Porsche Enthusiasts Club Forum

Hi, I'm a new member. I have a 1986 944S in very nice condition, which I have owned for about 3.5 years. I use it very little (a couple of thousand miles per year) and keep it garaged, serviced, etc. When I first bought the car in 2005 (for about £4500), I had all the belts etc changed with a full service by Camtune, Godalming at a cost of about £700. The car has covered just over 100k and strictly speaking, the belts will soon need changing again (based on time not mileage) as well as the water pump as a preventative measure. Recently I gained a quote to do the belts and the pump by an independent garage in Dorset at £1200 (can't remember if this included vat).

Before I ask my question, please consider the following:

1. Slight underpowered performance of the 16v 2.5 944S (compared to the S2 or Turbo)
2. High maintenance costs (if the clutch needs replacing or the water pump goes etc - compared to many other cars)
3. Periodical belt change costs
4. I have to pay a garage to do the work as I don't have the skills to do it myself. I always use decent independent garages.
5. I like cars to look standard and original but also like them to have functional and performance modifications

My question is:

What are the alternatives to paying a big bunch of cash for these service items, when ultimately, it's a false economy as sadly these cars have a very low value these days. I have only seen one example of this on youtube, but would it not be cost effective and really fun to sling a V8 in there and/or some kind of electronic water pump modification? Any thoughts? Any other engines that fit / work well? Has anyone done this? Any idea of total cost to do something like this? I love the shape/look of the car, but would much prefer it to have V8 beef and auto trans! I appreciate that this is not very pure-ist, but think about it......wouldn't it be great!

Many thanks

LBJ.

There are dozens of 944's converted to V8 POWER

Thanks Dave. I guess I was hoping that posting the question here might uncover a few examples, weblinks, gems of wisdom?!

I once saw a 944 that was LPG converted - he had taken the spare wheel out and put the LPG tank there instead. Following on from that has anybody ever considered putting a 2.5 or 3.0 VW-Audi diesel engine in?

Potential / possible benefits:
You would still have the looks which is why you probably bought the car in the first place.
A lot of torque, and good performance - how many TDis have raced past you lately?
Great economy
A reduction in insurance premium.
A reduction in road tax.
The last three will reduce the running costs.

Bad points:
Noisy engine, but you can't hear it when you're inside.
People might laugh at you.
You might get some grief on the TIPEC forums!

Not being an engineer I don't know all the pros and cons so maybe somebody will enlighten me.

It can't be that long until Porsche announce a diesel model.

I'll get my coat.....

Firstly I doubt it'd have lower insurance premiums modded cars generally don't.
Secondly the 2.5 Audi TDi is horrible assuming you mean the V6 & is very expensive to run, especially when it breaks which is frequently!
Not sure the drive train would like the snatchy peak power of the diesel either. Not sure of the weight of the big VW diesels. The 3 litre is a CanBus & common rail the conversion costs & complexity would be horrific & the payback would be years.
Diseasals driven hard aren't economical anyway, my 2.5 Lux gets 33MPG overall so you'd need a huge saving to make it worthwhile.

Finally why would you want to swap a fantastically smooth, revvy 4 pot for a peaky, narrow power band noisy rattly engine. The VW probably being the worst for being peaky!

Horrible idea!

More chat about this (duplicate thread 'V8 in a 944?' on the 944 page).

LBJ

Here's what I am talking about!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNrr7CpoA4M