Porsche Enthusiasts Club Forum

Im new to here, and i would be really interested to see what people have done with their N/A 944s. By this i mean has any one made specific mods/improvements to them. In other car scenes N/A cars get the stainless manifold/sports exhausts/ported polished head ect...treatments and see reasonable power gains and massive drivability gains, i havent seen this with porsches yet, is the answer always 'dont bother buy a turbo'?. Any way i would love to see some pics and hear some stories if anyone has any??Cheers
Mark

So where abouts are you Mark? Mines very much work in progress. Sadly the exchange rate means it's no longer viable to tune a N/A. I've only gone as far as I have because my car had a 12mnth old £4.5K rebuild when I bought it. And the body was so clean. Swapping it for a more powerful model would mean debugging another car & probably spending even more money. If power is your goal then buying a good turbo is the way to go. If your on a budget then a lux can offer a lot of fun for about half the money. Just getting the car to oem power is a good goal & then spending money on suspension & brakes makes a lot of sense. Remember that a Porsche is already a tuned car in standard form. Looking at the stock 8v 944 cylinder head you can see that it's a beautiful job to start with. Are you looking to buy one or have you already been smitten?

I'm in aylesbury, ive had a '87 16v S for a year and a half. The thing is i like my car, ive spent money getting rid of a few of the age problems and its heading in a good direction, so you have hit the nail on the head, if i did swap for a turbo ( which does tempt me ) i would be worried about spending out on the same repairs, maybe more. And potentially end up with a ropey car. In the past with other cars ive had people still go down a route tuning N/As even if there is a turbo model. Maybe the turbos are too good, or maybe its a Porsche ethos not to tinker too much i dont know.

iv had my 1988 S model 4 about 6 months, and it was really the turbo style car i feel in love with. really my plan was 2 use this car 4 about a year and then sell and get a turbo. but once i started pouring money in 2 it, the idea of selling and buying an s2 or turbo, mainly a turbo S. started 2 worry me, would i have more or less promblems, turbo cars tend 2 hold there money a lot more and the vaule easyly justifes spending the money. but un less ur just drag racing when would the extra power really b needed? i find my 190bhp s 2 b out proforming factory states. 0-60 is claim at 7.9 but it hit 6.5/6.7 time and time again. i only really did this 2 see if a it was really worth the trade or up grade. 2secs/3secs is a lot on a stright but would u really use it driving about even once ur brakeing the speed limit. theres no dought the turbo spec surpenssion and brakes, styling e.c.t seems all tht more arrrrrrr. but i no my car fluats now, a lot has happened over 6months and my £3000 car which i got 4 £2400 has now cost somewere in £6000-7000. but end of the day its not a thing of stateous or value its a cra l personly like the look off inside and out, thts y im doing a turbo front end convession, and full respary, which i could buy a £3000 turbo or s2 with.

As an owner of a 2.5na I've been wondering the same thing - what can be done to restore or improve out of the factory performance. I've only had mine a few months and I'm by no means disappointed in it's performance so far. There's been other bits to sort and now she's running great.

I've got some great back roads in my area that I love driving and it seems to me that sorting the bushes to tighten handling is my next move. But I'd like to know what can be done eek out some more bhp when the time comes. I read on another forum somewhere that somebody had about 180bhp on their 2.5na - it'd be interesting to know how he got to that.

from what iv read over the last few months there very little gains tht can b made. these cars were sold with all the possable engine power provide. there is a few things with mixing 2.7 heads and stuff. chips seem 2 offer some small gains. i cant see there point with regaurd 2 tecnogly imporvemnt but the engine is still 20 years old.

Like J J Said, get the ignition system and service parts up to scratch.

If you want to improve the performance (maybe it's been done already) IMO stick a 2.5 gearbox onto an S. Much more suited to their ratios and the top end power can be appreciated more.

You will never see big gains out of the NA 944's, the best that you can work toward is restoring any lost power, and then look toward improving the drivability. I believe the 8v 2.5's can have a different throttle cam fitted which provides a more responsive feel. and both the 8v and 16v cars can be chipped, currently there is an ongoing discussion on PCGB as to which chip is most suitable (Promax or John Mitchells ) alternatively you could look at a custom remap. I believe a chap called Wayne at Chipwizards (based in Rochdale) is well thought of. As with all NA cars you can look into changing the air filter and exhaust for more free flowing versions, but from accounts I have read the benefits of changing the air filter is minimal.

As it is unlikely it would be producing factory stock 165 BHP after 20 odd years, I would doubt that anyone can get 180BHP out of the 8V without some serious work. To give an example my 'S' only put out 157 BHP (as opposed to stock 190) and that was with only 95000 miles and was a well maintained example.

I am not trying to put anyone off, but unlike turbo cars you aren't simply going to pop a new chip in and see an immediate increase of 35BHP plus.

I would like 2 get mine on a dyno just 2 see how many horses have run out the back door. Mine 111000 mile now had an engine tune about 20000 mile ago. and it still seem 2 b hitting the right speed 4 each gear, only thing with an S is the torque not much more improved over 944n/a but I find it hard 2 believe that 30 more bhp would only provide 0.5 secs quicker in a sprit 2 60, when an s2 with 20 more bhp would get 2 60 a hole sec faster the a S, but the s2 dose have an extra 20lb of torque. 0-60 not the most kind or accurate way 2 test power, and a lot can be lost with a bad start. But I’ve had 4 different people time it and every time it under 7 secs. I had a top end rebuild and a free flowing exhaust and noticed nothing, in terms of more power

but unless u take it over 4000 revs there really is little in term of raw power, just keep of the redline as power drops after 5800 revs also mine would wheel spin a little changing up from 1st 2 2nd and in 1st if I really floored it from the start. If I’m in 1st about 20mph then put my foot down it defiantly pulls hardanoth 2 stick u back in the seat. Its quick up 120 then once in 5th is quite slow on the increase after 120 which is penalty fast another. 1st -38/40 2nd 60/62 3rd 90 4th 120. Also my Speedo is reading the same as sat nav

What grade of fuel u running?

944 -85/ 944 89- 2.7

topspeed 137 0-62 8.4 auto 9.6/ topspeed 137 0-60 8.2
weight 1180kg /weight? but I think increase power steering and abs
bhp163 5800rpm torque 151 at 3000rmp/ bhp 165 torque 166 4200rpm
price £ 12999 (82) /(87) £ 21674 £25990


944 S /944 S2

topspeed 142 0-62 /7.9 topspeed 149 0-62 7.1 (road and track 6.4)
weight 1280kg /1310 kg
bhp 190 6000rpm torque 170lb 4300rpm/ bhp 211 5800 rpm 207lb 4100rpm
price £25149 (88) /£33963 (90)

turbo/ turbo S

topspeed 152 0-62 6.3 /topspeed 161 0-60 5.7
weight 1350kg /weight 1350kg
bhp220 5800rpm torque 243 at 3500rmp/ bhp 250 6000rpm torque 258 4000rpm
price £ 25311 (86) /£42296 (90)

Dont get me wrong, I love my 'S' and provided its kept over 4000 rpm it is a joy to drive and the car really seems to enjoy being revved hard, the only real issue I have is the lack of torque below this as driving everywhere at 4000rpm+ is a) not something you want to do all the time and b) doesn't do much good for the mpg .

I am currently toying with the idea of fitting either the Promax (£100) or the Jon Mitchall (£175) chip upgrades as both promise more drivability lower down the range (hopefully producing a better torque curve) but will await the outcome of the PCGB thread before making a decision.

The 0-60 sprint doesn't concern me and can often be misleading, how the car drives 'real world' is more relevant, for example my old mk1 Octavia vRS (180 BHP but 175 lb/ft at 1850 rpm) has a very similar (maufacturers) 0-60, but would leave the 944 in its wake when overtaking from say 40-70 mph, however the 944 would eat the Octavia alive in the 'twisties'

A bit more torque from around 3000 rpm would make a big difference in real world terms, and of course that is exactly what the S2 has. (even more in the turbo)

You still havn't said where in the country you are terra! There are Dynos & Dynos. Some inflate the figures a bit as it's good for business. You need a proper one. But it's very rewarding to debug an engine on the dyno. I gained a genuine 40HP doing this. Felt like a different car. Everything I do the car goes back on the rollers to see if it worked. You can't feel 10hp with these cars. But when you gain 10Hp 3 times.......... Waynes your man for the S. You would gain real power & torque as the S is the model that tunes the best. Will cost you £300 but it will be the best £300 you spent.

Hi I’m in Herne bay Kent uk.

Where is this guy based? I was addicted 2 speed but now I’m more focused on the look, and maternace of the car. my over all plan is in a few year get a more family ordained car and drop and ls1/2 engine in. and I total agree driving about in the high revs is totally un healthily, I find myself in 3rd gear a lot and then straight in 2 5th. If the power is required I double clutch down in 2 2nd. this is quite easy 2 do as the speed 2nd gear matches the rev range 20mph-2000rev 30pmh -3000revs. e.c.t

I’m thinking of trying a chip out 2 let us know how u get on. I’ve noticed the S carries the most notable gain claims.

Thats interesting where is this place that you can get the car tuned on the rolling road? i'd love to see what power my car actually has and what maybe could be tuned back into it? i could find £300 for that for sure!

Up in't north. http://www.chipwizards.co.uk/ His remaps are famous. Don't think you will get close with a chip. He remaps your original chip too.