dcrasta

All educated reasoning goes out the window if u love the look of it (Like I do). Never driven one, although that is on the bucket list for me.

Mongo

I love the 968. It's a great car but for some reason the thing eats chain tensioners like a 944S and S2. However, the thrill of Variocam and religious maintenance makes it last forever. You have nothing to lose.

Jfrahm

The variocam plastic ramps and cam chain usually last 100K-140K but if this maintenance is left too long the cam gear teeth often get damaged. These cams can be 'rebuilt' though so it's not horribly expensive. If the cams come out, chain gets replaced, and the ramps replaced every 100k-ish you should be OK. More often on a race car, naturally.

The dual mass flywheel is expensive and I do not know if there is a rebuilt unit available yet, or if you need to spend the $650 on a new one (though probably only once in the life of the car.)

Another trouble spot is the oil pickup tube. It can crack, particularly if the balance shafts are mistimed during a sloppy timing belt job. If there are any oil pressure issues this has to be considered and a sensible person would address this issue at rod bearing time or perhaps even motor mount time. There are some braces on the market to prevent the cracking.

There is some good news. Thankfully the 968 got a modern timing belt tensioner that maintains constant tension like a PorKensioner does on the 928. Build quality is excellent, they are built in Stuttgart.

yardpro

not necessary true.. yes the 4 banger gets bettit all depends on how it's driven...
baby both and the 4 banger gets better mileage, but drive both at the same elevated performance level and the 8 could use less fuel than the 4..

I used to have a buic roadmaster (don't laugh).. it had the lt1 vet motor and got 32mpg highway, 24 around town..

also saw a test the other week where they drove a prius around a track pushing it hard. They followed in a bmw m5. the prius ended up getting 17mpg when driven hard...
the bmw followed the prius around the track matching it's speed.. because the engine did not have to work hard, it got 19 mpg..

so it all depends on the driver.

ALso i have found that my dad's 03 4 banger civic is rated at 30 mpg..
when i load it with my wife, son, me, and all our luggage for a week long cruise it's gas mileage drops significantly. Also running above 55 (where mileage ratings are taken from) the mileage basically falls off a cliff.

We were lucky to get 24 mpg with the honda going to miami.

We got 32 with the same speeds, and weight on the same trip with the roadmaster.

This year we drove the wife's jag to our cruise, and averaged 24mpg.. so there are very valid arguments about mileage.

karl ruiter

I have a 944S2 cab, and do enjoy it. Mostly, though, I only drive it when I either really want the open air thing or my S4 is not running (today, for example). Nice little buggy, and I don't think you will be disapointed, unless it forces you to get rid of your 928. In no way is my 944 a 928 substitute. Nice top end spin but no BWAAA at all. Zippy, but not planted on the road like the 928. Interior is not spartan or uncomfortable, until you compare it to the 928. Actually, even without the comparison: I drove my father around the island last week, about 1.5 hours at mostly slow speeds. At the end of the drive we were quite uncomfortable and totally ready to be done. Interestingly, I often get glowing comments from people about the 944 and never on either of my 928s.
I always hesitate to disgree with Jim, but I actually own an aftermarket conversion 928 convertable as well as a 944 factory convertable. Seperate universes. The whole top assembly concept and mechanism works really nicely and reliably on the 944, and I think it looks quite nice too. Plus you can buy parts. Light years away from the aftermarket stuff.

vtc4198

Thank you all for the input, it is very helpful.

Not looking to replace the 928 with the 968. Just want something convertible that's not too expensive

rgs944

There you go, if you can pull off both that is the best way to go. Good 968's are getting extremely rare so if you are going to get one I would not wait till spring.

James Bailey

ASC and Mr Prechter have a lot of experience at cutting off the roofs of cars....lots of it. But it still looks like a modifcation of a coupe. And yes my son in law had a 968 cab for a little while and I looked it over a bit. And yes it IS far better the the 928 cab conversions I have seen but that is not saying much

User 41221

I own both a 968 cab and an '82 928. Love them both, for different reasons. Personally, if you enjoy 928's, I would think a drop top 968 would be the perfect compliment to it, as they accomplish a lot of the same objectives, just from different perspectives. They definitely feel different to drive, but I get the same sort of satisfaction out of each of them.

If you stay current on maintenance, the 968 should be a very reliable car and is very fun to drive, particularly if you want to drop the top and just cruise. Its performance should not be compared to a race car, anyone who does is just plain silly. Its a great all around driver with very well tuned steering and handling, and the brakes are more than adequate for any street driving you are likely to do. The 968 cab was NOT a hack job, the factory did a very nice job engineering and building them, and if you spend some time with it, you'll develop a real appreciation for them. I don't know of many people who have owned one and said they hated the experience. 968's are pretty exclusive, from a production perspective, its pretty unlikely that you'll have to worry about seeing another one in your neighborhood. They have fairly modern looks, I am forever having strangers come up and ask me about it, and are shocked when I tell them its basically 20 years old as they thought it was a new model, a lot of people don't know that it was derived from the 944 line. That doesn't happen with the 928, pretty much everyone knows what it is.

rexpontius

Saw/heard a 968 drive along last week... nice car.... but the 4-cyl soundtrack is just not what I associate with a nice sportscar and nowhere near the wonderful soundtrack of the 928's V8...

James Bailey

The "factory" being Prechter GmbH an affiliate of American Sunroof Corporation who actually did the modifications as they did for many auto companies over the years.

cali4sun

It's a nice car, and would not mind owning one myself!

'89 S4 GP White/Black
'76 912E Silver/Black

dprantl

Actually... I've had more than several people look at my 928 and I overhear comments that go like, "oh that's a nice 944"

Dan
'91 928GT S/C 475hp/460lb.ft

User 41221

I am guessing that 968 coupes owners get asked about their "weird looking 944" regularly, but the cab doesn't really bear much of a resemblance. I've never had anyone mistake my wifes 928 for anything else, I am a bit surprised to hear that you have experienced that. And I'd have a hard time keeping a straight face if they did

I did once have a Boxster owner not even recognize that my 968 was a Porsche. I saw a Boxster pulling into the parking lot of the same store I was going to, so I followed him and parked with an empty spot in between us. When I got out, I said "nice Boxster (even tho it looked pretty rough, a lot of door dings, etc), do you like it?" and got a five minute monologue from the guy that was basically complete BS ("facts" like "It uses the same carbon fiber brake rotors that Porsche uses on their Formula One cars"? Really? lol) and the story behind him getting it, as it was his first Porsche, blah blah blah. He ended his speech with "and if you work really hard, maybe one day you might be able to get a Porsche too!" I said nothing, got back in my car and parked on the other side of the parking lot. lol

vtc4198

Not sure I like white on this car, but I definitely like the car.