Stephen Porter

Hi,

I'm considering a purchase of a low-mileage 1989 951 that is in pretty decent shape. The car is complete stock except for a change that the owner made to the car soon after it was originally bought at the dealership. He said that his son (for whom the car was originally purchased) was having trouble with the car stalling out when starting out in 1st gear and the dealership told him that the "problem" would be helped by changing the final drive ratio and that the only affect on the car's overall performance would be a loss of top-end speed. I'm not up to snuff on my terminology so I don't know whether this result would be from a "higher" or "lower" final drive ratio and I'm not certain as to how the change would be effected--probably a different ring gear in the differential???

I've never heard of such a "fix," and haven't ever been aware that these cars had any problems with stalling in first gear. The only reason the topic came up was that *I* stalled the car during the test drive (embarassing!) and this brought up the story about his son's "failures to launch" correctly and the fix.

He said that the original change cost about $1,500 at the dealership, but doesn't have the record of exactly what was done.

If anyone has any info or opinions on this, I'm all ears. I would prefer that the car was 100% stock, since it has so few miles. It also seems to me that this change would also reduce gas mileage a bit. Any other consequences from a change like this?



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Stephen Porter

DanD

951's do not stall if they are running properly and driven properly. All of us have stalled a car until we get used to where the clutch engages. But this dealer is blowing smoke. A gear change is not necessary.

Still, I wouldn't keep from purchasing a nice 89 951 because it stalls. These cars start and run as well as any new car. Just need to do some investigating on the cause of the stalls.

Now that I said all that, I wouln't mind having a higher rear gear for a dedicated Track car. A street car still needs the low stock gear for best gas mileage on the freeway. (excellent gas mileage for a performance car, btw)

Rogue_Ant

If they changed the final drive, then they possibly put in an S2 Ring and pinion... Helps with acceleration but lowers top speed.

https://rennlist.com/forums/showthre...hlight=s2+ring

Rogue

333pg333

Yes that's what you do. JET951 has done it on his and put in an 80% lsd which gives the car great acceleration out of the blocks and out of turns. It's a good change and one I'll be doing myself.

RK951

I also happen to find this page:

http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/4...arboxswap.html

Do I dare ask how much does an S2 R&P cost? For street use, the S2 does look appealing.