924Board.org

Fasteddie313 · Joined: 29 Sep 2013 Posts: 2595 Location: MI

my 931 is quite unpredictable as far as the way it delivers power... I sure wouldn't want some girl trying to jump out in traffic with it...

0-2700 rpm it bogs like a dog..

then when you get close to crossing 3k it wakes up and delivers 3-4 times the power at the same throttle position..

I live on a dirt road.. come out of the driveway in 1st, you need 1/2 throttle to take off until theres boost, then when the boost comes in whoosh, spins em...

I haven't had it in city traffic yet but its going to be different that's for sure..

you gotta kinda keep it above boost rpm when you shift it, don't want to be crossing that on boost /off boost line all the time..

and mine seems way smoother above boost..
below boost theres a bit more vibration, seems quite unrefined..
on boost its very smooth, higher revs its butter smooth, and pulls great....

as far as the 924s/944 I don't really know, ive never driven one..

id think the 931 would also be more unpredictable mechanically, probably the worst one to have to work bugs out of with the turbo and CIS and all..

also probably the worst to have a shop work on due to its uniqueness...

but I see the 931 as being the cool one.. because its rare, and fast (can be very fast), and for other reasons with basically no logical backing other than I love mine despite its faults..

and with the 931 you can say "Its a Porsche turbo"
instead of "it a 924, yeah its slow butt..."
or "its a 924S, its not the slow one, it has the 944 engine.. No its not a turbo.."

or the 944, everyone will know what that is, its not near as exclusive imo..

id bet that no matter witch you buy youll regret not getting a turbo 931 or 951 in the first place, unless your one of those easily satisfied complacent folk that don't crave jut a little more..

the 931 is most easily, and cost effectively improved of the bunch as far as hp performance.. with the 951 costing more but has more high end potential..

if you want power there isn't really any sense starting with a NA car when you can have a turbo..

theres an excellent thread on that subject but I don't remember right now..

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80 Turbo - Slightly Modified

jason c · Joined: 13 Jan 2014 Posts: 1018 Location: Nwi

Its called turbo lag Eddie, welcome, get use to it.

you should try a 930!

I'm not so sure the 931 is more cost effective. You can get more power from a 951 with only a little higher boost that you can make in a 931 with thousands packed in it. The 951 will be more reliable too. The characters of the cars are different. The question is basically what is the better car for a noob. Better usually means cheap, reliable and easy to work on.That is the 924S or 944. The 931 is a great car, under appreciated by the masses and even the Porsche loyal. Recommending a 931 to the average noob is doing a disservice to the noob and the car as it will more than likely end up as a basket case. This is why we don't recommend them as a starter.
You are somewhat of an exception so far, imagine if your 931 was your DD....

I have 4 931s', 5 N/A 944s' and 3 951s' including my turbo S, I love them all. After having my modified 930 for over a decade, I was surprised at how much fun my late 944 N/A still was. I thought I would have been bored with them, but no.

Fasteddie313 · Joined: 29 Sep 2013 Posts: 2595 Location: MI

Rasta Monsta · Joined: 12 Jul 2006 Posts: 11733 Location: PacNW

jason c · Joined: 13 Jan 2014 Posts: 1018 Location: Nwi

racer129 · Joined: 20 May 2013 Posts: 35 Location: East Aurora,NY

924S. Engine and drivetrain well supported and a good intro as a noobie.

Enjoy!

kcoyle · Joined: 15 Jan 2011 Posts: 712 Location: Long Island, NY

pcelenta · Joined: 16 Feb 2007 Posts: 546 Location: long island,ny

I am going to second it on the battery box. there is an old saying with rust...what you see is often the tip of the iceberg. often what looks like a good box with perhaps just some surface rust under the rubber-asphault pad thing (read water trap) is actually a mess lurking inside the upper support channel(the piece with the 3 rubber plugs where the water drains). pull the rubber plugs and look inside there...plus get underneath the dash and look were the box flange meets the inner fender. I was just about done media blasting the tray and getting prepped to paint the engine bay when under the suggestion of Jason C I had a look in there....that portion of the tray had pretty much disintegrated to dust. If you've got a mysterious water leak look in there! Also, what I have found is that many of the pre-83 cars develop a stress crack in the main tray right at the rounded curve. this is generally an easy one to fix if that is the only problem you've found with the box. yet another source for water to get into the interior.

jason c · Joined: 13 Jan 2014 Posts: 1018 Location: Nwi

Do ya know what that stress crack is from? The battery tray bottom Being flexed by the battery. That corner where it cracks doesn't have a flange in that area to stop movement.

Fasteddie313 · Joined: 29 Sep 2013 Posts: 2595 Location: MI

passengers floorboard carpet is easy to lift up, under dash, check under there for wet sound deadening material and rust on firewall..
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80 Turbo - Slightly Modified

CanadianThomas · Joined: 02 Sep 2014 Posts: 2 Location: Okanagan

This is amazing. I love it.

I have mostly decided on the 924s, seeing as the 931 is a US spec one running 150bhp? No more real power than 924s and from what I've been reading, 924s is the newbie choice. Still have a few days to decide but seeing as the 924s has upgraded suspension and so on it is seeming like the one to chose.

Please, don't stop. Tell me more oh wise ones.

gohim · Joined: 02 Nov 2002 Posts: 4459 Location: Rialto, CA

How many miles does the 87 924S have on it? US market 87 924S were rated 150hp, same as the early US market 931.

The problem with the 87 924S is that they have a tendency to blow the headgasket between 70K and 100K miles. Just about every 924S that I have seen has had the problem. 87 944s don't seem the blow the headgasket the same way. After the headgasket has been properly replaced, the engines don't seem to repeat the p[roblem, so it must have been an assembly or parts quality problems on the 87 engines that were designated to go into the 924S.

If the 924S has less than 120K miles on it, find out if the headgasket has been replaced due to failure, or damage due to a failed timing belt or balance shaft belt. If the headgasket has already been replaced, you should be GTG, otherwise, plan on the headgasket failing probably by the time the mileage hits 100K miles.

An early 944 (like the one you are looking at) is rated the same HP as the 87 924S. 87 and later 944 engines are rated 160HP, and for the 88 model year the 924S was also rated 160HP.

While a 87 924S is basically a 83-84 944 with 924 body, and 944 engine and transmission, it also has the lighter, stronger alloy rear trailing arms of the 85/2 944. Also a lot of the brake parts are alloy, where the 931/early 944 brake parts (like the 931 and 944 you are looking at) are iron, heavier, and prone to rust.

Make sure that you take into consideration of the FOES that is required every 3-4 years in a 924S or 944. It costs a considerable amount of money, and even more if you have a shop do the work. The 931 also has an interference engine but the timing belt replacement is much simpler.