I sold my 944 Turbo a few years ago and have regretted it every day since. It's still a very competent sports car with a still contemporary feel some 25 years down the road. That said, I just took delivery of my Cayman S this week and, with all of 100 miles logged, I am looking forward to creating many new fond memories with an even more awesome car!

Ron

 

I sold my '88 turbo S a couple of years ago. I had owned it for almost twenty years and it's maybe the only car I've owned that I would consider buying back. That said, I wouldn't trade my Cayman S for it. Comparing the two cars, the turbo was more of a grand touring car, the Cayman is more of a sports car. The turbo was a supremely comfortable long distance cruiser, more so than the Cayman. It also had a more laid back character than the Cayman. Effortless speed, effortless cornering, while the Cayman seems to be always on its toes, ready for the next input. Two entirely different personalities, both great Porsches. And while some writers called it the best Porsche, the 944 turbo seemed to go largely unnoticed, except to those who owned and loved them. The Cayman seems to me to be destined for the same fate, and that's fine with me.

 

thx for the post...

I'm thinking about an '88 S or '89 951 for my son and I to work on together...

They seem to be appreciating in value now..

 

I also have a 2007 Cayman 2.7 in silver. I traded in my (chipped) Audi TT and always missed the mid range grunt available with the Audi's turbo. I recently had a TPC turbo installed on my Cayman and now that issue has been solved. The turbo power comes on fairly smoothly at 3000 RPM and now the Cayman would blow away my old TT. The turbo plus installation is not cheap (around $12,500) but I am very happy with it.

 

I have a "89" 951S well sorted with all the race proven changes, which is used for the track. It is a great car on the track and competes well against everything and usually better. I also have a 05 boxster S, which is stock. The two are completely different as one would expect in 22 years of development and refinement. The 951S is not fun driving around town while having to contend with a very low second gear, a very tall third gear and turbo lag which makes turning a hard right hand corner at an intersection an almost powerless situation. Now on the highway the car is a blast as it was the fastest production car made from 60 to 100. The car doesn't even begin to settle in until speeds are inexcess of 80 +. It is amazing how that little 2.5 just checks out. Now the boxster S with it's torque and close ration 6 speed box is a joy around town. On the highway it is comfortable and gets good milage as one would expect. The two are very different as one would imagine after 22 years of R & D. But for speed work it is the 951S hands down. Great brakes, throttle on over steer, good speed and handling. A unification of the car and driver. For comfort, practicallity and modern convenience it is the boxster S. Now put me in an interseries Cayman and now we are talking. What a car.

 

Yeah, I remember those right hand turns at intersections.................. Used to remind me of a Vega at anything less than 3000 RPM, but drop it into third gear at 70 and it would just blow by traffic.

 

I have had the opposite experience. I feel that a sports car shouldn't be as comfortable as a sedan. It should be light, agile, entertaining at all speeds. Above all, a sports car should be visceral and communicative. Outright speed and acceleration should be secondary to the feel of the road. I've had my Boxster S for 6 years and stiffened the chassis and suspension to bring out as much sports car as possible. It's a great car, but just doesn't have the magic of the earilier 911s that I've driven.

I've started looking at 944s for track use. I only had limited seat time in one before about a month ago. I've now driven several NA cars, both S and base. Over the course of the test drives I've discovered how great this car is.

The seating position is much lower in the 944. I'd guess as much as 2 inches closer to the floor than the Box. It makes the Box feel SUVish in comparison.

The steering is much more communicative than the Boxster. It relays much more of the road surface with kicks and shakes. Even though it's power assisted, it feels very natural and realistically weighted. The Boxster feels overboosted and numb by comparison. I've not pushed a 944 to cornering limits yet, but I can tell how communicative and balanced the chassis is through the seat too. The Box is no slouch in chassis communication, but I think the 944 might at least have it matched.

Comparing coupe and convertible in stiffness isn't totally fair, but it's extremely impressive how quiet and stiff these chassis are after 25+ years. Old Porsches truely are built like bank vaults. The doors close with the trademark click. My Boxster only has 45,000 miles on it and isn't as rattle free as these 110,000+ mile cars. All this and 200 pounds lighter.

Considering all of the failure points of the Boxster's engine and chassis at much lower age and mileage, the 944 seems better designed for reliability. There are design flaws in the water cooled flat 6 engines that aren't charactoristic of Porsche's reputation.

I have to admit that I've become so enamored with the honesty of the 944 that I'm seriously thinking of selling the Boxster because it just isn't necessary. I'm dissapointed in modern Porsches as sports cars. Even the extreme 911, the GT3, is over 1.5 tons. I don't see much progress in these cars over 30 years in driving reward.

 

The steering is much more communicative than the Boxster. It relays much more of the road surface with kicks and shakes. Even though it's power assisted, it feels very natural and realistically weighted. The Boxster feels overboosted and numb by comparison. I've not pushed a 944 to cornering limits yet, but I can tell how communicative and balanced the chassis is through the seat too. The Box is no slouch in chassis communication, but I think the 944 might at least have it matched.

I had a 944 and 951 (see my signature below) and I agree completely about the steering. Today's Porsche's can't match the old cars for steering feel. The steering of my GT3 is probably second to none among the current lineup of Porsche models, but the 944/951 was still superior in feel. The modern cars have evolved towards higher levels of "refinement" but at the cost of more layers of isolation between the driver and the road. This is why the GT3/GT2 are arguably the "purest" of the Porsche's today.

 

I've had far two many 951's (4) and 944 NA (1). I really enjoyed driving them, in fact the 944 NA was my first p-car, and started this whole obsession with the brand (or at least confirmed that my desires were grounded in fact).

I had a 951S which I installed the Autothority "Street Power" package on (head machined for higher compression, extrude honed manifold, software) that was a beast. Loved it on the track, but it was too much for the street. By the time you spooled it up you ran out of road.

I had three '86 951's - one of which was a PCA F class racecar. It proved that the platform could beat the 3.2 Cararra in a fair fight, but I had a hard time beating the highly prepared 968 cup cars in a straight line. It was also very hard on front tires when pushed to the limit. But it worked, and worked well.

I've had a 987S for a few months. The car is an autocross handling dream. The closest comparison on handling is a MR2 Turbo I had back in the day, but the 987 car blows it away (then again that MR2 had T-tops and a gutless 2.0l turbo)

As much as I liked driving the 944 derived cars, I hated working on them. I did clutch jobs and a full engine rebuild (on the 88 "S") and it was a nightmare even with a lift, factory manual, special tools and a spare assembled 951 engine to refer to!

So, I am not looking to return to the 951 world, although I try to have fond memories. And a trophy bottle of PCA Club Racing Champagne or two helps

 

I've had a 987S for a few months. The car is an autocross handling dream. The closest comparison on handling is a MR2 Turbo I had back in the day, but the 987 car blows it away (then again that MR2 had T-tops and a gutless 2.0l turbo)

My dad put 360,000 miles on his 91 MR2 Turbo with only two clutches and the original turbo! But that car was absolutely dead as far as chassis and steering communication. WAAAYYY too much isolation. You could never tell where the limits where and when you reached them, the back end was gone before you could react. I never felt that it was gutless though. I really liked the engine.

His was white too with a blue interior. It was a rare sunroof car.

 

86 944 Turbo purchased new
Great touring car and the back held just about anything you could stuff in!
Sunroof was PITA!
Traded on 93 Audi S4 and never really missed it,but have fond memories of trips in the car