Viper vs. Porsche 944 Turbo (or Turbo S)

[Performin Norman]

I don't have any experience against a 944 Turbo with my Viper but I raced one 2 years ago with my Blown, juiced Camaro. It was fun. It ran good but my Camaro was just too much for it. It is pushing 600 ponies at the motor before the nitrous. The 944 is all white and a nice looking car. He lives somewhere close to me.

 

[Vreracing]

I had a 944 Turbo 1989. They were all S's that year. The rumors I heard was that it could outrun the 930 so that it was detuned a little to slow it down. If you changed the chip to an autothority chip it dramatically increased the power.

It did have the turbo lag from hell, so it made for a difficult car to drive in the city at lower speeds.

I chased Derek Bell around an autocross course once. He was in a 87 911 and had a passenger. He couldn't get away. It was sort of fun. He then got in my car to show me what it could really do, and it was truely frightening. If you can keep the turbo up during your shifts and corners, it is an amazing car.

Mine had about 280 horsepower and would do 0-60 in about 4.9 or so. I never took it for a quarter mile.

I've heard that if you run it up above 300 horsepower the engine life is shortened significantly. The head gaskets can blow if the power goes up too high.

It was my first true exotic car. I enjoyed it almost as much as the Viper. At high speed it tracked well and seemed to almost **** down to the ground. It was very easy to drive and very stable at high speed. It just lacks low end torque. The curve kind of looked like about 80ft-lb at 1200 rpm and then suddenly up to 250 or so within about 1500rpm. It reminded you of the star war movie.

I think they can require quite a bit of maintence, although I have seen some with well over 100,000 miles on them.

You might try getting in touch with someone in the Corpus Christi Texas Porsche club. There used to be a guy down there that had like 6 or 7 of them that he would fix up for racing.

 

[RockyTop]

I have not driven one, but last Sunady there was one at RoadAtlanta tricked out for racing. I have a 97 GTS and was just getting back on the track for the first time since walling my sanake last July. Rusty is not the word, corroded would be a better description of my driving.

Nevertheless, the GTS (I have airbox, TBs, headers, exhaust, hi-flow cats, Baer brakes on front, O-ring pulled, Porterfield pads, braded brake lines, Purner 17" wheels and Johhny Lang in the CD player) flat out whipped that 944 Turbo S. It just wasn't close.

 

[GTS Dean]

My nearly stock 413 rwhp '96 GTS (airbox, filters, Penskes, Hoosiers and brakepads) beat the tar out of 2 well-driven, well-prepared, full-race, 410hp 944Ts on Hoosiers at a PCA time trial last spring. Like by 2.5 seconds on a 3.5 mile, 13 turn track. It took the Hoosiers to get even and the Penskes to pull ahead.