When I got in the car, I had the key in hand but not in the ignition, and the battery light was on. Key in the ignition, turn it on, and the battery light went off. Crank up the car, and no battery light. The car started fine, light was out, all is good.
The third Monday of each month is Porsche Night at the ACE Cafe in downtown Orlando. For September there were a lot of nice cars there, and the 944 was well represented.
I mean, I like to drive, and that means that I control it all…and I want everyone else to be in control of their vehicles, too. While I don’t ever see myself consciously getting into an autonomous vehicle, the thought that there will be fleets of these things out there with me is a little troubling.
Acquiring 924S and 944 cars is a disease for which there is no known cure. We find parts cars, neglected cars and even good cars, but it seems that all of them have something that needs to be fixed or improved – thus the symptoms of the disease.
“I will put some of this in it, and it will be fine.” If it is leaking, it will continue to leak. Magic fluids may help in an emergency, but eventually the leak will come back and it will need to be fixed properly. Magic leak-stopping fluids may get you home, but they are not a permanent fix.
PCA membership is inexpensive, and these events are a lot of fun.
“But I want to do all of it.”
This is where the 944 shines. This is why the 944 is the perfect enthusiast’s car.
On Saturday you can go to the PCA autocross, and embarrass a Boxster or two. Sunday morning, you can go to Cars and Coffee, and park your classic Porsche up front.
On Monday, you can drive your 944 to and from work, read some forums when you get home, and order that coil-over kit you’ve been looking at. Next weekend you’ll embarrass three Boxsters.
When – especially when – you want to do all of it, the 944 has you covered.
July 16 featured the front engine water cooled Porsches – 924, 944, 924S and 968. Owners and enthusiasts gathered at the Ace Cafe with their cars and filled the lot!
In the specifications page for the 944, the car was priced as tested at $21,000, comparable to the Corvette. Options included leather sport seats and a digital AM/FM Cassette radio. The engine showed 143 HP and 137 torques at 3,000 rpm – and the article mentions that with peak torque so low, you don’t have to push it to the redline.
For the 944, there were actually two engine designs on the table – a 3.5L V6, which was essentially a 928 engine with two cylinders missing, or an inline four cylinder, half of a 928 engine.
A few weeks ago we had a 944S come into the shop with a leaky hatch – not at the top, but the owner complained about exhaust smell into the cockpit.
The D-Production version of the 924 was a factory kit that made the 924 into an SCCA D-Production monster. Al Holbert, Doc Bundy and others campaigned these cars in the early 80’s at SCCA events all over the country.
Bugs get on your paint, glass, chrome, rubber, and whatever else faces the front of the car, depositing their dead, rotting carcasses and releasing all kinds of hellish chemicals. Here is a quick, easy, cheap solution.
Acknowledging that the 924 doesn’t get a lot of love from the Porsche purists, he also mentions that the early cars were not “especially powerful.”
Over 170 drivers and instructors registered to practice their skills at Sebring on the 3.74 mile seventeen-turn road course. Several 944’s showed up to navigate the same course that hosts the 12-hour IMSA race each March. The place bleeds motorsports history.
So in searching the internet for nuggets of 944 information, I stumble across forum posts where people talk about 1) the low power output of the 944 8v engine, 2) the desires to install forced induction and 3) the desire to dump their 944 Turbo due to high maintenance costs.