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The Porsche 944


ColinChapman
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I've owned a 91' turbo 944 for just over a year now, and perhaps Colin Chapman can decide what other car offers over 160mph, sub 6 sec 0-60, 25+mpg, 250HP, RWD 50/50 weight distribution, decent build quality, and made by a company with quite the same race heritage for less than £6000?

Does he also not realise that there have many cheaper models to that enable people to 'buy into the marque'....914, 924,924S 924 turbo.

Does he also realise that the last incarnation: the 968 was the finest handling car well into the 90's as judged by EVO magazine.

So in answer to your original, rather crass question, "What do people think they look like when they're seen getting out of one?", well I can safely say, "I'm not interested" because I love my car and am not interested in what others think, which seems quite contrary to yourself with all your provocative 'baiting' comments.

I've always liked Porsche, but when I spent my money I looked at a lot of the competition, bearing in mind I wanted a sports car....and none had the right mix.

The decider was a group test in Classic Car magazine between it, a Lotus Espirit, Renault A610, and a Mondial in which......the Porsche won....

Apart from anything else apart from the Lotus Cortina, Sunbeam, Carlton and any Isuzu with "Handling by Lotus" written on it, there are very few Lotuses that I could fit my mum, daughter and wife into, in comfort, to drive a 400 miles return trip in with their luggage....maybe a nice plastic Eclat or Elite or Eclair...

I'm wondering now whether you've ever driven one... or that you've just made a random statement based on a few pub facts like "It started out as a VW" or "Its engine started out in a van".... yawn.

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Lovin' it Lagoo, as weekend plaything its just great and the best part is the satisfaction of deciding to buy something...anything with amount of engineering, develpoment and inherent quality, and I don't just mean Porsche. There are loads of cars for this money that are SO much more enjoyable than the "I've got no imagination" cars at the £6-10,000 mark... I'm thinking pseudo sports coupes or 'sports' saloons etc.

My 1st years' ownership has been very interesting and I'm just ying to get it on a track, although I know the power delivery of the turbo isn't really the one to go for, for true driver involvement, but I just love the boost.

Did Colin ever actually say what he drove? I can't be bothered to read back through his/her posts....

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[ QUOTE ]

Does he also not realise that there have many cheaper models to that enable people to 'buy into the marque'....914, 924,924S 924 turbo.

[/ QUOTE ]

LOl!

I can see it now, blokey goes to Pub, chucks Porsche keyring on the table and says "Yeah, I've got a Porsche"

Picks up some woman, leads her back to his "Porsche" - a 1978 faded purple 924 (or whatever) with Zebra covered seats and fuzzy dice in the mirror.

Woman not too impressed. Woman runs off to bloke with a real Porsche ie 911, 993, 996 or 997, not the rest of this rubbish. 169144-ok.gif

yelrotflmao.gif

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I think that 944 was a good car! I feel it was a stepping stone in 80's for Porsche! In my eyes the 944 is bang on for money these days! It maybe a cheap Porsche, it may not be the nicest Porsche out there. But its a Porsche serving a purpose to its owners and thats Handling, Porsche'ness and RWD fun. You could go out and Buy a cossie but then who is the biggest fool!

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'Colin', you've EXACTLY demonstrated the flaw in your approach and argument by making another sweeping generalisation, and by trying reduce a discussion to a 'my opinion is right and yours is wrong' approach on a purely subjective topic.

I feel that the 944 is a very nice car...the only difference to MY argument is that I've backed mine up with fact and you....have not.

If I wanted to show off, surely I'd by a cheaper faster Japanese alternative, or come from a completely different angle like buying a decent hatch and filling it full of ICE and neon with full on body kits and tuning products. I'm well aware of narrow minded opinions about what makes a Porsche and what doesn't, but then if I were to apply that suggestion to another manufacturer, say Lotus for example, I'd be forgiven to suggest they are no more than a glamourised kit car with a genius for founder.... lucky I don't subscribe to that view point really.

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...by quantifying its performance, economy, cost, reliability, build quality, practicality....

Never called the 944 a step forward, although now you mention it, it was both more economical and stable than the 911 of that era and easily out handled the competition on the track...and what particular car are you thinking of that has not been 'cancelled'?? define 'cancelled' Sure it was replaced..by the 968 in the same way as a E36 replaced the E30 or whatever...can't see your point?

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Ok, point taken. 169144-ok.gif

I think that your facts are more your opinion though...I wouldn't agree with your "fact" that the 944 was/is reliable or had great build quality for example.

And where as the E30 and E36 has it successor, the E46 and the new model in six months time, the 964 does not. Production was ceased, stopped, terminated...better? beerchug.gif

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Well its nice to reach some sort of compromise...

Ok my 'fact' about reliability and build quality is only based on my experience of ownership and may not be representative of the model as a whole...

As for the 964..did you mean 968? because that had life of nearly 20 years! from 924 to 968. Not many cars last that long with the same basic structure and engine block...

The 964 became the 993 didn't it? and then the 996 etc.. so not ceased..

Again this becomes semantics since I'd question how much of the E30 is shared with the E46, so is the E30 ceased?

I mean the Toyota Corola and Honda Civic have been going for decades but they share 0% with their origins apart form the name...and market position...and popularity...you know what I mean.. confused.gif

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ColinChapman.

What is it thats wrong with the 944? Why do you attack that particular vehicle?

There are much worse cars out there, there are even much worse Porsche models out there, why the 944?

It just seems like there is a reason for your posts on the 944, almost like a baby spitting its dummy out.

Just for the record, its a simple fact that if it were not for the 924, 944, 968 and now the Boxster, Porsche AG would no longer be in business.

Without Porsche being in business after the end of the 70's, there would be no "proper Porsche owners" of modern Porsche models, because the 964, 993 and 993 would never have existed.

Some people would knock you about the lotus Elise as revenge... I think the Elise is a good car, but not a perfect one.. I have owned two of them, and one was written off because of a slow speed tyre blow out, destroyed the rear quarter (baggy mashed tyre versus composite pannels, the tyres won)

Also to those who said the 944 was cancelled, almost as if thats an argument of why its not a good car, its called evolution... the 924 became the 944, the 944 became the 968, the 968 was replaced by the boxster as the next budget Porsche. Just like with BMW, the E30 M3 BMW was replaced with a newer model, which was replaced again with a newer one... its progress, not every company is like morgan, spending decades cranking out the same daft car.

In my time, I have owned almost every mainstream model of Porsche... A 924, 944, 968, 911 3.2 Carrera, 964 C2, 993RS, as well as a few lotus models, several BMW's and in all, more sports cars than i care to mention. But by far, the 944 was not the worst, in fact it was probably one of the best cars to drive both day to day and on a track.

On the ring, my old 944S2 would give a lotus the whipping of its life.. My 944 turbo would have completely raped the elise.

So the question is.. What is the EXACT problem you have with the 944?

Is it that your wife has just run off with a guy with a 944?

Is it that you just had a 944 give your elise the spanking of its life on a motorway?

Did something just break on your elise, and while it was being repaired, someone you know with a 944 has just spent half the amount having the same kind of work performed?

Or did you break your elise while trying to perform the simple task (on most cars apart from the elise)of filling up the screen washer bottle?

Or did you just tell a 944 owner that their car had an audi engine (which it has not), only to have them come back and tell you your Lotus has a Rover engine and even the new ones just have a poxy toyota engine (interestingly the 996 engine was also part developed by toyota)

So, can you answer these questions Mr Colin (in your dreams) chapman?

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I thought Lotus made chassis, then glued plastic bit's to

them and finished off by putting a Rover K series engine

in them ?

Not what I would call a " Proper " car at all

I pity the poor people who pay loads of money for what

amounts to a scaletrix car !

James

Yes i do own a 944,yes it is a Turbo, yes it is modified

and yes it will blow the doors an Elise ! ( literally )

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Hi folks, New on here today.

I have driven both lotus elise's and 944's. I own a 944, along with sensible family barges.

You can shove your lotus where the sun doesn't shine. I still prefer the 944 even though it is an 80's throwback. Personally I don't care what people think of me in it. I bought it for me, not other people.

Anyway, hello folks, nice to pop my head in through the door.

Mike.

PS. I think Mr Chapman is trolling....I hope we don't get too many of them on here.

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