Seen a lot of chest thumping lately about individual years. I want to get a pre S4 eventually but know very little about the 86's and earlier.
So, I am curious to hear why people like their favorite year 928. No bashing, just the benefits ie weight, power, tranny, brakes etc..

Mine is the '91 GT, I like the improved rain gutters, improved power steering and the fact they removed the front cooling fine. I thing it is what the 928 should be.

I also like the 87 S4, the analog instrument cluster is cool and no air bags. I like any pre 88 instrument cluster better than post 87 because they are analog but I am in the minority.

 

I've only ever driven one other 928 and it was a pre-'86 (dont remember exact year) manual box before I bought the '88 S4 auto. Now my car has had most maintenance done and upgrades I want to do its very good and would not want the older car BUT I do want a manual tranny. Partly because of my extensive m/cycle racing background, partly because I believe a 'sports car' should be. I'm with you Jim in that pre 90 cars without digi clocks, air bags and tyre pressure complications etc.

BTW my '88 has full analog instrumentation..........its a Canadian car though.

 

Jim
I vote for the 88....the 88's basically are the same as the 87 except for three point seatbelts in the rear (who cares), ugly digital clock (prefer the analog)...but the big plus is the LH-EZK are the memory type that stores fault codes, and allows for the use of the spanner-hammer... I wouldn't mind an 89 GT though....digital dash, without the PSD-airbags!

 

Of the S4 range the 89 has the better rear end. 89 is the last year of the 5spd availability as an "S4" Past that a 5spd is a GT, and then of course GTS.

The early cars can feel sluggish, if not properly exhausted and if not properly gone through on suspension, brakes, etc. My old 81 could barely stop when I got it. My 78 was in shambles, but the brakes were wonderful - SS brake lines and new pads. Simple stuff like that.

A 78 is great. Little value now, if at all ratty. Take it apart and put in your Supercharged motor Jim.

 

I like the digital dash.

 

I like the 78... 2.75 gears in the 5spd, peppier cams than later 16Vs... also, no brain, no MAF, no fault codes, no bent valves, no weak relay sockets that push through the panel when inserting a relay, no wrench-breaker nut to change CV joints, no huge PITA belly pan, no fan or cooling flap gremlins, just bone simple and reliable fun. It's very rare for me to have trouble staying with 32V cars on fun drives, sure they are stronger on a long enough straight but otherwise I'm right there -- it's one helluva lot of bang for your buck. "Value" in the eyes of others means nothing to me, though it might if I ever have a notion to sell -- but why would I?

 

Well if you want pre S4 but don't want to sacrifice performance-----> 1986.5

The last dyno day we had in Portland was a good indicator. The only cars to out-perform my 86.5 was the GT's, the stroker, and boosted sharks. At least those that were running right. One 91 GT had a bad flappy and posted 240 or so HP.

Suspension and brakes are right there with your GTs in ability. It weighs in a couple of hundred pounds lighter than the GTs & S4s

Comfort is as good as the newer cars as well. It has the rear AC if the added cooling is needed. There are some that were available without as well if you choose not to have the extra weight.

They have the good BW syncros on the 5sp and the solid 4sp auto.

 

Yeah...thats what i meant... I wish i could keep mine Shane. I will get another 86.5 when this is all said and done...

 

If i had to pick a stock 928 it would be an 84 Euro.

 

Jim,
As you know, for performance you won't beat a GT. Pre S4, I like the 86.5 because of the better brakes and suspension. I wish I still had my 86.5 auto. It was a very nice car, and like all '85/'86 cars, performed better than it should have. The pre S4 body style is "trimmer" looking to me too. I don't much like the more complicated engine layout of the '85/'86 intake system. There is no extra room and too many hoses to leak and give trouble. The LH and EZ-F systems are not very refined and many of those years have poor idle, flat spots in acceleration, etc. All fixable I'm sure given enough time. I always thought it would be a good combo of the '85/'86 32 v motor with the good GT like cams coupled with a better intake system to get rid of the underhood clutter. The best intake system improvement being a Eaton/TS supercharger. Shane has already figured this out. I don't know much about the earlier 16v cars. They appear to be very reliable with less stuff there to go wrong. My son has an '83 auto which he's had for probably 9 years. It is his daily driver, his only car, and he racks up a ton of miles with his commute of about 40 miles a day. It's never failed him and about the biggest maintenance item was replacing the front trans seal. I'm sure he has 200+k miles on it by now. He did replace the timing belt when he first got it. The coolant pump appeared to be in good shape so he left it in. I think the 16v engines stress the timing belt a lot less than the 32v engines, and with the lower tension, the water pump bearing too.

In the '87/'88 series, I prefer the '88 if for no other reason that the cruise control is not vacuum operated and works a lot better with fewer problems than the older system. I also like the '87/'88 for the 2.2 axle ratio and efficient S4 motor which gives a very economical highway cruising car.

 

The 80 81 MY are the lightest weight 928s. They have the reliable Bosch Ljetronic fuel injection which is easy to work on. The 4.5 engines do not have the con rod bearing issues of the later engines.

Also, let's not forget the 85 - 86 euro. 16 valves, more power, perfected gearbox, lower ratio final drive. The problem here is I haven't met a 928 I didn't like, although I prefer 5 speeds to three speed autos.

The hard part is finding a good early car. Lots more good late models available.

 

Is the 2.2 axle ratio standard on '87/'88?

 

In US models yes, both A28.12 automatic and G28.13 5sp have it. ROW A28.14 automatic have 2.54 and G28.12 5sp is 2.64.

 

We've never had this discussion before

Sorry for the appearance of attitude but there is no comparison;

84-86 LH euro. With the slight nod going to the ultra rare 86 euro. The older body is just better looking IMO and the spider engine when polished is true auto art. All years are awesome though. The 928 is just the best all around ride.

I have to post this a couple times a year, but here is the guy who designed and built our engines explaining basically the near perfection he thought he had reached with the 16V euro;

 

Don't forget that the early '87 has the folding wing, which makes it especially desireable...

My vote would be:
GTS 5sp - preferable a '95
GT of any year - but especially a '91
'86.5 5sp

But no way I'm giving up my '87!