Sharks

April issue of Porsche Panorama arrived today and to my surprise they had an article on the 928 GTS. Seven owners wrote in what they thought of the vehicle. Overall the comments were positive ... here are a few that I found interesting:

1. I am currently dusting off my old auto repair and diagnostic skills. Some $1100 later, I decided I can and will do much of the maintenance myself.

2. I find road and wind noise father high for a luxury car while cruising at high speed, but it's fine around town. The V8 sound is muted, not particularly musical or inspiring.

3. I sold the Boxster S as I was not using it anymore - I much prefer the GTS.

4. The interior is simple and mostly free of the frou-frou that passes for luxury today.

5. Overall, for touring, the 928 is great although less fun than the 911 for "recreational" driving.

6. Unfortunately, this is an automatic. It starts in second gear and shifts to early when you accelerate. I could use a little more noise from the exhaust as the low throaty tone is just not enough.

7. Well, I can sum it up by saying this is the greatest GT car ever built. Would I buy it again? Definitely. There's really no other car on the market like it, even from Porsche.

Well, if you want to know what I think ... the car could be a little lighter on its feet, but other than that it's the most fun on four wheels that I have driven in a very long time (and I only have an S3).

Old & New

Obviously they don't have RMB's or push on the accelerator very hard.


Maybe these guys need a front end alignment...


Did any of the drivers regularly take the car to its limits, e.g. Autobahn service, tracking, professional drivers, etc., or were all they all of the Pepsi-Generation / My-Other-Car-is-a-Minivan ilk???




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"It's not the speed that kills, it's that sudden stop!"

ROG100

Old & New ,
Wrong - I push on the pedal too hard sometimes.

Atleast some of us responded!!!

Roger

Alan

Roger,
Likewise! -

Old & New:

I think if you actually read the articles you will find they are all very complimentary to the GTS - all the owners like the car - most love it above all others ...

And yes in the GTS regardless how hard you push the pedal to the metal you just hear a industrial/mechanical whine as the road flashes past... it is not a Ferrari noise - yes an RMB might help in this regard but as far as I could tell all were reporting on pretty much stock cars.

Get yourself a GTS & find out - over time they got quieter - more stealth less vrooom....

Anyway - read away - its better coverage than the 928 usually gets in Panorama!

Alan

Old & New

ROG, ALAN-

No offence! Just kidding! I didn't even get to read the article!

It's just that the original post made the comments sound so lukewarm...

I stand firm regarding my RMB statement, though. If you want more exhaust tone, get one!

I also fully agree & understand your "industrial/mechanical whine" comparison; my 89 has the large resonators & is very nice and quiet.

Alan

Old & New - OK forgiven...but here is a different sample:

My picks - I think everyone had interesting insights - I didn't disagree with much I read - the car is NOT perfect.... but it is still the best GT car ever made... IMHO!

1) I really love this car and plan to keep it for the long term

2) I Use the GTS as a daily driver even though I didn't plan for this. It's a car that is just mean to be driven (OK so this is me)

3) This car is a keeper. I sold the Boxter S as I was not using it anymore - I much prefer the GTS

4) The Stereo could be somewhat better, but otherwise no complaints and would buy again, although I keep thinking about a Carrera 4S.

5) The GTS is a blast to drive. The engine has tons of torque and accelerates strongly in all 5 gears.

6) I would buy another one in a heartbeat if they were still made.

7) Well, I can sum it up by saying this is the greatest GT car ever built.

1 line from each of the reviews.... Give you a feel for what these folks really feel about the car...?

Alan

Sharks

Sorry guys, I didn't mean to start a scuffle.

I picked out lines from the article that I found interesting, both good and not so good. The article is defiantly more positive than negative. We all know that these cars are not perfect, and as a result many have made modifications. Helping others with repairs and modification is what this site is all about. If you only discuss the good things we wouldn't know how to modify and improve upon the production design.

This was my dream car when I was younger, and with a few more mods it will be just the way I want it.

My complements to all seven owners that participated in article. Like I said, I was surprised to even see an article on the 928 in Panorama.

Chuck Z

..... and some of us responded and they lost the report! Still bent out of shape about that!

ROG100

Chuck,
Why don't you post your article here on rennlist.
We would all love to read it
Roger

Chuck Z

Here is the unedited version of what I sent, written 04/09/2002, I'm sure much of this would have been cut:
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The 928 has become a very desirable Porsche over the past few years and especially the last of the series, the GTS. This particular car is my fourth 928 and seventh Porsche. Other Porsches have included a 944 coupe, 968 coupe and 993 cabriolet. The 928s I’ve owned include 2 - 1989 928 S4s (one automatic and one 5-speed), a 1989 928 GT and my current midnight blue/classic gray 1995 928 GTS equipped with the sought after 5-speed transmission. These are awesome cars, a true supercar with brute power and an unbelievable ride. In my opinion one of the finest GT cars ever built!

Simply because of the low production numbers, finding a high quality pristine example is getting more difficult. Finding a pristine GTS with a manual transmission is even more difficult and forget about picking your favorite color unless it’s black. It has been my experience that a lot of 928s originally ended up in the hands of owners who didn’t necessarily take care of them the way the second owners usually will. During my search, I looked at numerous cars and all failed to meet my standards, mechanically and/or cosmetically speaking. My significant other and I even flew to Philadelphia to look at a Lagoon Green 1993 5-speed model that had a clean Carfax only to discover during a PPI that the entire car had been resprayed because of a pretty hard hit.

By the time the GTS was nearing the end of its production run, dealers were having to take allocation cars that ended up sitting on their lots for quite a while before they were eventually sold. For this reason, most 1994 and 1995 models weren’t very heavily optioned. For example, mine came only with supple leather and wheel crests, the 5-speed was a no cost option. You’ll see a lot of cars are advertised saying “all options” well, that is typically not the case with a GTS. A very high majority came with sunroofs and 6 disc CD players located in the hatch area. In fact, it’s quite rare to find one without either of these two options. Quite a few of the GTSs have supple leather and that’s about it. All came with dual power seats with memory of the left side and rear air conditioners. If you’re looking for unique, the 1993 models stepped out a bit more in terms of options and color combinations (see chart). You are more likely to find a GTS in a rare color combination with a few more options such as piping on the seats and sport suspension.

For the most part, the cars I looked at were maintained to the factory maintenance schedule but were in rough shape cosmetically. Of course everyone’s definition of immaculate varies and all cars for sale are naturally advertised as immaculate and rarely are they! Two years ago when we bought my car from the original owner in Orlando, FL the odometer read 8,307 miles. If it had read 28,307 miles I probably would have passed on the car. I can only imagine what it would have looked like if you were to extrapolate the damage done to the car at 8,307 miles over another 20,000 miles.

Over the course of the month following the purchase we cleaned everything including the undercarriage, inside, outside and engine compartment. The Dent Wizard got to know the car pretty well too while removing the door dings including a 4” crease in the right front quarter panel I thought was permanent. The wheels looked as though they were used as curb feelers and all four had to be refinished. Thankfully, the car had great records, was mechanically sound and no paintwork was required in spite of all the door dings and the valley in the right front quarter panel. Only one door ding on the lip of a front quarter panel broke the paint and I’d have to show it to you it’s so hard to see! When all was said and done, the car looks like a brand new Porsche 928 GTS. All the dents and dings were removed successfully, all the dirt and grime was removed and the car is now a competitive participant in Carolinas Region concours events.

Like any Porsche, a 928 can be expensive to maintain. It is imperative that anyone considering a 928 have a PPI done by someone who knows what the problematic areas are in a 928 and what they are looking at. In my opinion, preventative maintenance and a solid history are critical to keeping a 928 healthy long in to the future. Upon purchasing any 928, regardless of miles, I change the timing belt, filters, spark plugs and all the fluids immediately. Having a mechanic that knows how to work on these wonderful cars is critical too. For me, that person is Jim Burton, owner of Euro Works Ltd in Charlotte, NC. Having said that, it is still a man made machine and even the best-built cars break from time to time. I’ve been lucky over the years of 928 ownership, with the exception of the first S4 that had an undisclosed accident history (prior to Carfax), I haven’t had any that were mechanically unsound. I would also highly recommend any potential 928 owners invest in a Porsche battery maintainer. I connect mine to the positive post located on the right side fender just behind the radiator and the negative lead to the hook used to remove the engine. Prior to doing so, I was replacing batteries every 18 months and since I’ve been using a battery maintainer I haven’t purchased a new battery in 4 or 5 years.

Recently, a 928 Owners Club has been formed and there are several 928 gatherings in different parts of the country. There are also 928 only discussion groups on the Internet such as Rennlist.org and one of the original 928 web sites hosted by Phil Tong. Phil’s site is located at: 928s4vr.com. These are great sources of information for new 928 owners as well as the very technically/mechanically inclined. There are also several companies that cater specifically to 928 owners with OEM parts, used parts as well as performance parts such as: 928 Specialists, 928 International and Devek.

During my search for the perfect 928, I began to compile information on the GTSs I considered and have put it all in a database that I have continued to build. According to Bruce Anderson, PCNA imported 407 GTSs for the model years 1993 through 1995. The 1993 models started arriving in the states during 1992 as early 1993 models. These cars all have a VIN that ends with PS815xxx. Later model 1993 928 GTSs have VINs that end with PS820xxx. As a side note, approximately 30% of the 928s that came to North America were manual transmission cars. If you use that logic there would be only approximately 122 GTSs with the very desirable manual transmissions. Not many cars to choose from!

The following is a breakdown of the information I have in my database of GTSs. I continue to gather information about GTSs and not all the cars in the database have been for sale. If you would like to ad your GTS to this informal database, please send email to: czach928@aol.com

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Alan

All,
I also originally submitted my article in April 2002 - I could not believe that it didn't get published all through 2002/2003 - But Pano was still asking for GTS inputs then.

So I sent in an updated article a few months ago (after all I'd had the car almost twice as long by then!)

I was surprised that they only edited it slightly - 10 words in one spot and 10 words in another (one was a reference to the broker - what was I thinking...) and the other was a reference to my Valentine1 install - presumably they don't like individual brand endorsements either?

Anyway - I was giving up hope of ever seeing the article.

I know at least one other who submitted text that didn't make it....

Alan

Chuck Z

What surprised me so much is that I had spoken with BJT on several occasions about this feature and......