Porsche 944

Time to Replace the 924

The Porsche 944 was Porsche's largest-selling front-engined coupe. The project was greenlighted in 1980, in response to dropping sales of the Porsche 924. The 944 was to feature new styling based upon the Porsche 924 Carrera GT, along with a brand-new Porsche designed and developed 2.5 litre four cylinder engine. The car was the brainchild of the newly appointed Peter Schutz, the CEO of the Porsche company.

Immediate Success

The launch of the 944 traded heavily upon the new car being a 'brand new Porsche model', in an attempt to bury the image of all front-engined Porsches not being 'real' Porsches - a fate which had befallen the 924. The car was released for sale to European markets in November 1981, with the UK getting their quota in April 1982, and the USA in May 1982. Sales of the 168BHP coupe went through the roof, with a massive 26800 944s being produced by the end of 1982. To put this figure into context, the entire Porsche company made just 28000 cars in 1981.

The 944 was given an entirely new marketing plan - with the emphasis on new Porsche owners, not existing enthusiasts. The new Porsche owners came in the form of the 'yuppie', young, cash-rich city-dwellers attracted by the stunning looks and presence of the model.

The 944 is quite rightly termed as the saviour of Porsche - the massive cash reserves that this model made during the 1980s kept the company afloat (just) during the world recession of the early 1990s.

Improvements over the out-going 924 were plain to see - beginning with the flared front and rear wheel arches. These became the trademark of the 944, and pulled in the buyers due to the butch stance and powerful presence they gave the car. Other differences were small but significant - on US models, the ugly 924 side reflectors were replaced with smooth, bumper-line examples. A rear spoiler, lining the lift-glass, made the rear-end look more functional and sporty. Drag coefficient was reduced to 0.35 over the 924, and the body panels were zinc-coated in all markets to prevent corrosion.

Models

Throughout the life of the 944, many models were produced to slightly change certain aspects of the car - be it performance or looks, or purely to produce more sales. These are highlighted below.

Pre-1985 - The Early Years

The pre-1985 vehicles were the first 944s produced, and as such are the most basic of the entire expansive model range. Externally, the cars were supplied with electric mirrors and the rear spoiler, along with the distinctive 'Cookie Cutter' alloy wheel design, which could be painted with black or white centres, or just left normal silver. Black-centred Fuchs forged alloys, as seen on the 911, were optional.

Two types of front-valance were available - one with a simple twin line grille, or one with driving lamps inset to it. A rear under-valance was optional - this was colour-coordinated to the bodywork, and featured a series of vertical slats, each covered by black-painted mesh. A major improvement over the 924 was the fitment of a flush windscreen.

Interior-wise, very few changes were made over the 924 - the square dashboard was retained, however new fabric colours and leather options were available. Interior noise was greatly reduced over the 924, mainly by adding more sound proofing but also by Porsche choosing to change the engine mounts.

The engine itself, although not quite living up to the rife rumours of a V6, was a flat-four plant, in essence half of the Porsche 928's V8 powerplant. Particular attention was given to refinement - one of the Porsche 924's great bugbears. A breakthrough came in the form of TOP - Thermally Optimised Porsche. This was a study by the company in 1980 to find the optimum conditions for the compression ratio, air and fuel mixture, cylinder head design and ignition timing, and the 944's 2.5 litre engine was the first Porsche engine to benefit from the research. As mentioned above, the engine mounts were changed in the name of refinement, to a softer fully synthetic material, more suited to the absorption of engine-based vibrations. Overall power output of the engine was 163BHP for the European market car, and 143BHP for the USA market car. A boast for the engine was the then-remarkable 12,000 mile service intervals.

1985-1988

1985 marked the 944's first upgrade. This entailed a complete revamp of the colour charts and interior options, as well as the alloy wheel design - the range-standard 'Telephone Dial' alloy wheel was added to the range. Minor changes to the powerplant involved changes to the material used to manufacture the exhaust valves.

The most significant change arrived in the form of a completely new interior design, dominated by a smooth, sweeping oval dashboard. This severed all ties with the 924, and completed the move upmarket for the 944. The new dash design improved ventilation and front leg room - something that was limited by the now-dated square dash design. The dash provided improved ergonomics for the instruments, with all useful components placed either above the gearstick or on the strip running across the dash, moving the buttons to within an arm's stretch from the driver.

For 1986, the 'Lux' coupe was thrown out of the limelight by the new 944 Turbo - a 'wonderfully refined product' as period press branded it. The Turbo featured a 220BHP 2.5 litre four-cylinder engine, essentially a turbocharged standard unit but with strengthened internals to cope with the onslaught of power. Other major differences over the 944 coupe was the clean, smooth bumpered look at the front end, larger brakes, wider 'Telephone Dial' alloys and a price which was identical to that of a 911 Carrera. Although the car was a super performer (0-62kmh in 5.5 secs), the buyers stayed away - mainly due to the the fact that the 'superior' 911 was the same price. Included in that price were masses of standard equipment, Recaro designed sports seats, a new, four spoke 'Lozenge' steering wheel. The model also brought revised doorcards and a distinctive rear underspoiler to the fray.

Later in 1986, the 944 S arrived, updating the 944 range with a 16-valve 2.5 litre engine. A 2.7 litre engine (a bored-out 2.5) was offered to European markets only.

But the 944 was beginning to face the same fate as its predecessor - Porsche had not advanced to model quick enough to keep up with competition, and the car was very expensive for what it was, Porsche or not. Sales began to fall in 1987, and even with some sparkling limited editions in various markets, along with the new 2.7 engine, the slide proved unstoppable for the 944. A severe change was planned for the 1990s.

1988-1992

The covers were lifted off the 944's next-generation model in early 1989, the stunningly contemporary 944 S2. Porsche, as a company, were heading into tough times and were relying on the 944 S2 and the new 911, the 964, to make enough money just to stay afloat. The new car had a development of the 944 S 16-valve engine, bored out from 2.5 litres to 3.0 litres. To cut manufacturing costs, the entire cylinder head was taken directly from the 928's V8, and the 16-valve engine provided enhanced performance with greater fuel economy over the outgoing 2.5/2.7 litre engine. A catalytic converter was fitted as standard on every S2 - regardless of destination market - and the Bosch Motronic ignition system was modified to include twin knock sensors as well as storing information which could be read, via a computer uplink, at services. Peak power was 211BHP. Upgrades to this engine occured in 1990, when the intake manifold was modified, a larger oil cooler was added and an automatic three-sensor knock controller was integrated into the ignition system.

The 944 S2 featured the smooth front bumper and rear underspoiler, previously Turbo-only, as standard, along with a brand new alloy wheel design - the stylish 'Design 90'. Colour charts were boosted by new colour variations, as well as an exciting feature - the 'colour match to sample' option, which would allow a buyer to have the car painted in a colour to match any size of sample. As a result, a large number of gaudy coloured cars left the Neckarslum plant, proving that some people have more money than taste. Very few interior changes were made, apart from a rear luggage blind, and from 1990-onwards, standard lift-out sunroof and split folding rear seat backs.

A headline model of the S2 generation was the Cabriolet, a model 944 buyers had yearned for since the car's inception in 1982. The Cabriolet, engineered by American Sunroof Company, was rumoured to be two years late in arriving on the market due to unprecedented chassis flex problems. The finished article, despite being 70 KG heavier than the coupe, displayed no obvious signs of such problems, and its clean lines found a place in many hearts. The looks came at a price, however, with the boot being rendered almost useless, and rear visibility with an upright roof non-existent.

The 944 S2 brought an enticing option to the price lists, in the shape of the 'ClubSport', built to emulate the successful 'Turbo Cup' 944 Turbo-based racing series. The option deleted all sound-deadening, removed all electric components.