924Board.org

[timstar92404]

am I just a bad driver or does the 4spd manual suck really bad.?

1st gear seems totally useless taking off at the light from a stop right when you accelerate you have to immediately shift quickly to 2 and 2nd gear isn't much either it get very loud and annoying very quick.

3rd gear seems like the only drivable gear. thats why its really annoying taking off from a stop in my 928. don't really enjoy driving it in 1st and 2nd gear.

I don't know if the 5speed is a much bigger improvement or not...

kinof want to sell my 924 and get a newer car maybe a 944 thats more practical for daily driving.
_________________
78 924 sold.
85.5 944

[Roger]

I have the 5 speed and first gear still has litte power. Once I shift to second the car does begin to accelerat nicely though. The five speed is much nicer for the highway.
_________________
1981 924 NA

Some people are like Slinkies. Not really good for anything, but you
still can't help but smile when you see one tumble down the stairs.

[alxch1n15]

hey, remember, 1st gear is only there to get you started. you're not going to find many cars, new and old, that have a very strong 1st gear. imho, i'd rather have a car with stronger higher gears than stronger lower gears, just because of the durability. think about the amount of stress you're putting on your car when you want to get it to move...its not easy to move a ton of metal.
but again, im not one who likes to pass people off the line...
alex
_________________
'81 924 n/a

[Joes924Racer]

5 gears is nicer you can always put it in 5th
having 4 gears you run out of gears. Is there
little difference in ratios or alot.
_________________
1979 porsche 924 Na
1980 porsche Turbo 931GT Replica
Have u ever driven a turbo.

[timstar92404]

but with the 4spd 924 it seems that unless you are a crazy fast shfiter you are accelerating slower than old mnivancs.....

when I get into 3rd it starts to feel better and accelerated nicely.

when I take off at intersection I have to shift gears from 1 to 2 in the middle of the intersection because by then the engine is at like 5000 rpm and it sound pretty annoyingly loud and crappy.

2nd gear doesn't really accelerate much after 3500 rpm it just gets way too loud. 3 and 4 are nice.

I just try to drive in 3 like an automatic and just slow down with 2 when the light changes nad stop with 1.



this is the first car that i'm driving stick with so I have to working on my shfiting skills too.
_________________
78 924 sold.
85.5 944

[Lizard]

the 4 speed is just as good as the 5 speed tim, and you wont be happy with the 944 either, as it isnt quick either, also you COULDNT afford ANY other porsche,

my recommendation is to drive the one you have, and learn to love it!

forget the notion of getting ANY OTHER P-CAR,

if you dont like the power of it BUY A FORD.
_________________
3 928s,

[timstar92404]

oh yeah LIzard , I was wondering if I were to buy a 944 would you be able to do the front end service for me or no?

I assume you can as you work on the 928?



the 924 isn't cheap to maintain either.

allt the little crap adds up pretty fast. Like I need both a sunroof and hatch seal and thats going to cost alot.
_________________
78 924 sold.
85.5 944

[timstar92404]

its not about power really .

there isn't really anything wrong with the 924 , its just really old.

the 944 is more modern and suits daily dring better I think.
_________________
78 924 sold.
85.5 944

[Lizard]

the 944 is yes abit more modern, as far as a daily driver, the 924 is way better, if something breaks you can fix it on the side of the road in most instances, the 944 nope tow it home, and if you need to get to work the next day well you had BETTER rent a car, and have enough money to pay for a garage to do the work,

I have done 2 944 front end services and 1 oil cooler seal job, neither are fun imo,
just for parts alone you are looking at around $500 USD at a MIN
then you would be looking at about 1-1.5K for shop labour,
I charge $20 an hour and recommend that between 1000-1500 km you take the car to a authorized shop and have them retension the belt using the tool, when I tension it after doing the job I do it via sound, which is supposed to be the most accurate way of doing things, with the porsche tool you must calibrate it and the kemph tool it takes getting used to, I did tension my 928 belt this way and had it checked against the porshe tool by a shop and I was DEAD on,
however when I do the work I know that the owner of the car is aware that I hole ABSOLUTELY NO responsibility for anything that was done, if that belt snaps I am NOT going to fork out 1 penny or do any labour free of charge, it is there choice, and as I said I have done 2 cars and both are still runnning perfectly to this day. as if they were to fail it would be due to parts.
so yes i would do the service but you would be looking at $500 USD for parts, and about $200 in labour (roughly), now keep in mind with a 944 thatis every 30k miles, or 3 years, and if something breaks you MUST have the money to fix it RIGHT away, you cant just let it sit,
and Tim you are NOT in that financial position, and you have NO mechanical ability et al,
I strongly recommend that you forget about any porsche other than the 1 you have for MANY years, once you have a HUGE wallet and can afford to have all the work done at a shop then get a 944 or another model,

but all you do is b*tch and complain about the 924, you wont be much happier with ANY of the other models, as they all have there quirks, the 911s have a crappy shifter and long throws (imo anyways) and are basically a go kart, they are not a luxery car unless you get a newer one which I doubt you could afford, the 928 is a luxery car and does ride great but it has a few things that you wouldnt like theyfeel like they are REALLY slow off the line and you dont feel any speed in them, and they have MASSIVLY tall gear ratios, so it will feel slow (even though you would blow a 944s doors off)
the 944 is a slow car period, they are not much more powerfull than the 924 and the parts are WAY more expensive, and service is required ALOT more often, and if you neglect it the car will fall apart at the seams,
the 931, a bugger to work on, quicker than a 944 but not off the line, they are really slow until you hit boost, and first gear is useless in them,

oh and in my experiance, all the 924/931/944 line are NOISY cars, you hear alot of road noise and feel every little bump, which for a performance driver is great, but you are not a performance driver, you dont like noise, and probably dont know how to read every little bumpy input the car gives to you.

if you want a nice smooth quiet car get a mercedies benz or something like that, but agian you had better have massive pockets,

I think you should get a beater sell the 924 (no you wont get your money out of it) and drive that car till it dies, and you will have to stop being so picky about noises and bumps and all of that other stuff,

I hope that you read this and take it to heart this time Tim, as I am not joking, and I am not trying to be mean here, but the guys and gals on this board like these cars for what they are, all you do when you come on here is complain, and I have recieved numerous pms and e-mails asking what the deal is with this guy.
what you need to do is accept that older porsches are rough sports cars, most owners like loud exhausts, and that is there music, they are designed to feel every little bump, and when porsche does make a car that you dont feel every little bump in the owners complain and alot of the time change the suspension to make it rougher as this is a sports car, not a family sedan or SUV, it is designed to give the driver feedback. heck all the reviews of the new 911s people are complaining about the fact that they dont have enough feel any more, they have tamed the feel too much.

porsche owners are a weird crowd you need to realise this, as for us Porsche isnt just a car. Porsche is a way of life!

so please on behalf of all the people I have recieved emails from read some mechanical books learn how to change a light bulb without having to ask a question, learn what a intake pulse is, understand how an engine works, what timing is, etc etc etc,
and the biggest thing is to not complain about the car, if you want a 944 or another model fine, look for one, and when you find that perfect car for you (test drive it first) then buy it without the help of the board,
and no old porsche will be perfect, and I mean NONE, even the garage queens and low milers will have issues (sometimes more than 1 driven every day)
so keep that in mind, when you are driving your car,
you must enjoy the exhaust notes, the burbles without the resonator, the go kart feeling and all the little quirks that she has.

I hope that you understand where some of us are coming from after reading this and if you decide to stay in the porsche family I hope that you come to terms with how most of us are.

*mods if you feel that I was out of the board guidelines please delete/modify the thread accordingly*
_________________
3 928s,

[Khal]

At the risk of getting myself censured; Yep, the 944 is generally acknowledged as being a better car. It's certainly smoother and quieter. It's more powerful than the 924 NA's (other than the S) but AFAIK it's heavier, too. So the performance of the very first 944 NA's is probably not hugely different to late 924's. May even be slightly slower in acceleration, than a very late 924S. Then again, you do get a 5-speed gearbox in all the 944's, which seems to be your main gripe against your 924 in this thread

To me it doesn't seem that you're enjoying your 924 experience -that's cool, I can understand why it might not be the car for you. Yep, they're old... the NVH (noise, vibration, harshness) is generally poorer than even the cheapest new Korean hatchback, they require pretty much constant attention to little niggling issues (any car this age does) and more often than not, they require some fairly major repairs to bring them up to spec when you first purchase them (again, any car this age probably will). And in the end, you've still only got what amounts to a good condition 25-year-old car.

So, after reading constant complaints from you about your car (and again, I do understand, it's probably just not what you expected it would be), maybe it is time for you get rid of it.

There's any number of very good modern Japanese "sports" coupes. And I think they tend to fairly cheap out your way. One that a mate owned that I was very impressed with is the Honda Integra (Type R's the best but any of them with VTEC are a hoot). A first generation WRX might be quite cheap out your way now, too (if you can find one that hasn't been thrashed to death )

Just my musings, anyway...

I cant' agree more Lizard's statement: Porsche owners are a weird crowd. You need to realise this because for us Porsche isnt just a car, Porsche is a way of life!
_________________
'80 924 Turbo

[timstar92404]

NOt saying its a bad car.

its seems pretty realiable for a car that is from 78 and hasn't been restored.

on another topic today I noticed something strange. thought maybe its cause my car most likely had a front collision.

but when I make hard turns around corners in my 924 while turning the steering wheel allt he way to one end I think I heard the tires rub against something ...... I again heard it when turn the whel to make a sharp turn and park....not sure what this is possible due to having a accident before.
_________________
78 924 sold.
85.5 944

[timstar92404]

sorry if I offened anyone , I wasn't trying to do that.

the reason my 924 is pissing me off is most likely due to the fact that I didn't look for a nicer one and just bought this one cus it was for sale close to my house.

I guess I'll keep my 924 until it dies or whatever and then I'll look for a nicer condition 924 na 81-82.

I came close to buying a 82 euro 924 from surrey but the guy was asking 2800 and I wanted to pay a max of 2500 and they guy didn't want to sell it cheaper so I just didn't buy it. it had a cheap maaco paint job and ripped seats thats why I thought it wasn't worth 2800 but it had a low milliage engien and everythign electrical worked.

.
_________________
78 924 sold.
85.5 944

[Viking]

[timstar92404]

jj
_________________
78 924 sold.
85.5 944

[timstar92404]

I have never driven a 911 or 928 so I have no idea how those cars are.

From what i've heard from people is that teh 911 is a hard car to drive and you have to learn to drive it.


and yeah obivoiusly I can't afford any 911 or 928 as I go to school full time and just work part time.

if I had the money I would get a 968 they seem like really good deals.
_________________
78 924 sold.
85.5 944