Porsche Enthusiasts Club Forum

Calling for the help of all 944 turbo modifying gurus out there.

I'm looking for a Porsche 944 turbo - Ideally i wanted a 944 turbo SE, but i think that with my budget this is going to be impossible.

Ive been offered a D registered 944 turbo (220bhp). Its been modified with parts that i dont understand. Im worried this will make the car less desirable, less drivable and more complex to service etc.

Heres the details:

Its a 1987 944 turbo in Almond beige metallic, brown leather interior, phone
dial wheels.
Current owner since August 2004, and has just under 80k miles on it.
Belts last changed at 73k in 2006.
Full Porsche service history stamped in book up to 48k miles.

Has been fitted with a Vitesse Maf Kit, with 72lb injectors, and their
computer to allow fueling adjustments. By the time shipped and taxes, this
cost just over £1000. This also is used to alter water injection delivery
via the Aquamist 2c system, a very good system which cost £400.
It also has a turbonetics T04E turbo with #8 hotside. It has a Greddy
Profec, electronic boost controller. A dynojet wideband controller.
Roll bars are 26.8mm front and 18mm rear. Front has Delrin bushes, rear has
powerflex. Front also has the KLA industries front stiffener bracket, and
strut brace.
New front disks and pads fitted at 3M, also fitted new regulator to the
alternator. I even had the gearbox oil changed at 70k.

There is slight flaking on some paint on the wheels, but not from kerbing,
just peeling with age.
Sills are solid, and there is no visible rust, but there is a crack to the
rear bumper.
Leather interior is good, with no holes or tears to an seats, including the
drivers.

Seller is asking for a whisker under £5k for the car.

I was after a 250bhp car as i had one before and loved the feeling of being frightened by its acceleration and speed. I wouldn't want to buy a 220 bhp car and feel let down....

Any advice is appreciated.

Vitesse is a very highly respected tuning company in the States (I have one myself) and the MAF simply replaces the old fashioned barn door type of Air Flow Meter that came on the car from Porsche.

That Turbo is a more modern design and slightly larger than the K26/8 that came on the 250bhp Turbos, so it probably spools quicker and delivers a higher level of boost.

I too have a Greddy Profec boost controller and it is used to very accurately set the level of boost that you want to run

I too have a Wideband Commander and it is a very accurate oxygen sensor that measures your air/fuel ratio. This is a definite MUST if you have a highly modified car and want to make sure you are not running the risk of detonating your engine.

This is the first time I have heard of someone using water injection in the UK on a 944T so I don't know much about it, except to say it is used to cool the intake charge and prevent detonation when runing very high boost (over 1.4 bar for example)

All these mods sound like the previous owner knows what he is doing and has sensibly installed the saftey devices needed. Depending on boost level I would guess this car is easily capable of between 330 - 350bhp at around 1.2bar

Trust me, with that setup, you won't feel let down!!!

Hi,

I wish I knew what you were all talking about.

Regards,

Ben

The quickest way to kill a turbo engine is with detonation and the owner of this car has put quite a bit of effort into stopping it, the mods could be easily removed if they bothered you but they are very sensible to allow higher boost and more power. A new head gasket might not be far off at the higher boosts and age of the car but thats no big issue.
The mileage does sound very low, worth double checking with a HPI.

One question, If you really want a SE will this ever be any good for you ?
Have you seen the blue SE for about your money on fleabay ? Premium sound as well !
Andy.

Hi Rav

What happened about the blue SE I emailed over the other day from Pistonheads? That would of had all the extra handling goodies wouldn't it? Did you manage to get hold the guy? Otherwise sorry mate I'm with Ben, I haven't a clue about what you just said up there

Andy

Go for a test drive & see what you think. In my opinion the 230 is an under rated car. This car already has handling upgrades. You can put a bigger turbo on if you want to. Mileage for me is irrelevant. Just depends what's been spent & condition. if the car is good why not? Check out the Lindsey Racing website. A good 230 will out gun a tired 250 any day! It's all on condition.

Water injecion controls detonation.
MAF kit means Mass air flow meter & gives presice control over fueling.
The bigger rollbars will give better handling. Powerflex bushes are stiff nylon 7 give the car more feel.
New turbo fitted.

Anyone mad enough to spend this sort of money must be a die hard. Car should be good! Drive it!:)

OOPS Just reread post and saw this one has roll bars, strut brace and brake upgrading mods so go for a test drive. Did the early cars have a LSD? my memory fails me at moment.
Check insurance costs aswell? Cost a lot extra to have those mods? could get complicated.

It sounds good to me! All Id add to that would be a KnockLink. The rear bumper is virtually worthless: all thats different is the thicker rubber rubbing strip, which you can swap over to the replacement. Id soak the fixings in diesel overnight before trying, having just struggled with a twenty year old part this morning...

Simon

Andy: early cars didnt have an LSD as standard. The option code was M220.

Cheers , didn't think they did. I think Rav is looking elsewhere now anyway.

Andy

This sounds like a really, really nice car. As has already been said, it’s a sensible sounding bunch of mods using parts from respected American suppliers (so you may not hear of them so much in the UK) and anybody putting that much cash and effort into a 944 most likely looked after it and loved it to pieces!

Where you hear about Lindsey Racing all the time: what are you suggesting Tony.....?

Oh no … he said nothing about any Lindsey Racing parts being on the car.

(There’s one on mine though. Ooops.)