1982 Porsche 928 928S "Euro" review from Australia and New Zealand

Distributor cap, rotor, platinum spark plugs and high tensions leads replaced ($400 USD). Front brake discs replaced ($350 USD). All 4 center console rocker switches replaced ($200 USD). Instruments required substantial work ($250 USD). Rear Wiper failed. Passenger rear view mirror electrics replaced ($100 USD). All these things are pretty much par-for-the-course when considering the supercar status, and 24 year age!

The 1982 "Euro" model 928S is a far cry from the emasculated US version. This is the genuine 4.7 litre 300 BHP fire-breathing dragon: even in 3-speed Mercedes Automatic guise the car is incredibly strong. No catalytic nonsense, 98 Octane Unleaded (only!) fuel.

This car was originally new in GB and imported to New Zealand in 1995. Only 2 genuine owners, and the vehicle was garaged its entire life: the paint is still mint, and original, and the leather is essentially brand new, showing no cracks, or wear points. As is very common with all 928 models, the leather has pulled away from the dashboard vents, and the windscreen must be removed to have this fixed - $USD 250 and having this done next month.

Previous owner only drove the car once a month (or less) and it was therefore in need of some decent hard driving, and some TLC: the fuses had grown "fuzzy" and many electrical systems required small repairs in order to get everything going again, correctly. (i.e. switching on headlights turned off the speedo! No instrument lights. No high-beam indicator, intermittent wing mirror behaviour etc).

Car starts first time, every time, and growls beautifully - if not utterly smoothly at the 750 rpm idle. Aftermarket all-stainless exhaust system barks a bit louder than the 928 original, raising the engine power to approximately 320 BHP. Engine sound is a bit "thrummmy" below 70 kph, but it quietens down wonderfully above 70 kph, and gets a lot smoother: highway speeds are quiet, and road noise is predominant.

The 3-speed Mercedes automatic is simply stunning, and is much preferable to the manual box version. It changes down into first gear at 100 kph for overtaking! Believe me, as soon as the car kicks down, you are already on the brakes, because the overtaking maneuver is already been and done!

At the end of the accelerator travel is the "kickdown switch" which tells the transmission to change up later, and to kick down harder. In order to improve the car's performance, I wired in a "kickdown bypass" switch, and placed a single-throw toggle switch on the centre console: this makes the transmission think that it is always at maximum throttle, and the performance is simply stunning! Peels the 225 wide tyres simply by stamping on the gas at the lights.

Steering is perfectly weighted and lightens with speed. Some might argue it is a tad heavy at very low speeds, but this serves to remind you the car weighs 3500 lbs (1600 kg) - even though it never feels this heavy.

Those unused to powerful sports cars might have difficulty parking the beast, and won't appreciate the mile-long doors. To these people, I say "Go buy a lexus you steaming great woofter!"

100 mph (160kph) feels like 100 kph (60 mph) in most cars, and 200 kph (125 mph) is just cruising. It pays to have a good radar detector, as it is extremely easy for your speed to rapidly increase without really noticing.

Handling is very neutral, with an almost perfect 50-50 weight split front-to-rear, although pushing very very hard into corners will result in a little understeer, which can be tucked in by backing off (something that won't kill you like the old 911s, due to the "Weissach" (Wee-sock) rear suspension, which provides mechanical rear-wheel steering - toe-in - in a lift-off situation) and at the apex, punishing the throttle will ultimately provide tail-out behaviour. But getting the tail wide at speed is very difficult to do as the handling is a long way better than most cars. Your girlfriend/wife/significant other will be screaming in terror before the rears let go!

Power oversteer is easiyl controlled however: Porsches spent many millions of dollars dialling the 928 handling, and even today, 24 years after manufacture, there are very few cars which handle better.

The 928 was somestime described with the adage, "Nothing as fast is as luxurious, and nothing as luxurious is as fast" - and this maxium held true from 1977 until 2002 with the release of the Bentley GT Continental (The "W12" motor)!

It is the only supercar to have devalued so heavily. It was designed to compete against the likes if the Aston Martin DB7, the Jaguar XJS, Lamborghini Countach, and the Ferrari Testarossa. Try buying any of those cars today: they are either rust-buckets or are still incredibly expensive. Oddly, it is also the best-lasting supercar ever built, predominantly aluminium and galvanised steel, it won't ever rust!

Perhaps the fact the 928 isn't a "real" Porsche (WTF?) caused its value to drop so far. That's great news for us entusiasts who always desired the 928.

Driving position is outstanding, and the electric seats are lounge-comfortable: you may get out of the car fresher then when you got in! Lumbar support can be manually installed in the driver's seat.

Maintenance is critical, and "there is no budget 928, merely a budget FOR a 928." I am setting aside $3500 a year in maintenance costs. This may seem excessive, but seeing as the pruchase price was NZD $9000 (around USD 5800) that is a small price to pay for "The finest GT car ever."

Thoroughly recommend the vehicle, but make sure you get a good one: it pays to drive several, and make sure you test them at high speed, including braking!