General Introduction

A sports car designed to fit the tastes of both men and women, the Porsche 944 is the ultimate high performance model, one of the fastest of its kind in the 80's. It was introduced in 1982 to replace the Porsche 924, although the latter continued until 1988 as a lower-priced alternative. Production of the 944 ended in 1991 when it was replaced by the Porsche 968.

Design

The most notable feature of the Porsche 944's design was its practicality as it included a spacious interior that is not common in a sports car during the time of its production. This was made possible by its individual folding rear seats. In 1991, improvements were made to the Porsche 944 including the modification of the camshaft drive and the DME control module or the injection valves where applicable. The Porsche 944 S2 was also installed with the same rear wing featured in the 944 Turbo.

Although the Porsche 944 was based on the earlier 924 model, it featured other changes including updated bodywork with flared fenders and a rear spoiler similar to the 924 Turbo. The interiors were also mostly the same except for the new climate control switches.

Engine And Performance

The Porsche 944 has a 2.5L straight-4 engine, the design of which was based on half of the Porsche 928's V8 engine. Though the design was the same to the V8, there were no interchangeable parts. Porsche also licensed Mitsubishi Motors to install the vibration-reducing balance shaft technology to be used in the 944 engine.

The Porsche 944's power varied depending on the model. For the 944 s2, it registered at 211 bhp at 5,800 rpm with a performance level of 149 mph while the 944 Turbo Coupe and Cabrio is at 250 bhp at 6,000 rpm and a performance level of 162 mph.

Other Features

The Porsche 944's five-speed transmission chassis remained the same throughout its evolution. It had an integral body frame with independent front wheel suspension with wishbones and suspension struts, stabilizers and longitudinal torsion spring bars and independent rear wheel suspension with diagonal control arms and transverse torsion bar springs, stabilizers and telescopic shock absorbers.

Versions

The 1980s saw a huge success for the Porsche 944 and it was available in several versions until 1991. While it started out as the Porsche 944 in 1982, it evolved to the 944S, the 944 Turbo, 944S2 and the 944 Turbo S. At the end, 528 cabriolet examples of the Porsche 944 Turbo were produced.

It was in 1985 that Porsche introduced the 944 Turbo, a higher-performance variant, known internally as the 951 or the 952 for right-hand drive models. This had a turbo-charged and intercooled version of the standard car's engine. The naturally-aspirated 944S ("Super") variant came in 1987. The Porsche 944S had a more powerful engine (190 bhp), which marked the first use of four valve per cylinder heads in the Porsche 944 series. In 1988 Porsche introduced the 944 Turbo S. The 944 Turbo S had a more powerful engine with 247 hp (compared to the standard 944 Turbo's 2or 217 hp) and 250 ft•lbf torque (versus 243 ft•lbf).

The Porsche 944 In The Movies

The profile of a 944 Porsche appeared in the movie “The Matrix” while a 1986 Guards Red 944 with chrome “phone dial rims” was in “Not Another Teen Movie”. It was also in many scenes of the “Sixteen Candles”.

Safety Features

In 1987, dual air-bags and an anti-lock brake system were introduced as options on the base model of the 944S. The fitting of driver's and passenger's airbags only took effect in February 1991 as standard in all left-hand drive versions of the 944.

Critical Acclaims

One of the 528 cabriolet examples of the 944 Turbo produced, the last of the 944 series, was hailed as a limited edition and a collector's item by the magazine Motor Sport. They said that the 944 cabriolet, at that time considered the fastest in the world of its type, was one of the best that they tested in 1991.