My Love-Hate Relationship With The Porsche 944

"CodyVella" (codyvella) 04/14/2014 at 12:19 • Filed to: porsche, 944, 1980s, 80s

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In the land of pointy, underpowered 80s sports cars; the Porsche 944 reigns supreme in many ways. It was, and still is an amazing looking car that seems to have all the right curves in all the right places. It made decent power for its time, and it's an absolute beast in the corners. Unfortunately it's not one of the more reliable vehicles in the world. In fact, I think the Mitsubishi Starion might even be more reliable than the 944. This has driven me into an incredibly complex and almost unsustainable love-hate relationship with my 944.

You can't help but think that after the Volkswagen designed Audi with a Porsche badge that was the 924 (still better than a 914), Porsche felt some sort of need to redeem itself. So they came up with the 944; a 924 with fender flares, a revised suspension system and a 5.0L Porsche V8 sawn in half under the hood. All of this was wrapped up into a neat little package that cost around $50,000 (adjusted with inflation) and sold in boatloads. Today you can find classifieds littered with 944s running anywhere from $500 for seriously challenged examples, to near mint ones coming in at close to $10k.

I'm now just over a year into ownership of my current 944; a black-on-black-on-black '84 with a hodgepodge of options. This puts me at just over six years of total 944 ownership. Six painful, yet enjoyable years.

Why I Love It:

-It handles like a dream, even if the suspension is shot.

-That thumping 2.5L 4-cyl makes a truly magnificent sound.

-It has the world's most overkill brakes. Literally, these things could stop a Z06 'Vette.

-It will still burn the tires off, especially if you run 40 year old BF Goodrich Radial T/As like I am (they just look good).

-The non-turbo/S2 cars have that mean, bulky look.

-The pre-1985½ cars (known as "early models") have a no-nonsense because racecar interior.

-The Turbo and S2 models are actually fast, kind of.

-It turns a lot of heads, surprisingly.

-It really is a gorgeous car. Like Jennifer Lawrence gorgeous though, not Megan Fox gorgeous.

Why I Hate It:

-They're an absolute pain in the ass to fix.

-Parts are ungodly expensive even though most of the electrical was shared with every Audi ever.

-Your significant other will threaten to leave you unless you get rid of the multiple 944s laying around your house in various states of disrepair because they're an "eyesore" (I view them as art).

-They will drain your bank account.

-They're an electrical nightmare. One day you'll go to signal right and your wipers will come on. Or you'll turn on your headlights and the hatch will pop open.

-You have to change your timing belt annually just to be safe.

-It's incredibly picky about what oil you put in it, like it's a real Porsche or something.

-Every time you fix something, something else, that's even harder to fix breaks.

-More things break when the car sits than when you drive it.

-They leak every fluid known to mankind. You'll find a puddle of diesel under your car one day.

-When it rains it's like Niagara Falls up in there.

-Women don't believe you when you tell them it's a Porsche.

-It overheats if you look at it wrong.

All of this said, I drove my 944 in the summer more than I drove my '12 Civic Coupe (really though no one likes driving a 2012 Civic). As much as it annoys me to no end, I could never give it up. It just has a character about it.

I still want a Fiero though. And a truck. I want all the vehicles.

It's a "Porch-uh" > CodyVella 04/14/2014 at 12:35

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I'm with ya. I'm finally selling my 944 race car now that it's on its third motor in 5 years (and it's been about a year in between engine rebuilds).

The original motor made it through five full events before the #2 rod bearing let go at Chuckwalla. After a lengthy rebuild (having a kid really gets in the way of your race car work), the new motor made it 3 laps at Cal Speedway before a fuel issue (not sure if it was injectors, fuel filter, or pump - so they all got replaced) caused a catastrophic lean condition. All pistons melted, scored the block, blew out the head gasket, which let combustion pressure into the water jacket, and blew out the side of the radiator.

Now that it's all fixed, I'm really temped to run it again before it's sold...maybe at least an autocross... but really don't want to tempt fate.

JR1 > CodyVella 04/14/2014 at 12:40

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Sometimes the best things in life are worth the endless compromises. One day these things will go up in value and you'll still own it. That is when the car will become truly rewarding.

Jeremy H formerly Kalakaboooom > CodyVella 04/14/2014 at 12:51

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I concur, it is an absolute nightmare fixing up a 944. I'm doing a clutch swap right now, a clutch swap that changed into a clutch swap, full brake job (lines/calipers/rotors), motor mount job, and oil pan job. And when I get everything done it'll be done just in time to renew that timing belt, I've also had the entire rear interior get soaked because one of those tiny drain hoses decide to unplug itself. That said, I still get a chubby driving the damn thing, when it works. It's spent more time on my jack stands then it has being on. Pilot bearing seized inside of the bore and I'm still busy trying to get it out, if I have to pull the engine I'm just going to say fuck it and scrap the god damn thing.

'Wägen, EPA LOL > CodyVella 04/14/2014 at 13:29

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"I want all the vehicles."

This. So this.

Because Race Kart > CodyVella 04/14/2014 at 13:44

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As my household nears 2 years into 944 ownership, I can say that just about every bad thing you posted is correct. We have the exact same year and engine as you, 1984 2.5L 5-Speed Manual 4-banger. After having to change the clutch with my father, I can say that we both want nothing to do with the car, repair wise that is. But like you said, that 4 Cylinder is magnificent sounding.

LappingLuke > CodyVella 04/14/2014 at 13:59

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Nice post. Informative and amusing. Definitely scared me off of 944s though hahaha I'll get an E30 after all :)

NaturallyAspirated > CodyVella 04/14/2014 at 14:28

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"It really is a gorgeous car. Like Jennifer Lawrence gorgeous though, not Megan Fox gorgeous."

Can you clarify this? I'm assuming you are saying that you find Megan Fox more attractive than Jennifer Lawrence, which confuses me because I've never considered Megan Fox to be all that attractive.

Other than that, great read! Thanks for posting.

CodyVella > NaturallyAspirated 04/14/2014 at 15:21

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Basically people consider Megan Fox to be physically perfect. Jennifer Lawerence has a lot of strange and lovable quirks. Making her that much better than someone who is simply physically perfect.

Thanks for reading!

Stef Schrader > CodyVella 04/14/2014 at 16:58

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BEST YARD EVER.

Jobjoris > CodyVella 04/15/2014 at 07:07

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I still want a Fiero though. And a truck. I want all the vehicles.

Great post! Superb and utterly recognizable conclusion...

wontacceptthis > CodyVella 04/15/2014 at 08:28

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So I guess this means I should avoid attempting to make one into a daily driver?

K-Roll-PorscheTamer > CodyVella 04/15/2014 at 14:13

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You've got multiple 944s in different states of repair laying around your house??? Hell! I'll take one off your hands! :)

CodyVella > wontacceptthis 04/15/2014 at 18:37

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Well, if you're looking for something to challenge your mechanical skills. Then the 944 is the BEST daily driver! But in all seriousness, I drive mine 90% of the time in the summer. Being a 30 year old German car, it does require much more upkeep than other sports cars.

Fauxe > CodyVella 04/16/2014 at 21:26

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Haha, the things to hate made me crack up at 2am in the morning over here. Having a 944 myself it really is a love hate relationship. But aren't marriages like that too?

Doctor-G-and-the-wagen > CodyVella 04/16/2014 at 21:41

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The 914 is beautiful and Jennifer Lawrence is prettier than Megan Fox. The rest of this is spot on though. It's one of those cars where I would love to do an engine swap, for the sake of reliability, but that engine note is so nice it'd make me reconsider.

catkam623 misses his 944 > CodyVella 04/16/2014 at 22:22

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Oh I understand completely I've been DD'ing mine for two years now and I love it but it's a weekend gone for a otherwise simple job.

Delusion77 > CodyVella 04/17/2014 at 01:41

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its a shame that both the 944 nd the RX7 fc are both mechanically a pain in the ass

spartangeckos > wontacceptthis 04/17/2014 at 11:01

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My first car was an '87 with 278,000 miles on the original motor. And while I too can attest to the frustration of constant maintenance (the fuel system was designed by Satan himself), I would also be remiss if I didn't mention the surprisingly good gas mileage and the fact that you can do pretty much everything yourself. Over all, if you are mechanically inclined, or don't mind learning, these are great cars. I put 73,000 miles on mine and, while it was often frustrating, I'm seriously considering buying another one.

Saracen > NaturallyAspirated 04/17/2014 at 12:59

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Megan Fox is supermodel beautiful.

Jennifer Lawrence is girl-next-door beautiful.

44Baron > CodyVella 04/15/2018 at 14:23

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I honestly don’t understand when people say that the 944 is difficult to work on, or that it is unreliable. As far as reliability, the car wants to be warm. You should drive it every day, which you will want to do if you have one. And every night. In fact you might start to sleep under the hatch, which is extremely, fantastically spacious. As far as repair difficulty, 1) it’s really not difficult, and 2) even if it was, it’s part of the experience. Everything on the car is very easy to understand. You might learn something in the process! Just find a shop manual and use the internet. My only gripe is about the interference engine. It makes me endlessly nervous about losing the timing belt... but then I’m only nervous about that because I don’t want to go that long without my 944.

Lance > wontacceptthis 08/19/2018 at 14:27

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I have an 87 which has been my daily for the last 10 years. It’s a great little car. My understanding is that a lot of the quality issues that plagued the early 944 where solved in 1985 1/2. The oval dash is the sign to look for if you are buying an 85. So if you are a decent mechanic, and don’ t mind changing the timing belt every 3 years, go for it! I did have to replace the computer on mine. I got a rebuilt one. Other than that everything else has been the usual car stuff. Clutch, brakes, tires, fix leaky hoses etc...