Clarkson praises the Porsche 944

janstett

janstett

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86 944 Turbo, 2000 TA, 09 GC Overland, 11 CLS550
This made me puff my chest out a little bit. Tiff had a nice nostalgic review of it a bit back (he did race them for Porsche), and now Jeremy adds this in his "Clarkson on Porsche" article:

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"And then they fitted flared wheel arches and a new four-cylinder 2.5-litre engine to create the 944. I wanted one of those so much I ached. In fact, if I were to draw up a list of the 10 best cars I've ever driven, the 944 turbo would certainly be included. You can buy them these days for five grand."

I think it's time to update my sig, and make myself feel better about discovering mine wouldn't start this morning :)
 
Yes, the 944 was considered one of the best handling cars in the world at the time - if not THE best. It held that title well after production ended, too.

It was also my favorite all-around Porsche back when I was racing them, though I preferred the S2 version. It's successor, the 968, was even better, just not as handsome.


Edited to add: Too bad they cost more to maintain annually than their market value.
 
Censport said:
Yes, the 944 was considered one of the best handling cars in the world at the time - if not THE best. It held that title well after production ended, too.

It was also my favorite all-around Porsche back when I was racing them, though I preferred the S2 version. It's successor, the 968, was even better, just not as handsome.
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Some said that the regular 968 was a bit sloppy, especially with the Tiptronic transmission, but the 968 CS is considered to be one of the very best handling cars ever made. They are rapidly getting more expensive though, only a couple of years ago the average second hand value was about 15 % less than today. Autocar considers the 968 CS to be the best handling car to date.

Much of the credit for the front engine/transaxle Porsche's good handling has to go to the transaxle layout which matched the weight of the engine up front and provided excellent weight distribution, as well as a good bit of traction with the gearbox located at the back right in front of the final drive.

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bartboy9891 said:
This was posted twice already
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Nooooo, as neither of those are specifically about the 944 nor Tiff's nostalgic review (his favorite car of the 80s), to be fair :mrgreen: Just trying to give the 944 some love.

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7qOHKSGiJ8[/YOUTUBE]
 
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So I know I don't own a 951, but I prefer the Miata's handling to the 944. It's more fun, the 944 has more grip, definetly, but the Miata is just so perky. Maybe it's because I have a pre-85 model and a wicked nasty lurch when I get off the gas hard?
 
1989 951 FTW. (I :heart: my Dad). I love the looks, the sound of the turbo, the gear change, the feel of the clutch, the handling. I'm lucky enough to have driven it a few times.

Censport said:
Edited to add: Too bad they cost more to maintain annually than their market value.
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And he's spending nowhere near the market value of his car annually. Maybe that's cos he treats that car like his 4th child... And it's only done 120k km (75k mi) since he rolled it off the showroom floor 19 years ago.
 
I think hes right about us wankers though, we really do have a greater appreciation for beauty.
 
Can anyone tell me if this car was tested in old Top Gear and if so, in what episode (or season)?

Thanks a lot.
 
That's not really a road test :).

I mean a full-on review from when it was new, late eighties (for the more recent versions) with other words...
 
N/A '86 here with 300kkm behind :) It's very very far from it's best shape, and I think I've spent around 1-1.5k eur annually in my 5 years ownership, market value being about 6k eur here. Been using it all year round as a daily driver (think Finnish winter). Right now thinking about selling it, mainly because it's gonna make me broke soon, but I'm having tough time choosing a replacement :(


Mee said:
That's not really a road test :).

I mean a full-on review from when it was new, late eighties (for the more recent versions) with other words...
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Yeah, I've seen at least 924S vs rx-7 test (mid 80's) and 951 in '91 or '92 series. Don't remember more specific dates.
 
My first car was a 944 and I couldn't believe I had a Porsche for less than 5K

Of course then I had to replace the water pump ($525), wheel bearings ($800), pop-up headlight mechanism ($500), radiator ($400) and that was just in the first year.

Even still it was hard to part with it.
 
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