968 vs 928
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From: Northwest
968 vs 928
A lot of people are surprised by the tremendous acceleration of the 928 water pumper and there's quite a following of this car. The 968 was made in much less numbers and has a proportionately smaller but equally passionate following.
In addition to my 968 I'm fortunate enough to have an '85S 32V 928 and an '88S4. These are very fast cars...surprisingly so to most people who have not driven a 928. In my '85 I can get up to 147mph in 4th gear in no time!! But as soon as I shift into 5th gear it's like I hit an invisible wall and the car just starts to creep on up to about 155mph. 5th gear obviously is for cruising on the autobahn. I've not had the '88 on the track yet as I'm "getting it right" first and waiting on back-ordered parts from Germany (another problem with the older Pcar...NLA parts)
The 968 is much more nimble than the 928 but does not have the break neck torque that the 928 has. However, if you rev the 968 and really row the gears and hit the power curves just right, the 968 can be amazing...but you have to work at it harder. I like both cars. The 968, in my opinion, has a better engineered engine design (actually updated) than the 928 and is quite a bit more reliable because of the shorter Tbelt, Tbelt guard, newer technology than most 928s, etc.) Arguably, I feel that maintenance on the 968 is probably cheaper overall too. Both cars' body styles are great.
In today's dollars, my '88S4 would have cost about $112K (lots of expensive options the doctors and dentists could buy for the 928). It's cushy. Our 968 (in today's dollars) wasn't an inexpensive ride either, relatively speaking. Probably about $50K or so in today's dollars? Or was it more? Seems like retail was quite a bit back then? Think about what kind of car you could buy today for that kind of money.
If you strip either car of weight and do a few mods, they will scream on the track.
For cheap ($6K) you can add a supercharger to the 928...and pretty easily get 400-500 HP. With this mod, you can approach 200mph and smoke your tires with an automatic transmission at 60mph when the auto kicks down a gear (I've seen it). I don't know how you'd get traction with the 5-speed.
However, the ultimate car, I feel, is the turbo 968. I wish we could get $6K turbo kits for the 968. But due to the small numbers of 968s it's probably not feasible for a company to make these. As technology and kits for other cars become refined and more available, perhaps there will be a relatively easy adapation for the 968 at some point? We can always hope. In the meantime, the 968 is still a great performer. On a really curvy track, I don't know if the 968 or the 928 would place the best times? The 928 is still pretty heavy in the corners. Anyone else have observations on this?
Harvey
In addition to my 968 I'm fortunate enough to have an '85S 32V 928 and an '88S4. These are very fast cars...surprisingly so to most people who have not driven a 928. In my '85 I can get up to 147mph in 4th gear in no time!! But as soon as I shift into 5th gear it's like I hit an invisible wall and the car just starts to creep on up to about 155mph. 5th gear obviously is for cruising on the autobahn. I've not had the '88 on the track yet as I'm "getting it right" first and waiting on back-ordered parts from Germany (another problem with the older Pcar...NLA parts)
The 968 is much more nimble than the 928 but does not have the break neck torque that the 928 has. However, if you rev the 968 and really row the gears and hit the power curves just right, the 968 can be amazing...but you have to work at it harder. I like both cars. The 968, in my opinion, has a better engineered engine design (actually updated) than the 928 and is quite a bit more reliable because of the shorter Tbelt, Tbelt guard, newer technology than most 928s, etc.) Arguably, I feel that maintenance on the 968 is probably cheaper overall too. Both cars' body styles are great.
In today's dollars, my '88S4 would have cost about $112K (lots of expensive options the doctors and dentists could buy for the 928). It's cushy. Our 968 (in today's dollars) wasn't an inexpensive ride either, relatively speaking. Probably about $50K or so in today's dollars? Or was it more? Seems like retail was quite a bit back then? Think about what kind of car you could buy today for that kind of money.
If you strip either car of weight and do a few mods, they will scream on the track.
For cheap ($6K) you can add a supercharger to the 928...and pretty easily get 400-500 HP. With this mod, you can approach 200mph and smoke your tires with an automatic transmission at 60mph when the auto kicks down a gear (I've seen it). I don't know how you'd get traction with the 5-speed.
However, the ultimate car, I feel, is the turbo 968. I wish we could get $6K turbo kits for the 968. But due to the small numbers of 968s it's probably not feasible for a company to make these. As technology and kits for other cars become refined and more available, perhaps there will be a relatively easy adapation for the 968 at some point? We can always hope. In the meantime, the 968 is still a great performer. On a really curvy track, I don't know if the 968 or the 928 would place the best times? The 928 is still pretty heavy in the corners. Anyone else have observations on this?
Harvey
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I think the problem isn't in getting a $6k turbo kit - it's the other modifications that have to be done to make the car reliable as well. Turbo placement is also another problem to consider. I know that Speedforce Racing has made a supercharger kit for the 968 but it won't net you the power that a supercharged 928 will - in this case their really is no replacement for displacement.
