912 vs. 944 Turbo vs. 930? Your input sought?, Contemplating another option-away from -6; your thoughts? Options

[R8CERX]

So…I am contemplating the next purchase… not in a rush.. the right deal at the right time…. heck…I may even go for a 1974 GTV Alfa Romeo--a whole different story!

I love the following three models:

All 912 coupe models (Ideally, Red, Silver, light blue, or the weird mustard color)
The 1989 930 (turbo) (Ideally Silver, Red, black)
The 1989 944 Turbo (S) (Ideally Red, Silver, Yellow)

Of course, they are all in different price ranges… so my interest is to get one of the above for fun, daily/weekend driver/ semi restored (I dont want to work on the cars too much aside from regular maintenance or basic work) and I do believe the wife will want to drive it more than the -6.

As I know how critical this group is, I would love to hear the pros/cons on the above models.

I pretty much have my mind made up, but want to check with the peanut gallery to see if I am in the right path… (IMG:style_emoticons/default/confused24.gif)

If you are aware of a car for sale within the above types, I welcome also the lead--PM me or email me.

[phillstek]

I've owned an '89 944 Turbo and an Alfa 2000. The 944 was the best car I've ever owned. The Alfa, not so much.

I put over 120,000 km on the T while I owned it and then sold it to a mate who still drives it. It now has over 200,000 on the clock and still goes like stink. I left it bog stock and always over maintained it. Oil changes every 7500k, cam belts every 40,000k etc. Blew a head gasket for no reason at around 80,000k so while I was there I replaced the belt, water pump, valve guides, springs and fitted an aftermarket wide ring gasket, not cheap. I could only imagine what that would cost these days, back in '94 it was close to $5000.

Replaced a clutch once and the sump gasket too, both major jobs. Despite the expense of ownership you have to spend a lot more to get the same performance out of a 911.

You can drive them off boost and fuel consumption is like any other 4 cylinder, around 30-35mpg and your grandma could drive it. Stomp on it however and the beast is unleashed.

The friend who bought it off me has since chipped it, added a billet waste gate and a couple of other slight mods and it's punching out 300+hp at the wheels.

The Alfa rusted worse than any 914 and bits fell off it left and right including the steering rack bolts dropping out. Fun to drive and very well balanced but not nearly enough engine performance so you have flog the crap out of them. The gear shift is less than precise, clutch slave cylinders are notorious for failure, as are drive shaft donuts and they rust in places other cars don't, like the tops of the doors and roof sills.

Buy a 944 T only (or any Turbo Porsche) if you can find an unmolested one with low miles and full history and can justify the expense of maintenance. If you can, then these are one the best cars ever built.