Long before the E36 even debuted, the Porsche 944 was deeply entrenched in the track scene. From weekend warrior autocrosses to full out Le Mans endurance racing, the 944 touched all aspects of motorsports, and in many cases won. While the roots were in a economy sports car, the 944 Turbo took well to supercar slaying – massive flares hiding brakes borrowed from its brethren and boosted performance from the all-Porsche turbocharged 2.5 inline-4. With near perfect weight distribution, these Turbos were relatively easy to drive and accepted high levels of modifications well. Into the 1990s, the continued to be favorites at track events – and today, even nearly 30 years later, they’re still potent packages capable of winning club races. Today I have three different takes on the 944 Turbo; modified but still streetable track event car, stripped and turned up club racer, and a collectable bit of Porsche racing history with a Turbo Cup car in original configuration. Which is your flavor?
Tag: Turbocharged
Okay, I got the memo. You didn’t like earlier’s Tuner S4. And while I think it’s pretty silly to discount the car completely because of some fairly easily changeable interior pieces, I also had issue with the car as honestly I’d prefer an Avant if I was going the S4 route. What’s a guy to do? Well, lucky for us there’s an equally awesome, equally Imola Avant in our Self Service Classifieds:
CLICK FOR DETAILS: 2001.5 Audi S4 Avant on German Cars For Sale Blog Self-Service Classifieds
3 CommentsWhen they were first released, I personally thought that the B5 S4 was a bit disappointing. After all, it was basically only producing a few more horsepower than the revered outgoing turbocharged inline-5 had produced, and indeed produced less power than the S6+ and S6 V8 models produced. Like the E36 M3, the styling was conservative and understated but handsome, but the performance was also on par with the M3 which had just gone out of production. It really seemed like Audi was behind a few steps. Since then, the appeal of the B5 to me has increased a bit; as a package capable of both driving all year and turning some incredible numbers on the dyno there are few that can match it. My view started to change when I got a ride in an Imola Yellow S4 Avant that was built to RS4 specs – on the front straight at Lime Rock Park, the car easily accelerated from 80 to 120mph before the start/finish line. The acceleration was brutal and instant; not what you’d expect from a heavy turbocharged car – and a reminder of how much the Audi engineers left in that motor. It’s further interesting to me that after abandoning turbocharging in favor of naturally aspirated V8s, Audi and other manufacturers have been forced to reevaluate and include forced induction in their performance models. Today, you can get a very nice example of a B5 S4 for under $10,000 – but if you want one that’s a turn-key bullet, you’ll have to shell out a bit more for one like today’s lower mile Imola Yellow S4 sedan:
CLICK FOR DETAILS: 2000 Audi S4 on eBay
5 CommentsAs cars grow more complex each year, old iron like this late model Mercedes-Benz 300CD grow more and more appealing. This example for sale in California has lived on the west coast its whole life and its looks are deceptive, as it has 183,000 miles on its odometer. A testament, then, to how timeless and durable these diesel Benzes really are.