Porsche Enthusiasts Club Forum

Hi all,

I'm the proud new(ish) owner of a 944 S "Ventiler" (as badged on the wings and under the bonnet)

( I say 'ish' because i've hardly seen it since purchase last year, it having been given a major service at an Independent Porsche garage, new fuel lines and is currently at the auto sparks having some switches renewed and dashboard illumination rectified!)

Anyway, i was just wondering- what is the significance of the 'Ventiler' car, with it being badged on the wings etc? Is it rare in any way? My car is a 1988 E Reg (E984 NVT) but i see there are earlier year Ventilers too.

Any info gratefully received!

Hello,



No, it means "valve" and was an optional badge stuck on some of the 16 valve cars to differentiate them from the 8 valve cars. All 944 S (and 944 S2) cars have 16 valve engines so I'm afraid it doesn't designate anything special or rare.

Hi, there are links to some good 944 information in this thread:

http://forums.tipec.net/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=1904#p16462

You will find details about model spec, years of production (87-88 for the S), numbers produced, etc, as well as lots of other 'stuff'. As the thread title says 'READ ME FIRST!!! Links every 944 owner shouldn't be without' I did and then bookmarked several sites too.

I have had experience of three 'S' models - they weren't produced in great numbers and sometimes get a bit of bad press, but I like them. They were really a bit of a test bed for the 16V engine - that then went on into the S2 (with various performance updates).

As Glenn says 'Ventiler' is valve in German and most UK 'S' models were badged in this way. However, Porsche dropped the badge for the S2.

16 Ventiler. It means valve - it is not a model name (and neither is Lux).

Thanks both, i understood the translation but couldn't suss out why Porsche would stick a badge on the wing! Thanks for the explanation!

It was an over-priced option (the scripted rubbing strip, that is).

Simon

As has already been stated 'Ventiler' simply means 'valve' . There are 4 models of 944 - 8 valve, commonly known as 'Lux', comes in 2.5 and 2.7 varients, 'S' 2.5 16V, 'S2' 3.0 16V and 'Turbo' in 220 and 250 HP varients (and designated 951 by Porsche - purists will insist they have a 951 not a 944 Turbo )

The 8v and the 'S' are visually identical (the only way to tell quickly is to pop the bonnet and look at the cam cover and airbox) and as such it is not unknown for unscrupulous individials to stick an 'S' badge on a lux to trap the unwary.

As to rarity, well it was only in production for a couple of years so there are naturally fewer around, and as previously mentioned they had a bit of a bad press (unfairly in my view). I had one for 3 years and drove it every day. Make sure your engine is sound, then get it over 4K rev's and keep it there to get the best out of it

Thanks everyone!