| Modifications |
Porsche 944 turbo
I've wanted a 944 turbo (a.k.a. 951) ever since reading the first preview test back in 1985. To me this car had it all: power, balanced handling, great brakes, looks, practicality and breeding. I bought my first Porsche back in '94 as the result of a polyp-on-the-colon-of-humanity liberating
my treasured, Jackson Racing modified '87 CRX-Si, and then stripping the little
car down to a shell. It was a good little car. Agile, quick, fun and if you hit the brakes just right as you approached a corner, capable of producing a brief 4-wheel drift.
The replacement windy-road-assault-vehicle was an '86 Porsche 944. Now this was a car you could drift at will! Since it wasn't a turbo or S2, it was a little wanting in the power department (the Si, with all its mods would woop the 944 up to 60 mph, however, it would lose its advantage over that speed) but what a brilliant chassis. I remember the night I decided to see what would happen if I intentionally did something stupid like lift the throttle while cornering hard.
I was approaching a favorite onramp, a 270º corner marked at 25 mph and came in pretty hot with the intention of abruptly lifting the throttle as I passed the apex. Since I was performing this feat intentionally, I was ready for the rear
end to come around, but I was surprised by the speed with which that event occurred.
It turned into one of those slow motion, near death experiences that everyone has confronted after doing something amazingly and irreversibly stupid. I have this type of experience quite frequently, but that's a topic for another Web site. Anyway, thanks to the near suspension of time, I had a great deal of that commodity to think about my actions. As I began to apply some opposite lock, I remember thinking to myself, "Gee John, maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all." Concurrent with that thought, I added a little throttle in an attempt to set the chassis. And then something magical happened: the car stopped rotating and I was in a perfectly controllable, yet very lurid slide. Why yes Virginia, Ferry Porsche IS a god!
At this point in time, I was completely sold on the whole 944 line. Oh sure, the 911 may be better at helping you appreciate the sanctity of life (ass-engined cars that attempt to defy the laws of physics through aggressive alignment specs will do that for you) but the 944 was superior as a weapon of balance. Unfortunately things changed in my life,and I was soon forced to sell the the Porsche to finance a move to a new city and a new career. A few years later, I
re-entered the fold and bought an arrest-me-red (don't ask me how I know) '86 944 turbo.
The car is not stock. The previous owner had installed Autothority Stage II V2.7 chips, Eibach 250 lb. front springs, front sway bar from a 968, Koni Sport shocks and had it corner balanced. I have since replaced the Autothority chips with a pair from Cyntex, added a cat-bypass pipe and replaced the stock rear sway bar with an adjustable unit from Weltmeister.
The car is an absolute blast to drive. It definitely pulls hard in first and second gear, but the real fun doesn't start until you are doing 60 mph in third. Floor it at this speed and the car lunges forward hitting 100 mph extraordinarily quickly...or so I am told. I mean, I would never try something like that myself...
my treasured, Jackson Racing modified '87 CRX-Si, and then stripping the little
car down to a shell. It was a good little car. Agile, quick, fun and if you hit the brakes just right as you approached a corner, capable of producing a brief 4-wheel drift.
The replacement windy-road-assault-vehicle was an '86 Porsche 944. Now this was a car you could drift at will! Since it wasn't a turbo or S2, it was a little wanting in the power department (the Si, with all its mods would woop the 944 up to 60 mph, however, it would lose its advantage over that speed) but what a brilliant chassis. I remember the night I decided to see what would happen if I intentionally did something stupid like lift the throttle while cornering hard.
I was approaching a favorite onramp, a 270º corner marked at 25 mph and came in pretty hot with the intention of abruptly lifting the throttle as I passed the apex. Since I was performing this feat intentionally, I was ready for the rear
end to come around, but I was surprised by the speed with which that event occurred.
It turned into one of those slow motion, near death experiences that everyone has confronted after doing something amazingly and irreversibly stupid. I have this type of experience quite frequently, but that's a topic for another Web site. Anyway, thanks to the near suspension of time, I had a great deal of that commodity to think about my actions. As I began to apply some opposite lock, I remember thinking to myself, "Gee John, maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all." Concurrent with that thought, I added a little throttle in an attempt to set the chassis. And then something magical happened: the car stopped rotating and I was in a perfectly controllable, yet very lurid slide. Why yes Virginia, Ferry Porsche IS a god!
At this point in time, I was completely sold on the whole 944 line. Oh sure, the 911 may be better at helping you appreciate the sanctity of life (ass-engined cars that attempt to defy the laws of physics through aggressive alignment specs will do that for you) but the 944 was superior as a weapon of balance. Unfortunately things changed in my life,and I was soon forced to sell the the Porsche to finance a move to a new city and a new career. A few years later, I
re-entered the fold and bought an arrest-me-red (don't ask me how I know) '86 944 turbo.
The car is not stock. The previous owner had installed Autothority Stage II V2.7 chips, Eibach 250 lb. front springs, front sway bar from a 968, Koni Sport shocks and had it corner balanced. I have since replaced the Autothority chips with a pair from Cyntex, added a cat-bypass pipe and replaced the stock rear sway bar with an adjustable unit from Weltmeister.
The car is an absolute blast to drive. It definitely pulls hard in first and second gear, but the real fun doesn't start until you are doing 60 mph in third. Floor it at this speed and the car lunges forward hitting 100 mph extraordinarily quickly...or so I am told. I mean, I would never try something like that myself...
