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Posted by: iwanta914-6 Apr 18 2016, 10:56 AM

I still don't want to give up my search for a 914, but there's been a 1981 924 turbo for sale locally for a little while in my price range. Does anyone here have any experience with these? I know there's a forum for the 924 but before I sign up for that I figured I'd check here first.

I was never a fan of the 924 growing up like I was the 914, but I'm trying to keep my options open as I try to find the right Porsche by the time I turn 40 (October this year).

My dad had a 951 back in the day, and it was a fun car. I figured that a 931 could be a fun car as well.

Posted by: Mueller Apr 18 2016, 11:00 AM

I'll get flamed for this for sure, but I've always liked the looks of the 924 over the 944.

Never owned one and unless I get filthy rich I doubt I ever will.

Posted by: ThePaintedMan Apr 18 2016, 11:03 AM

I agree, but from what I understand, the 944 turbo was a much better sorted car. And a 914 still puts both to shame in terms of driving experience

Posted by: 396 Apr 18 2016, 11:15 AM

Unless you've been in one at speeds, I don't think your point is valid.

Posted by: iamchappy Apr 18 2016, 11:23 AM

Ive seen 3 924 turbos on craigslist, 2 for around 2,000 that need work and a fairly nice 81 one for 6,000.
I think they have collector value and will appreciate in time, i too have thought about them.

Posted by: iwanta914-6 Apr 18 2016, 11:25 AM

It's the '81 for $6k that I'm toying with the idea of.

Posted by: brant Apr 18 2016, 11:30 AM

had one for about 6 years
highly under rated car
really good highway car
not slow and a great cruiser

won't feel as nimble, but handling is still great

The downside is they are a pain in the butt to work on
electronic glitches, weird FI problems, random stalls, etc

not quite a vintage car experience for me
and no one knows how to work on them

Posted by: iwanta914-6 Apr 18 2016, 11:34 AM

Yeah, I really do want the "vintage" car experience that the 914 offers.

Posted by: Mueller Apr 18 2016, 01:08 PM

One the plus side Sir Magnus owns a 931

Posted by: RobW Apr 18 2016, 01:24 PM

The prices just blipped....

Posted by: RobW Apr 18 2016, 01:26 PM

Jeff Reitmeir used to race a 924 and did quite well with it both in PCA and SCCA. They are light cars and are supposedly fun to drive.

Posted by: iwanta914-6 Apr 18 2016, 01:26 PM

I think he has a 924 CGT as well?

Posted by: Mueller Apr 18 2016, 01:41 PM

I think there is or was a 924 based Spec racing class over in England?

Posted by: KELTY360 Apr 18 2016, 01:52 PM

Very important point.

Posted by: DCJosh Apr 18 2016, 01:53 PM

You will be disappointed with a 931. The 924 s will at least have a Porsche engine and will be faster then the 924 turbo.

Posted by: mb911 Apr 18 2016, 02:03 PM

My dad had one in 1984 it was an 81.. Great car.Had the 915 internals for the gearbox. Great sound from what I recall but the audi100 engine was less then exciting however they are open to decent upgrades.. They are actually as rare cars as 914-6 so there time will come as far as value. I may buy one some day just because overall nice car.. Always wanted to put 944 fenders on one aka carrera Gt look..

Posted by: Steve Apr 18 2016, 02:17 PM

Curious is the 924 turbo just an Audi truck motor with a turbo or did Porsche really modify it?

Posted by: 396 Apr 18 2016, 02:26 PM

Based on my old brain, a little of both.

Posted by: jhadler Apr 18 2016, 02:31 PM

From my recollection, it was basically a warmed over Audi turbo motor. And the Audi turbos of that era were notorious for short life cycles. Maintenance will be frustrating as they were unique enough it will be very hard to find someone who actually knows them. As was mentioned above, if I were really looking for a 924, I'd go for the 924S.

Yes, there have been a few 924's successfully campaigned in SCCA autox over the years. The turbo was -not- one of them.

As for driving experience? Both the 924 and 944 chassis are well balanced, and can be fun and rewarding to drive. Maybe not as visceral as the 914, but a well sorted 924/944, just as a well sorted 914, can be great fun to drive. But they're very different creatures.

-Josh

Posted by: ThePaintedMan Apr 18 2016, 05:40 PM

I have, homeslice.

My point was that the 944 turbo is mechanically, again, from what I understand, a better sorted car than the 924. I haven't worked on a 924 turbo, but I have wrenched on a few 944s. I have, however ridden in both a 924 and 944, and of course, a 914. Are we done here?

Posted by: 914Sixer Apr 18 2016, 05:56 PM

I have owned and restored a 81 924 Turbo. They are under rated and blast to drive. Up to 30 mph they are blah, when the turbo spools up hang on to your ass, 100 mph is there before you know it. The down side is the fact that the parts slim to NONE. A stock 944 is a better way to go.

Posted by: Dominic Apr 18 2016, 05:56 PM

I had an 82' 924 Turbo from 1988 to 1993. It was a fun car, it was the first car I had owned with serious creature comforts like power windows, power brakes and A/C

They do have their electrical gremlins, I had an issue with loose connections to the ECU under the center of the dash. I remember rebuilding the waste gate when the diaphram gave up, I also had a cam lobe go bad before I sold the car.

Like any classic Porsche, it's only going to go up in value so find the best example you can.

Posted by: Mike Bellis Apr 18 2016, 06:05 PM

Can you still find parts??????? I've heard they are hard to come by as the 924 turbo is unique in many ways.

Posted by: ssuperflyoldguy Apr 18 2016, 07:17 PM

I have MCHammer's 924 Turbo, needs the electronic points thingy - haven't looked at it in years. What we've heard about 924 is that they are not exciting engine wize but everyone seems to think they are a decent highway car.

Posted by: JamesM Apr 18 2016, 10:29 PM

I have all 3. Multiple 914s, a 951 and semi recently got an insane deal on a 80 931. I never liked 924s but when i saw this one it grew on me pretty quick.

914 s will always be my favorite, not because they are better, they are just in my blood at this point.

951 s are wolfs in sheep clothing when well maintained. Probably the best performing non super car of the 80s, totally underrated.

The 931 is neither one of these, it does not have the "rawness" of a 914 and it will never perform like a 951 or feel as modern, in some ways though it almost a mix of the two. It was interesting to me when I got my 931 to compare the differences to the 951, despite being built on pretty much the same chassis only 6 years apart, just about everything on the 931 seemed more raw and unrefined (in that good nostalgic 70s way)

Things in particular of note (on mine anyways)

No power steering
hood has a bar to prop it up rather than struts
Mechanical Injection
G31 Porsche transaxle has the same dogleg 1st shift pattern as a 914 (I think they changed to the audi box similar to the 944s in 81 though)
old school turbo setup
no intercooler
has air conditioning
Galvanized
Galvanized
oh and Galvanized
924/931 timing belt jobs are like 1/10th the cost of a 944/951.
Near impossible to find some parts
Very low production numbers

81s had a decent number of improvements over the 80s mainly in the intake/turbo plumbing and electronic controlled ignition. Decent increase in power over the earlier cars should come out on top of an NA 944. Downside of the electronic ignition though is the NLA flywheel sensor, without which the car will not run.

It wont be a 914, it will be a fun car. It will be a more difficult car to own. It will be a much more rare car. Seriously, when was the last time you saw someone driving a 931, or even, have you ever in your life seen someone driving a 931? I have been going to Porsche meets for the last 20 years and I have never seen anyone show up in a 931.

Really hard to say what a 931 is worth given how rarely you see them for sale. I dont want to speculate on the prices, but so far there as not been a Porsche that did not eventually shoot up in value, especially the low production ones. I suspect the time for the 931 may be coming. No idea if 6k is a "good" price but I remember in the mid 90s when 914-6s could be had for 6k... something to think about anyways.

Posted by: JamesM Apr 18 2016, 11:06 PM

Sort of an audi motor. the 931 motor is based on the EA831 the origins of which go all the way back to Daimler Benz, interesting reading if you are into how all the German automakers were intertwined back in the day. The block was then used by Audi, VW and also AMC.

From there though Porsche did its own thing. Similar to the 914 2.0 motor in that it has a unique Porsche designed head that has significant differences even to the standard 924 head (which is itself unique). Not to mention the addition of the Porsche turbo setup. 924s also got a forged crank, different pistons, different oil pump and i think a few other things from the standard EA831

So same block but a pretty unique motor. Reminds me somewhat of BMW taking their old M10 block and turboing it to make an F1 motor, started as the same block but is a completely different animal.

Posted by: JamesM Apr 18 2016, 11:18 PM

I couldn't pass it up

Posted by: RobW Apr 19 2016, 12:07 AM

Hammer Time! I wonder if he said that to himself when the boost came on....