race911

Anyone want to make mention it's an '89 C4........................ With 170K. And while probably a fair asking price, certainly no deal-of-the-year. Nothing wrong with that in and of itself, but if you're looking for the potential can o' worms (save dual mass flywheel), isn't this the one?

And remember, no airbags on '89 C4's.

To comment on the oh-so desirable RSA's lack of power steering--it sucks. It sucks on the street, it sucks on the track. (I'll submit it sucks less with 205 front tires, but who runs it like that?)

And whoever said $40K for a high miler RSA........paid $18K and $25K is probably a fair price for mine now, but it's not for sale so who cares!

blake

Now tell us how you really feel! You say it "sucks" but do not offer any details.... Please elaborate so that we might all understand...

$40K+ is the price for RSAs with "high miles". I stand by that based on the prices listed at RSAMERICA.NET. Can you think of a more definitive source? Granted, it does depend upon one's definition of "high miles"... In my book, that would be over 70K miles on the odometer....

My $0.02,
-B

race911

Sorry I was so blunt, but I'd been up about 18 hours at that point. Shame on me for PWE (Posting While Exhausted).........

Don't have to understand, just go drive the things. Pretty much anyone is welcome if we cross paths at Thunderhill.

But if you want some specifics: First 964 I messed around with was a customer's '89 (C4 obviously) in about '91. This was about the time BFG's came out? 225/245 and whatever lousy shocks and springs you could put on the thing. But it worked reasonably well, understeer be damned. Wow, what had a 911 become!

Flash forward to (bow down), the RSA in '94. Had 3 I was involved with. Picked Monte Smith's brain (to throw out someone from your neck of the woods) when I crossed paths with him at club races. (I wasn't driving then, no $$$ post-law school). Memory could be fuzzy, but I think that was one of his gripes. So we set one friend's RSA up for autocross as he was a beginner and man was that thing a bear to steer with those same BFG's I liked so much on the C4, and even my '79SC or '74SCish track rat. Other 2 guy's club racer RSA on Hoosiers (245/275) were ok because of the tire construction (e.g. light).

So then I get my own 964 (disposable income, a wonderful thing!), a '92 C4 in 1998. Started tracking it in '99 with about the same setup that '89 had. Except BFG's were long gone, and it was V700 time. I'd run the C4 a session, then one of those 2 RSA's, the autocrosser guy having graduated to track duty and ran V700's, and the other guy's club racer on Hoosiers. Every *^(**)(* time I drove the RSA for a half hour session I was much more exhausted than my own car.

Well in '92 an $18000 RSA dropped in my lap (RSA #1), and while it wasn't overly developed, a 30-45 minute session always did my arms in. Again, better with Hoosiers. So that car got wrecked at Sears in '03, and this RSA I have now (coincidentally, another $18K find w/ 130K miles) is set up like the old '92 C4........and whenever I take it out.........it's just a pig compared to the 993. It's even more of a chore than the Radical. Running RA1's, but still.

So there's a rambling account of why I don't like manual steering on the 964 and later cars. To each his own.

As far as prices, Keith's site is nice enough, but it's mostly concerned with keeping prices pumped. I submitted the RSA #2 with a realistic price last year when an attractive GT3 popped up, and he pumped my price almost $5K. I wanted to sell the car NOW. Granted July 2007 isn't February 2006, but no takers for my 135K concours presentable but all mechanically original car for ~$25K.

cupcar86

RSA's are seriously overrrated, mine with all the correct deletes (SR, AC) & including LSD always drove like a car with power steering that was then removed. 3.2 Carrreras have a steering feel that is long gone from anything Porsche has built since. Besides, the 964 forum is not the most neutral place to debate the 3.2 vs. 964 question, it is a purely individual decision (I love both 3.2s and 964s). 40K IMO for any RSA is delusional as far as I am concerned.

JasonAndreas

Were you also running 225s up front?

cupcar86

As I recall it had 225's up front, the car was only 2 years old with full Porsche CPO and the tires were almost brand new but to me the steering felt heavy without the input that I would get in my 3.2. Porsche ended up putting 4 brand new tires (I think Pirellis at $1500) on the car as it was very unstable at speed, this cured the instability but still left me thinking the car just didn't feel as connected to the road surface as my 3.2 even though it was massively faster. Strangely enough the RS NGT and cup car feel the part but they are so different that I really don't know why.

JasonAndreas

What size wheels are you running on the NGT? That has the same steering rack and the weight over the front wheels shouldn't be a whole lot less? The only reason I ask is that I plan on upgrading to (what I think are) the same 18" Speedlines. My RSA with custom valved PSS9 is an absolute joy to drive but I'm still running around with 205s up front. Compared to other cars and even newer Porsches (especially 993) the feedback from the steering wheel is on another level. If upgrading to 225/17's or larger 18"s ruins that feeling then I need to think twice about it.

I wasn't too happy with P-Zeros that I put on back then either.

jlr

My RSA w/ PSS9 is also a joy. I don't have the alignment specs off hand but it made all of the difference when I received the car. The original alignment made it tough to drive. It has always had incredible feedback and excellent precision. No question the newer cars are more precise, but they lose a lot of feedback. I drove a 964 turbo a few months ago and it seemed very loose and numb compared to the RSA. Now, in an autocross, power steering is always going to be quicker unless the car is extremely light (i.e., Lotus Elise). However, on the track -- even a technical one like Barber Motorsports Park -- my car is no way hard to drive. It's pure joy, much more fun than the 997S I had, which was wonderfully precise but isolated the driver. Whether the RSAs are overated or not is a different question. I suppose compared to the Cup Edition or 964RS cars they are, but they do provide more feel than a standard 964, are FAR cheaper than the true RS variants, and have a newer suspension than the 3.2s. My completely biased, overpaying RSA owner opinion.