smarlow2

I just bought an 89 944 Turbo and could use some advice. I have been running a 944S track car and obvoiusly got the horsepower bug but am rapidly running into knowlege deficiency about the turbo. The car has 70k original miles, stock turbo, Vitesse AFM chip, Lynsey manual boost controller, B&B catback and OEM waste gate (original spring, not shimmed). Per Vitesse instructions (according to seller)the boost is set at approximatley 17.1 psi.

My first question is if there is anything about this setup that should worry me and what, if anything I should worry about first. The second question is where I can aquire the best source for general knowlege about the car and the engine.

I am pretty happy with the suspension setup (bilstiens, Cup springs front and rear, 968 Club Sport M030 sway barsand bushings, Charley arms) and the main thing I am looking for is reliability, especially in the AZ heat. I plan on running 8 to 10 DE and/or time trials a year.

sillbeer

The stock wastegate won't handle 17psi. It'll bleed down to around 9-10psi by redline. It's not a danger to anything though.

-Destin

jgporsche

Vitesse doesn't want you to run any more than 15 psi!

smarlow2

Jesse,

That kind of illustrates my problem. I don't know anything more about the system than what the seller told me and I don't have any prior experience with a turbo.The previous owner is an aeronautical engineer with Lockeed Martin and I'm not sure I was alway keeping up with him when he was explaining things about the car. In addition, he lives in Atlanta and I am in the Phoenix area, so all the explaining was done over the phone. On the plus side, the car was meticulously maintained and the maintanence records are thorough and complete. So now I'm just trying to get a little bit of baseline info in order to get started.

Steve

smarlow2

Jesse,

I did have one question about the 15psi thing. If you go to the Vitesse site thay have a dyno chart illustrating the performance of thier K26/8 AFM it is shows the boost at 16 psi. You can see it here:

http://www.vitesseracing.com/Catalog...ips/chips.html

Steve

jgporsche

I have Vitesse products and he CLEARLY states not to go beyond 15psi (that is his disclaimer).

smarlow2

Thanks for the info Jesse. Clearly I'm going to have to sit down and go through all the documentation I got on the mods as well as learning some turbo basics.

Steve

Giantman

More pics please!

Jeremy Himsel

Very nice purchase. The approximatly 17.1 psi reference makes me a bit nervous and you really need to see how much boost you are running with a good gauge. The factory one isn't enough if that's all you have.

With an 89 951 you should try and stay at 15 psi in Phoenix. With our extreme summer heat, the 26/8 turbo, and our 91 octane fuel you will be very close to the limits of the fuel system and knock. There’s a group of about 10 of us who assemble at my house on Saturdays so you’re welcome to stop by and I’ll go over the car with you. There’s always a few 951’s in various stages of disassembly and most of us are running Vitesse software. We've probably seen each other at some of the track events.

Andy

Congratulations Steve! That is a very nice car, it belonged to a friend of mine here at Lockheed. The suspension is great and it's pretty darn fast with John's chips. I would have bought it if I had extra cash...

We have 93 octane over here and I wouldn't fret at all with 17 psi, but if you only have 91 I'd adjust the boost controller down to 15 just to be safe.

Have fun, enjoy!

smarlow2

Thanks Jeremy. I would very much like to get together with you. My private email address is smarlow2@***.net. Send me your email and or phone number and I will contact you about setting that up. By the way, I have a VDO boost gauge and it goes over 17 at higher(5000+) rpm. I would like to get with you ASAP to check it out and maybe adjust the boost setting.

smarlow2

Here are a couple more for the guy down under.

M758

Nice car.
Where have you been running the 944S? What groups? I am trying to rememer if I have seen you out at the track in 944S?

smarlow2

I have been running with PCA in MN with the Nordstern region. I co-own the 944S with my brother who lives in Minneapolis. That's where we keep the car and I have been going up there two to three times a year to run at Brainerd International. I got started up there with him running his 911 Carrera and we decided to buy the 944S as pretty much a dedicated track car because were were doing double run sessions together and the 911 was pretty much stock. The car was so much fun that I decided to get a car here so I could start doing some events in the Phoenix area. I did the Boundourant three day high performance school several years ago but I have not done anything else down here since then. I have been looking at the new NASA driver's ed and Time Attack program in AZ and it looks pretty interesting for getting some regular track time. I'll be joining the local PCA chapter here but it doesn't look like they do much if any DE stuff during the summer. Can't say I blame them, the heat is one of the reasons I have been going to MN. I don't have the time, money or experience yet for door to door racing, even in Spec 944 but it looks like alot of fun. Great looking car by the way!

ApexCars

Yes, John at Vitesse says 15 lbs. boost. He also says all of his products are for "off road use only." That being said, I would turn the boost down to 15 lbs. and run it at that for awhile. Once you gain more knowledge then you can make a more informed decision about th risks of turning up the boost on your particular set up. This site and clarks-garage.com are great sources of info. Also, look on E-Bay for CD versions of the shop manual. If the car has been as well maintained as it appears, you should get lots of enjoyment out of it.