backerman

I need some input which is better buy 911 SC or 944 Turbo for a daily driver. Let's say both in fairly good condition what's the best bang for the buck? What about going crazy and getting a 930? Thanks.

ian

To take the neutral ground I will say either the SC or the 951 would work fine. I would stear clear of the 930 as a daily driver, but if you have the money to buy and maintain it the 930 would be my choice, but given finacial constrails I would go for the other two.

The 951 is bit quicker and easy to make much quicker, but I personally prefer the look of the 911 (the 930's have a really great look to them).

If you find a good exmaple of either I think you'll be happy.

Bill

Every article I have read on this subject (Excellence, Euopean, Etc.) has stated that the 944 turbo is the best performance car buy for the money!

I personally am biased. I love my 944's. Outstanding handeling (very forgiving at the limit), easy to maintain and work on (I understand that the engine must be pulled on a 930 to change the spark plugs), room to carry luggage (and small passengers), great mileage.....I could go on.

87951

My 2 cents worth -only my personal opinion, but... 944 turbos are great cars but they are not 911's. I love my 951 but i would trade it for a 930 no questions asked.

IanM

Performance wise, I don't think there's any question - the 951 is an amazing buy. A friend of mine owns an '88 Carrera cabriolet, which is a very nice car. But the interior is so primitive, I feel like I'm in an old VW Bug. You need a PhD to figure out how the heater works. The 951 interior is so much more modern. Plus, I can easily put my mountain bike in the back. Try that in a 911.

I personally like the fact that 951's don't get a lot of respect. I also like the fact that you don't see a lot of them around. I chuckle every time a rice-boy tries to race me with his Civic. They just have no idea what they're dealing with. I think that owning a 951 is an honour that most people just don't understand...until you give them a ride in your car.

Danno

Perfect answer to this question is the Automobile 1989 (April) edition where they compared a 930 to a 951. Did some racetrack sessions as well as mountain and city driving. There are pros and cons to both...

Robby

Yeah, I like that Automobile article- it makes a good case for both, but shows the 951 S as being more drivable- especially at the track. The only silly thing about that article, is that they didn't do any straightline tests- they just showed the manufacturers data. Porsche usually underestimates their cars performance, but I'd wager there's never been a bone stock 951 that could run the 1/4 in 13.5... I realize that the Euro's had a shorter final drive (more shifting, better leverage), but I still have my doubts that they would have dropped 7/10's- the one in C&D (or was it R&T?) showed a 13.9 w/Euro gearing (3/10 drop- that's more like it)...

Oh, one other thing- "easy to work on" doesn't seem to fit the bill for a 951- at least not mine. Everyone I've ever talked to has said the 911's were easier to work on, but I can't work on either, and I don't know anything about the 911 spark plug issue. All of these cars have some negative points when it comes to labor- if you want a car that's cheap and easy to work on, don't buy a Porsche.

ed devinney

Dollar for dollar, the 951 is all over a similarly-priced 911, and probably one that's 2-3x the cost. When I looped my 993 into a tree (just about a year ago) I decided I needed to learn how to drive for real before I got another one, and looked at SCs and 3.2 Carerras vs 951s. To get 250+hp, big honkin' Brembos and a nice clean car would have been about 30k, my 951S was half that.

IMO, the 911 is a much better looker, and my wife liked both the 911 looks and the driving better than the 951. But it's fine to drive every day, and when on the track it's pretty awesome. The SC is a great car - pretty bulletproof, fairly modern, but if you're not dead-set on a 911, take the 951S for the same $$.

Danno

You got THAT right! Can't believe some of the arrangement of parts on this thing. It's obvious that the design engineers never ever talked to the service technicians when they designed it. Simple bolts angled a couple of degrees differently or moved just a couple of millimeters in any direction would have saved HOURS from common maintenance items.

Robby

Yeah, Danno, my mechanic's been cussing me since I bought the thing

He gets plenty of 911's too, though, and doesn't mind bitching about them either. They should all be BMW's in his opinion

I've always loved the 911's of any genre- the first stick shift I ever drove was a '74 911 Targa that a friend had- incidentally, it was painted a unique shade of baby blue by my mechanic's dad (small world). It was awesome! I'm sure, in retrospect, it wasn't nearly as fast, nor did it handle or brake as well as I thought it did at the time, plus, it had air and water leaks, and you could actually see through to the ground at one tiny section on the passenger floorboard. Still, it left quite an impression on me...

I would go for the 951 though, as long as you are VERY selective, and have a pre-purchase inspection (for sure), you should do much better for the $. Just don't get into a hurry, it make take awhile for you to find the right one. I'd be looking for the lower mileage one's if I were you- better to spend a little more up front than a lot more down the line- unless, you do your own work, and are looking for an expensive project car(?)...

VectorGuy

Well, You posted this question on a 944 board, so don't be surprised if the answers you get all lean this way. A very experienced Porsche mechanic told me, the most bang-for-the-buck Porsche ever made is the 944 Turbo, especially the S. It's super civilized in daily use, and can really shine when you turn it up. Drive them both, and you'll see. As the others said, though, be careful what you buy. A neglected car will make you regret ever looking at the marque. A well maintained example will give you grins for years. Both can be expensive to maintain, but when running right, they are tough to beat.

VectorGuy

Hey guys, for a hoot, peek over at the 911 board and see what the air cooled guys had to say about this same question! 911 guys vs. 951
I don't usually browse over there, but I was curious what other advice Brian was getting. It's obvious who has driven a 944 T and who hasn't.

pig4bill

Yeah, BMW's are designed to be disassembled. Mine is by far the easiest car to work on I've ever seen.

Robby

Whatcha got? An M3 maybe? I just got to drive a new M5 the other night- not quite what I expected, but still pretty wild for such a large car- it definately felt bigger than it was though, but that ~395hp really tossed it around well. I'm a big believer in the E36 M3's after having run around in several of those. I'd just like to have around $25k to throw into my 951, and then see how they would stack up

pig4bill

No, I just have an old 318is. But even that old thing has hydraulic lifters, distributorless ignition, plugs that go 50k miles, etc. Normal maint is just filters and oil. The e36 M3 is a nice street car but has definite weaknesses as a track car.