1986 Porsche 944 Turbo review from UK and Ireland

When I bought the car I replaced distributor cap and rotor arm due to misfiring and stuttering during acceleration.

Bonnet struts were weak.

Clutch replaced due to slipping.

Car burnt oil when purchased, but details given below...

I bought my first 944 a 1984 944 lux in 2001 after reading excellent reviews on this site. I owned the car for the better part of two years and can confirm it's a fantastic car to live with. Cheap, comfortable and it handles like nothing else on the planet. Unfortunately I'm power mad and it annoyed me that faster sallons such as BMW 328's could easily keep with it on a straight road.

My thirst for power drove me to sell the car, but I enjoyed the car so much I had to get another 944 so I bought a turbo.

Having never been out in a turbo before I was simply blown away the first time I flored it in third! The difference between its acceleration compared to the lux is unbelievable!! The engine makes it feel like a totally different car.

In heavy traffic the 944 turbo is a bore to drive and the fuel economy is shockingly poor, it is far less usable than the lux due to its longer gear ratio's and always has to be in the right gear or it jerks about.

As soon as you find an open road or duel carrigeway though, the car suddenly begins to make sense. Stick to 5th gear at anything over 50mph and it is so relaxing to drive, the slightest movement of your toe can see you comfortably gliding past other road users at low rpm where a non turbo or infact most cars would be flat out at high rpm to follow! If however you feel the need to get evil droping into third at 60mph will see you pressed into the seat as the front end lifts and acceleration just gets more and more vicious until you have to change into fourth at a little over 100mph. If you dare to keep your foot down you'll find yourself breaking 140mph in forth only a few seconds later!

I have to admit the turbo's handling does not inspire confidense in the same way as the lux in the wet you can forget driving fast! Overtaking in the wet will see wheelspin and fishtailing in almost any gear as the turbo spins and cornering at 3500rpm+ is simply dangerous because the turbo has a habit of kicking in uninvited!

In the dry though it feels tighter and more precise than any car I'v ever driven. There is some body roll, but the steering is fantastic and smooth. Grip levels are way beyond even very spirited road driving. I once got carried away with my speed without realising and entered a fairly tight 90* bend at about 135mhp, which sounds impossible if you havn't driven a 944 but you will learn! Still I thought I had pushed it too far and was going to slide, but apart from being flung across the interior the car made no fuss at all.

As for reliability the 944 turbo must be maintained! If you look after it and keep it serviced its bomb proof. The car is totally over engineered and very well made, but if you don't change things like the belts/water pump every 40,000/80,000 miles you are asking for trouble!

My biggest issue with its reliabilty is the cost of replacing the clutch £800-1000.

Personally I love the car and there's much you can do to it at low cost if you need more power. Personally mine is currently having a 2.8 conversion to give over 400hp at the wheels, and this is not an immpossible figure for the car.

Sorry run out of time to write this now but good luck and enjoy driving. Buy a 944.