll have to replace the turbo.

No question I'd rather (and do) have the 931 over the 924S - more fun, easier and cheaper to go faster. May the Boost be with you...

 

Hey Vaughn,

I've heard nightmare stories about how much the trubo is to replace and that the aluminum heads are prone to warp pretty easily. What say you oh wise 924 guru (I'm not being a smart ***)?

 

I've heard nightmare stories about virtually every Porsche. Good thing they're just stories. The turbo can be rebuilt, and often does need to be when you first get the car; OTOH, neither of mine have. Anyway, once it's good, well, as with any Porsche, proper maintenance goes a long way.

I haven't warped a head yet, and I've been racing for 4 years, driving 924's longer than that. I have blown a few headgaskets, but not without reason (no waterpump function, threw the belt, for example).

 

Wow, that's cool! It's so much better to hear true life experience versus fable.

Thanks.

 

If the car is in good shape, then $1500 is a good price. But for this price, I'd think it would need some major work. However, if the car looks good and drives well, it may be worth having a PPI done.

-MAS

 

Also... if you like the 924 in general... I'd strongly suggest that you seek out a good 924S. These have the 944 2.5 liter engine in the lighter 924 body. Right now, these cars are way underpriced on the used Porsche market, and probably are the best value for the reasonable performance they deliver. The best year for the 924S was 1988, as it had the slightly more powerful Euro-spec engine. The LeMans edition is particularly nice.

-MAS

 

I'd like to comment here. If the 931 holds true to the track of other P models, it will attain some collectors value in the future because of the aforementioned problems. When the 911 caught on, the 356 became a cheap "has been" in the eyes of many. As a result, there were many 356 cars sent to the scrap heap because it "wasn't economical" to maintain them. Look at the price for a decent 356 now. That's not to say it will happen tomorrow, but give it about 10 to 15 years from now. Look at the numbers of 931s produced verses the number being crunched right now. The supply is dwindling rapidly. They can be expensive, especially if you have the dealer do the work. Parts are getting harder to come by, but with some scrounging, good substitutes can be found and you should always put some away when you find them, even if you don't need them. $75 for bolts is outrageous. Go to a good fastener house and get an equivalent. The turbo will last if you use good synthetic and cool down procedures. The famous underhood heat problems can be solved with DEI header wrap. There are modifications that can be done to the J pipe to stop the cracking altogether. What I'm driving at here is many of the horror stories are avoidable if you weather the years of neglect by the PO. I would like to make one other comment here. Having a budget of only $1.5k, you should think twice about any older P car. If you don't do your own work, you'll either have to skimp on parts and maintenance or allow further deterioration of a car you can't afford to maintain. The flip side is the lack of funds is often a good motivator to learning to do your own work and getting creative in parts substitution and scrounging. Don't mean to preach, just hate to see someone get into these cars and make more horror stories.

 

Well, not technically Euro Spec. Actually just the same engine the 944 had that year (M44/09, 158bhp, 10.2:1). If I remember correctly the Euro 944's had flat top pistons to produce 10.6:1 and 163bhp.

 

931 is much better than a 924S, muhahahaha, boost controller, intercooler and upgrade the damn turbo, youll pump out way more than a 924S. Money cant be an issue though. I wanted to buy a 931 but the damn people wanted 3G's, which I didnt have at the time. They had just rebuilt the turbo and tranny so they wouldnt talk down.

 

Can't really upgrade the turbo on the 931, due to the 3 bolt exhaust flange. You can always machine an adapter though, then run some big boost numbers.