lart951

The next article shows that the turbo S was faster than the 911 turbo of course the 911 had more sex appeal than the 951 but that's only important for those who are sexually insecure like corvette, gayenne, Porvettes & 928 drivers. lol.


http://www.puppan.se/951vs930.htm

ArthurPE

nice article, thnx, saved for a rainy day read

931GT

I've owned an 85 Carrera and can say from experience that the 911 3.2 is an amazing car, something the 944 series cars just can't compare to. Its hard to put in words, you really need to drive one to understand. They feel supremely solid and well built plus the sound of the flat six is absolutely intoxicating (sry but that t-bo'd four banger doesn't even come close in this respect).

As far as performance...

Carrera 3.2
http://www.sinclairmfg.com/fred/pors..._84_911_p5.jpg

A bunch of road tests on 951s.

http://www.weissach.net/924-944-968_...mmary.html#951

Don't be so quick to knock the 911... it really is as good as "they" say. Oh and all P-cars were galvanized after 76' so the OP's "they're rust prone" comment is pretty much bunk.

lart951

Is it me? but the performance of the 951 still ahead of the 911 on those charts, even top speed, lol and skidpad. You have to remember (if you are knowledgeable with the 944 turbo's), that a lot of performance can be extracted out the 4 banger with minimal mods just like chips and mbc. 15 years ago you could buy some autothority chips and it gave you close to 40fwhp for under $ 500.00, you would need double or tripple that money to add 40hp to the 3.2 carrera. Yea the carrera is a true Porsche, it sounds better, it's stiffer. but..... oh well, Just to put this into perspective the 968Turbo S at the time of it's introduction was faster and handle better than the 911 turbo who was thousands of dollars ahead but lacked performance.

manticore33

It is about perspective and what you actually want out of a car. I am very much in the paradox of whether I want a 911 SC or not after having a 951. The 944/951 platform is a more modern design and drives like a modern car; it is well executed. However, I lust from time to time for that rawness and prowess of an aircooled flat engine, not to mention the overall experience it creates. However, I've yet to fully determine if the premium for a 911 is really worth it (never driven one unfortunately).

Given that, I am sort of a fan for the quirky Porsches and would love to get my hands on a 914. Yes, I understand it is more VW than anything, however, they are fun to drive, easy to work on and I do not mind the flat-4 (1.8 even have Bosch FI similar to the 944's, albeit the weakest engine). I find 912's absolutely beautiful with Fuchs, but if I am going for a '911' look, I want a flat-6.

As far as the 911 being a glorified beetle, what is to be expected when you have the same family designing cars? The Beetle was a highly successful platform, why not evolve it and cross share some parts? This is a trend most automakers choose to do (Ford GT powered by a blown mustang/truck engine).

**Note: a lot of supercars raid general part bins for components, with the only exception coming to mind being Ferrari.

931GT

I see a 0-60 of 5.3 and a quarter mile of 13.9 for the Carrera... it doesn't look like a stock 951 beats those numbers.

Just to be clear I very much like all Porsches, (with the exception of the Cayenne and Panamera) and the 951 is one of my favs as is the Carrera 3.2. Also, getting another 30 or so hp out of a 3.2 is not that difficult or expensive and I would argue it'll be much more reliable than a boosted up 4 banger. Tthe 911 3.2 and the 951 are both excellent cars from what I personally consider Porsche's best decade. For a reliable driver with lots of panache, amazing sound and outstanding performance I'd take the 911 but the lure of easy horsepower mods and its excellent handling characteristics make the 951 a very close second for me. Put simply, they are both some of the best Porsches ever made.

Easy mods for motronic 911s
http://www.911chips.com/dyno.html

Racing Porsche

931GT read the post I said the early 911s were prone to rust. READ

ArthurPE

every period test I've seen has the cars within a 1/10 to 100 km/hr
I've got 5 different A M und Sports...
avg 0-62 was 5.9 sec...for both cars
and a sec in the standing km
it goes back and forth

the article in post 31 has them both at 5.5 to 60, 13.4/13.5 qtr mile, advantage 911, top speed 157/162 advantage 951
mpg 16 vs 19, advatnage 951
it does have the 951 2 sec fater on a 2.5 mi lap at Willow Springs

I would say speed wise it's a draw
daily use and practical function? it's up to the owner...

APKhaos

Back to the initial statement. It's the 'nothing special other than the cool looks and legendary status in the media's eyes." bit that denies reality.

The 911 won just about every major road race and road race series through the 70's. This didn't happen by accident. This humble rear engined design was refined and perfected through some exceptional engineering to produce a chassis that outperformed all comers. The engine development took the same path. Unique, efficient, and exceptionally reliable.

Drive a 911 on track, and the uniqueness is obvious. You can place the front of the car precisely where you want it IF you have the skill to manage the rear end of the car to get the power down. Its simple, and remarkably successful. The 80s 911s carried this heritage.

Having owned and driven both an 85 Carrera and a 944 Turbo S, they are very different cars. The Turbo S is a great package, but its very much like any other refined front engine rear wheel drive car of its era. The 911 is a different animal, and there is nothing quite like the way it sounds and the way it drives. It's unique.

black944 turbo

931, I to love both cars. Having driven many examples of both, I find that 0-60 number very hard to swallow for a 3.2 Carrera, maybe a 930 but not a 3.2. I looked over the article listed and see where you are getting your numbers, but real world does not seem to ad up. Maybe it is the boost kicking you in the pants???

F18Rep

I have 2 951s and a 911. Would consider trading my better 951 for any year 911 coupe of equal condition.... Just a thought...bruce

V2Rocket

imo the aircooled flat six in a 911 is one of the finest sounding motors ever produced, a thousand times better than the four banger. it just sounds so..urgent.

931GT

I have no trouble believing a fresh 3.2 could scoot to sixty in 5.5 seconds. The grip on launch is amazing and the power comes on like a wave, building and building to redline... they are fast cars, period.

V2Rocket

i got a ride in my good friend doug's 3.2 cab and the sheer torque of the thing was astonishing. ive driven some fast cars in my short life but none of them punched you into the seat like that carrera did. he had a chip on it and was running like 95 octane so it was around 230hp total and damn that thing can scoot. and with the roof down that beautiful flat six sound could not be hidden

ninefiveone

Here's the root of the problem for you. You say you respect the 911, and then you say things like that about the 911.

So either you know what you're doing (being inflammatory with passive aggressive language) in which case it really does reflect poorly on you...

Or you don't know what you're doing and that also tells us something about you.

The last option is that you really do know what you're doing, you know exactly where this conversation will end up, and it's a result that serves your purpose in some way.

But we all know where this conversation ends up and unless there's beer involved during the course of it.... no point.