1987 Porsche 911 Reviews - Page 2 of 3

Nothing yet, I just bought the car. Only have had it for a month or so.

It's funny to me how certain parts are so outrageously expensive, while others (which would seem to be) are not.

I have always wanted a late 80's 911. This was THE car when I was in high school. I never thought I'd be fortunate enough to own one, but the time came and I jumped on it.; In my opinion '87 is the best aircooled year - first year of the G50 transmission, hydraulic clutch and better halogen headlights among other improvements.

It's a triple black cabriolet with the turbo body look (large tea tray fin, flared fenders and ground effects). It has also been lowered quite significantly. It's not refined, it's loud and stinks like an old German boat, but it's a blast to drive. The tires, top, all rubber and interior are brand new - the car looks nearly perfect. The previous 2 owners took excellent care of it - I have all service records since new, including all the above mentioned items.

It is nothing special below 4500 rpm, but above that, it's a screamer. The Fabspeed exhaust, cat by-pass, intake and performance chip have bumped hp to 250. This doesn't sound like much, but the light weight and torquey engine give the ride great 2nd and 3rd gear acceleration.

I could have bought a much newer one for the money, but this is one of the last handbuilt ones and the aircooled engine is easy enough for me to work on.

I hope to keep the car forever.

Nothing..

This low mileage Porsche was upgraded with new tranny gearing, which is a must because the car is too slow otherwise.. it feels like you added 50 horses..

Headlights are too dim; needed to upgrade them to euro specs H5 dual bulbs.. and had car lowered one inch with one degree forward rake.. Bilsteins all around..

If you want a nice handling daily driver this car is great.. It looks great after putting on the Mille cup wheels.

Original Blaupunkt stereo stopped working in 2004.

Front windshield pits easily.

Side pockets (plastic part) cracked by the door.

This car is like the first pretty girl you dated in High School. The only difference is the car looks the same today as it looked 23 years ago - the girl???. - Timeless look.

Great on corners.

The high school girls still look at you when I pick up my oldest son from a high school event. Reality = they are admiring the car and or my son.

I manage around 25 MPG, as I never race around.

When I first got the car, it suffered from a spongy brake pedal. The standard fixes didn't seem to work, and the independent service place tried a bunch of (expensive) things. It ended up being a combination of the brake pedal height adjustment and rear rotors that needed replacing. The rotors seem to wear fairly fast on mine, and for some reason, the rear brakes wear out before the fronts.

The interior electrics have been a bit unreliable, with 2 power window switches and 2 seat adjustment switches breaking.

My rear anti-sway bar brackets ripped out from the body and had to be welded back in.

The fuel pump also died this year, which is a bit pricier than most.

With all the above, you would think I'd be ready to ditch this baby, but you'd be wrong! The engine growls like no other (my family always knows when I'm coming or going). The styling is very unique. There just isn't anything like it.

I recently considered replacing this with a new 350Z. The Z is faster, handles better and stops quicker. It just didn't have that raw emotion of driving a semi-race car. I'm enhancing my 911 instead.

One note to anyone considering a 911, don't skimp on tires. I had all season Michelin radials on the car and thought it handled pretty well. I switched over to Michelin "summer" tires, and the change was unbelievable.

As others have said, maintenance is key. Much of the car is actually pretty easy to work on yourself, in fact I ended up doing much of the brake work myself. It still costs more than most cars, but that's the price you pay for performance.

And it does perform. Below 3500 RPM, you can putt around town comfortably. Wind it up over that, jamb on the brakes and dive into a corner, and you're an instant racer! After 6 years I'm still not tired of it.

Every article says to get the most recent Porsche you can afford. Newer models will get you air conditioning that actually cools you down, ABS brakes and power steering. However, I'm not sure it will get you any more fun or reliability.