What are higher powered 914s like?, I've never had the chance to drive one. Options

[anthony]

Like every 914 owner I've been thinking I want more power. You know, I'd like to at least be able to smoke a Mini Cooper S or a Honda Civic Si without breaking a sweat.

I've been collecting parts to build a 2056 2L engine. I keep wondering if it's worth it.

Or, will I still want more hp in the end?

What kind of horsepower does it take to make a 914 into a 0-60 8 second car (Civic Si), a 7 second car (Mini S), or a 6 second car (S2000)???

TIA

[airkewl]

I have two original 914-6s. One is bone stock, other than S struts and alloy calipers; I hated the brakes. It has Mahle gas burners, with 195 65 15 A008P tires. I was tempted to hot rod that one, but resisted it because I spent so long to find a nice low mileage (30,000) 6.

So I bought the second car with the express intent of making it evil. I found one which had steel flares added early in its life, 7 and 8 BBS wheels, and when I got it, it had a 67 2.0 911 engine in it, so should have been around 130HP. (I also have the original 2.0 for this car). This definitely had more poke, but need more.

So I built up a 3.0 SC engine with 9.5:1 Mahle pistons, MSD, 40MM webers, E cams, so it is probably around 225 HP. Matched that with a side shifter with Paul Guard torsen diff, and redid the brakes and suspension with Bilsteins and alloy calipers, and a 19MM AJUSA sway bar. I have 15 x 7 and 8 Fuchs with 205 and 225/50's Pirellis.

This car rocks, but it is an animal. I can break the tires loose in first and second, and you definitely module the trottle in a corner, and never nail it while turning. Right now I am running a sport muffler which has to go, as it is too rauchous. It understeers a bit, so I am going to add 8 inchers to the front as well with 225s.

The interesting thig about having the more powerful car, is it makes me appreciate the stock car more as well. It is much more balanced, more civilised and generally more relaxing to drive. Its quiter, and rides way better. It also requires an entirely different technique to drive fast, since it is a momentum car, and rewards being very smooth. The 3.0 requires more manhandling and is generally a handful; so smooth is also best. But because your trying to get the power to the ground.

So I would say understand what you want to do with the car before you embark on irreversible changes. Every step towards increasing the capabilities of the car in terms of performance, will almost always carry a corresponding trade off in civility. So if it is your daily driver, you might want to think twice about the compromise. But if you can count on something else for every day, then adding power to it will defintitley cause the grin factor to go up.