Scott M.

Ha Ha...You haven't met Josie yet have you?

mpesik

Whoops. Did I say on the inside and on the inside. Hell of a stutter.Outside styling as well.Sorry about that. Mike.

TroppoShark

VirbusUnits says

12. It has a damn useless sun roof.

but I really love it in the tropics, because it lets you see the sky ahead of you without getting full sun on your head...

Admittedly, the last car I drove - Saab 9000CS - had a better sunroof because of the tinted glass as well as the metal.

BTW, that glass sunroof had a golfball land on it and smash it. Now, THAT was expensive to replace...

Phill,
'84 928s Euro.

Parnelli Joneser

The side mirrors on my '83 euro S whistle horribly, especially noticable when tooling through town on nice days at lower speeds I had to stick a little fin on the inside of the mirror to disrupt the airflow. A piece of gum stuck in the same spot would've accomplished the task, but I don't like the cinnamon gum needed to match my red paint.

Nicole

You are totally missing ithe point of this sophisticated AC layout: The center vents are solely to cool the car down in extreme heat, not to cool the occupants. Because directing the cool air directly to you only has negative effects o nyour body: It counteracts by producing more heat (in the heat).

Instead, the AC is designed as an air curtain, that reduces the radiation effect of the ouside heat through the windows. This means, on hot days the outlets for the winshield should be open, door vents pointed upwards, and the center vent closed. This configuration blows the cold air to the top of the car without a direct draft hitting your body. By being blown upwards it cools the area around your upper body and head that would usually be taken by the hot air (which has a natural tendency to rise).

If necessary, you can augment the coolinig action with the rear AC.

I find that if I ajust the system correctly after the initial cooling down period, it keeps the interior nice and cool without any unnecessary draft that dries out my eyes and nose, and makes me freeze at one part of my body and sweat more on the other.

I have a nice article on this, if you ever want to read it. Or just look up Christophorous Magazine #147 from June 1980. You'll be amazed how much thought went into that system and how well it works, if used accordingly. I'm not saying it can't be improved, but using it to its full potential is pretty darn good already...

Nicole

Originally posted by ViribusUnits
1. Carpet no longer ahered to the door panal.
What are you complaining about? - It's a 21 year old car! It can be fixed.

2. Failed emission testing.
What are you complaining about? - It's a 21 year old car! It can be fixed.

3. A weird raddle in the hatch area.
We all have that. Let us know when you find the solution. Maybe you can teach a class...

4. No way to open the hatch from the drivers seat.
What do you mean? I pull the switch and it releases the hatch. Your car should do the same, unless something is broken.

5. "Drivieng lights" instead of an additional set of head lights in the bumper.
Whatever...

6. Dammage from me running it into a Honda.
Dang! That's entierly the Honda's fault. If they would still make cardboard cars, you would not have gotten a scratch on yours.

7. Worn 2nd gear syncro.
Wear happens... Sorry that this is going to be expensive to fix.

8. A "mear" 234 hp. I want 300 dang it! I should have at least 270. (If the 83 928's motor was tuned to the same "level" as the US 83 911, we'ed have a 300 hp engine.)
Get an S4!

9. A silicone clutch on the fan, instead of an electric one.
Get an S4 or do a conversion!

10. An anemic 90 amp alt.
Get a bigger one!

11. Non variable assiste power steering. I would like more help is parking lots, but then for it to relax back to how it is now on the high way.
That's new to me. The power assist on the 928 is reduced with increased rpm. I am not aware that this was not the case on the early cars.

12. It has a damn useless sun roof.
Agreed. I would never pay extra for a sunroof anyway, as I don't use it.

13. Overly complicated a/c system. If it was me, the vacuum crap would be gone. I'd use a lever working a push/pull cable to activate the recirculation, and heater valves. Instead of the head unit trying to guess which one I really want. I'd have the temp slider control the mixing vane dirictly. I'd also replace the 2.5 amp a/c clutch relay with at least a 5 amp one. Preferable a 7-8 amp one. (The clutch draws a max of 5 amps.) Maybe a switch instead of a relay.
Yep, some things changed in the past 30 years. I wish their chrystal ball would have told them in 1973 when they were working on designing the car.

14. A redesigned pod. Less cheap plastic, and eighter a more durable printed plastic circut board, or something else. Oh, and something else on the dash pod cover. Something that doesn't crack in the sunlight.
I'm sure there are better materials in the meantime. But nothing lasts forever in the heat. Your car is 21 years old - how do the dashes of other 21 year old cars look after a life in the Texas heat?

15. A LSD.
Get an S4 with optional LSD or a 90+ model with PSD.

16. Maybe AWD? That could be fun. Highly impractical, but still, fun.
More weight for what?

17. 8" headlights.
Get and S4!

18. Dual exaust.
Get a GT or '90 S4 or newer!

19. Full size spare.
More weight for what? Who needs spare tires? I haven't used one in ages...

20. Better fuel milage. Maybe wishful thinking.
Convert to Turbo diesel. How about the VW V10 with 313 hp?

21. 4 channal anti-lock brakes.
Yep time don't stand still. But the 928 does in a shorter distance than most of today's cars. Not too bad.

22. Rounded hatch glass so it doesn't vibrate so annoyingly when I go over rough roads.
That's an interesting one...

23. At least 4 cup holders. It's a GT. Your suppost to traval in it. You need to keep hydrated when you traval. You need cups to yep hydrated. 4 seats, for cup holders. Is that too much to ask?
How much would you be willing to pay for a nice aftermarket cupholder solution?

Nicole

So, based on your psychology studies, what do you call this - an inferiorty complex? THAT's what you are trying to cure with your supercharger! OK, makes sense.

2V4V

Dislike is maybe not what I'd use - perhaps, "shoulda/coulda been better than it was" would fit my feelings a little better.Besides, I like some of its limitations...

-Interior materials quality and design is pretty pathetic. Especially for the price tag. Ergonomics are good, but it really looks/is 'slapped together' compared to a mid/late-80's Saahhb, let alone a comparably-priced MBZ from the same time period. Honda Accord interiors from the same period have held up better.

-Leather dash, who were they kidding?

-HVAC controls. Once again, better stuff (that would've been lighter to boot) was available from Behr at the time. Why, oh why, do we get an HVAC system that is way behind a mid-70's GM car? (Of course, the US has always had the world standard in automotive HVAC cornered, but c'mon it is a Grand Tourer, right?).

-What a PITA place for a fuse box. Lifting up carpets and access panels. Ugh. Where's that flashlight?

-Freakin' junk window/sr/rw switches. The guys who spec'd these things should be tarred and feathered. The OEM who did this part usually does very high quality work. That these switches seem to go bad about every-other oil change is criminal, esp. at $30+ a pop. I've had more than a few Euro cars. They have all had their original pw switches at the 150-200K miles mark. That Porsche does not re-spec this product is also criminal. Almost Bill Gates kinda criminal. ("Yeah, I know we designed it not to work, and we told you it would work, but you'll have to pay us $100 an hour to fix it so it does work. And it may not tomorrow...")

-Sloppy engine bay. (2V more than 4V) Perhaps this was not a design priority at the time, or maybe all those vacuum and fuel and emission lines haphazardly running hither and yon in the bay makes the guy who writes a check for 50K$+ think it's a "technologically advanced" engine. Strip one down to the intake, leave the plug wires on. I think you'll see what I mean - or maybe it's just my taste. Coulda been much neater - wouldn't have cost much more.

There's many more "+" than "-" to my personal list, and the nice thing is that modern, off-the-shelf tech can cure many of those design 'shortcomings'.

Greg

2V4V

Just remember Nicole,

I believe Freud once said, "Sometimes, a twin-screw is just a supercharger."

Greg

Nicole

If it was, we wouldn't have anything to talk about. I'd say it is so wonderfully imperfect, that it is the perfect car to love.

There are lots of things that could be improved with today's knowledge. But I do believe that Porsche started giving up on it while they devekped the 989 (around late 80ies). After that there were really no major advancements (nothing radical), just little improvements here and there. Obviously, that was not enough to keep up with the big guys, and sales kept dropping.

What would I change, if I could bring the car up to date?

Exterior:

- Projection headlights as in the 1984 928-4, the four seater for Ferry Porsche
- the rear quarter windwos would be glued and flush with the body, with only a very thin piece of trim around it
- Maybe a hatch with a better integrated, retractilble wing - but mostly make it rattle free
- No side markers - the tail lights go around far enough
- Little more agressive front bumper cover

Interior:

- Less bulky airbag steering wheel
- Side bags
- Update instruments with larger display
- Power window switches in door panels
- Clean up the center console, integrate cup holders
- All new AC system with left/right climate control and no vacuum. More output would make rear AC unnecessary and eliminate one problem point.
- Update look and feel of upholstery
- Make carpet and leather materials wear better
- Come up with rear inside panel design that does not warp
- Integrate a super Stereo sound system
- Standard CD/MP3 RAdio with the Porsche Exclusive CD holder in the drivers side door
- Navigation system optional (I don't need it, many others do)
- Redesign trunk area to prevent cargo from flying though between rear seats. Invent better cargo cover. Maybe the solution can combine these two items
Work on seating postion in manual transmission cars, so smaller people can drive them comfortably, too!
- More work on sound deadening. Even the GTS is way too loud for a car of that class!

Mechanics:

- Solve oiling nproblem once and for all (maybe implement cross drilling or Turbo-Uli's solution or both in production
- Change from Timing belt to timing chain
- Add variable valve timing like on 968 for more power and torque
- Design computer that don't fail or are not as expensive to fix/replace
- Alternatively, use the Cayenne V8, if possible
- Offer an optional V8 or V10 turbo diesel (min. 300 hp with lots of torque)
- 6-Speed tiptronic
- find permanent solution for flex plate pressure problem
- Add access door for oil change to belly pan or make pan easier to remove and replace

Generally:

- Simplify wherever possible, without giving up the character andn quality of the car.

This is so much stuff, it becomes clear that it's almost easier to start from scratch. As they say in German: The better is the enemy of the good. THe 928 is pretty darn good, but as time progresses you can do better. The problem is that it is unlikely that Porsche will dare to do better AND make the end result as unique, as stylish, as polarizing, as the 928. It will never happen, therefore all we can do is preserve what we've got.

GoRideSno

It's late, so I'll have to get back to this one ....Seems to prefer strokers. But since I been out of my field for a few years I could be wrong.


Andy K

ColinB

a) At a ton and a half it's too heavy for 300+HP.
b) The (manual) gearchange is too cumbersome.
c) Thewhole interior is frankly boring and especially-
d) The steering wheel wouldn't look out of place on a bus.
e) the seating position is too low even with your head virtually touching the roof.
f) It has too many "Achilles heels". Timing belt, vacuum system, electrics etc.

But who cares. All this is just a part of it's character and I love it for that.

Colin 89 GT

ColinB

BTW
CUP HOLDERS!! Are you guys for real?

And PS.
Speaking about he rattle in the rear hatch, it's driving me as crazy as you. Anyone BTDT.

Colin 89GT

tdatk944+S4

You obviously haven't read the thread on people riding your a**.
It's there for pitching pennies

Tim

sweanders

I don't like that the ET is 65 up front so, can't fit anything than 928 wheels..

One thing I really like about it is that there are no cupholders.