snappy

Should i get a 82K 86 or a 140k 88. Both looks great and neither have any go fast goodies on. both have service records for the past 50k.

ps. the 86 is $1k more and has the lightweight fuchs on.
The 88has cups on and does not have LSD or ABS.

all help appreciated. tia

Ahmet

What will be the intended use of the car? Generally I would say later the better.
Ahmet

snappy

333rwhp - 5 times a month driver.
other than the airbags what else changed?
the 86 looks a tad better on the outside.

josephsc

Later is better, but then 58k less miles is huge. Either way, what's most important is how well maintained the cars were.

I'd get a PPI regardless. And also find out how recently the clutch was changed (major $ item). The 86 used a single cross-over pipe which makes the clutch job more labor-intensive. It can add 5+ hours of labor for a clutch job.

Aside from those 17 year old airbags of unknown reliability, the 87+ later cars also used later offset wheels so you can mount more modern rims w/o spacers. But then 86 give you access to using those fuchs.

It sounds to me like 86 might be a better deal...

black944 turbo

Earlier cars are just as good. They also have a few advantages they are lighter and they have early offset. Early offset is an advantage and a disadvantage, can run fuchs, and can get a much larger lip on wheels but then have to go custom. The late model you will not need spacers for wheels, but who cares.

ibkevin

The 86' has LSD and ABS? Two major ++'s! Good point on wheel offset but it's easy ot overcome and not a deal killer. Comperable interiors?

82k is low for an 86'.

SchnellerUmsetzer

One that you will love with your check book and heart!

snappy

sorry should have stated that the 86 does not have LSD or ABS, I did not think they were options in 86 so i did not list it.

as for the interiors they are on par, pretty minty no cracks or rips in either 86 is a tad cleaner, but a carpet clean will do that.

I will surely run a carfax and look at the incremental steps of the milage with the owner to see if he fudged it.

Ahmet

86 cars were not available with ABS, and LSD is quite rare. There are many running improvements that have been made to the 944 turbo, very few of them are actually significant. I've owned 4 944s in the last 6 years. I will say that in general later is better but the condition of the specific car is more important. Miles don't matter much if the car's been taken care of. Also, short trips on bad roads is far worse on a car than highway miles but that said lower milege is nice, ofcourse.
Ahmet

silverbullet

You said 333rwhp, so your going to be upgrading the turbo and other stuff anyway. Go for the 86', lighter, fewer miles, typically cost less, etc, etc.