TargaTango

Anthony, You will not know until you suck it and see. My guess is that for a daily driver, you will really miss good AC. I have no idea how marginal AC is in a 930. I do know that I have made my car a reasonably tough environment to be in with no AC (and Hong Kong can be nice and hot and humid for quite a few months in the year), no power windows and mirrors (I so miss power mirrors), no rubber in the suspension etc. When I step out of it, my WRX Impreza feels like a Lexus. I still think it is great for what I use it for, and that is a car to give me a sensory blast for recreational drives on a Saturday or Sunday morning. It would be tough as a daily driver. If finances are not a problem and you can chop and change, you will certainly enjoy the experience but I will take a guess that you will not stay with the 930. Good luck.

race911

Seems we have a good number of "been there" stories already. Actually, not ever having owned a serial-numbered 930, but working on them in the wheelhouse of their era (early '80's to mid '90's), I saw way too many get modified out of their usefulness in search of being something "better". And that "better" seemed to always be a moving yardstick. Faster? Better handling? More civilized ride? Functioning A/C?

So now that we have hindsight, I can't imagine ANYONE desiring a torsion bar chassis car as a primary car if you can afford something newer. (Yes, that would even include a 996.) Can you make a 930 go beyond fast in a straight line? Sure. And you can even regear it and run engine management these days to make it tractable. Can even upgrade (or buy an '89) for a hydraulically actuated clutch. Can you make them handle and ride decent? Sure. Motons, etc. and someone who knows what the hell they're doing can make the old chassis pretty magnificent. Even the A/C can be made to work as well as a 993.

But in the end you'll have spent what a decent 993 turbo is costs.

So I join in the others who say if you can add one, sure; it's quite a different experience. But life has marched on as far as stepping back in the time machine.

vjd3

I've owned both ... 87 930 and numerous 993s.

I love all my 993s, but it's the 930 I still dream about from time to time. Terrific car. Mine was a 4-speed (89 was the first year of the 5-speed and the hydraulic G-50 clutch), but it's a very driveable car, as long as the clutch is good (light as a 993 if it's working right).

Slow as molasses off the line, but look out when the boost kicks in ... then it's rocket city. Mine was lightly modded as well, B&B intercooler, Euro muffler and H&K boost controller (never went higher than 1.0, car was plenty powerful at .08).

The steering is nice and light when you're moving, it's a little challenging when standing still but not that bad. The AC is not going to keep up in Dallas, though ... I lived in Wichita when I owned it, and it was warm compared to the 993. It will cool you if it's working correctly, but you'll have to blast it. There are some CoolAire upgrades you can do to it.

The biggest enemy of the car is heat, though, so if you're planning on driving it hard, or getting stuck in traffic, I'd do one of the oil coolers up in the nose. Watch the oil temp dial on it, it will get up there.

I sold mine before moving to Boston, because the roads up here are not so great, and traffic is horrendous. But I drove it almost daily in Kansas, and it's a blast.

I can't say it's better than a 993, or certainly a 993TT, but it is all the rawness of the 911, and it's intoxicating.

Mike_A

probably the best looking P car ever...beware of the grey market cars prior to the 86....the only way they maintain value is as bone stock , in unmolested condition....mine was a garage queen that got exercised once every 3 months or so.....just looking at it was pleasure enough.....they are not a daily driver, most especially if you shoe them with outsized wheels and rubber....

Stealth 993

Their great cars! But not sure of making it a DD.

They are not so great in traffic, due in part to the 4sp & lack of low end torque combined with turbo lag. Of course you are getting a car with a lot less lux items. I lust after a nice 930, but it would be a fun car.
It can be downright scary in bad weather. They came with some pretty small rubber.

Of course everything can be fixed. But that does remove some of the character of the car. Or split the difference & pick up a 965. All the styling, but with some comfort.

1pcarnut

Probably my favorite pcar of all time was my '91 965. It was lightly modded with a Tial wastegate and GHL exhaust and boy was it fun. Before going to look at it a friend let me drive his 88 930. Took it out for about an hour and got a nice feel for the car. Then went to LA to get the 965. No comparison. The 930 was slow and overgeared. The 965 had good a/c, far better suspension, easy clutch, and had amazing power. It made a great daily driver since first gear was not so tall as the 930 and setting off was easy. It felt like a modern car compared to the 930 which felt very dated. Terrible gas mileage by the way. If your budget will allow, something to think about. After the 993 I believe you would find a 930 a step down even though very nice to look at.

axl911

Wow!!! Thanks for all the inputs. Maybe I should take a half step back from this ledge.... and onto another.

How about this? Get a turbocharger or supercharger for my car and do a GT2 look. I kinda like the look of the car attached....even without the flared/C2S side rockers. Except mine will be in white.

It must be winter and I am bored...or just getting crazy.

race911

That'll be the end result of the yellow car sometime. But it's kind of on hold indefinitely since it really won't be much faster on the track. (It's not a street car at all, so there's no worry of making a horribly bad riding/driving car worse there.)

993Brendan

Send a pm to Al Z. He owned my car and sold it to me so he could buy a 930. He got a sweet one, but got rid of it pretty quick and bought Cactus' car. After selling his second 993 to Cactus, he bought a 996TT. Last I heard he had sold that and was thinking about anohter 993. Beginning to see a pattern forming?

Al Z

AXL911,
Like Brendan said, I sold him my polar silver 993 and purchase an 87 black 930, sold it and purchased an 89 944 Turbo S, purchased cactus red 993 with 19k miles. Until recently I had a 2004 TT X50 996. I still have my Polar silver 79 930 turbo which I purchased from my old Porsche mechanic back in michigan. It is a very nice car with nice upgrades. K27, SC cams, upgraded chain tensioners, Andial intercooler 993 TT head studs, one bar waste gate and such.....All fresh mechanicals and upgrades about 6K miles ago. If you are interested give me a call and we can chat. 248-631-7660.
Thanks in advance,
AL