PORSCHE CARRERA 924 & 944
The PORSCHE CARRERA 924 & 944
While docile looks and tepid performance had dogged the original 924s, the GT’s puffed up arches concealing 210bhp’s worth of engineering, were a revelation and unlocked the model’s true worth. Having inherited the right looks, all its 944 successor needed was the right engine at the right price. That came with the S2’s ground breaking 16-valve unit.
Representing the pinnacle of the model’s development, the Carrera GT and S2 made the 924 and 944 true driver’s cars, which is why, we have brought them together. We see how they stand yp to a modern motoring world and explore what made them special.
These days, Porsche's race-inspired 924 Carrera GT could easily be mistaken for a tampered-with 944; the muscular bulges of its wheel arches, the Fuchs 911-style alloys, the tail spoiler, the deep front air dam - all these stylistic and aerodynamic flourishes are the hallmarks of its successor. But, in 1980 when the evocatively-named Carrera GT was launched as an homologation special, its butch, almost thuggish stance was a visual jolt. After all, the 924, a fine drive though it was, was a dainty-looking device, even in Turbo form.
The Carrera GT still exudes a brutish charm. Seen close up it's clearly not a 944, its off centre bonnet scoop, quartet of nasal grilles, and the fact that its rear wheel arches are competition-style add-ons, lending it the air of the hard man, the sharply focused fighter. The ostentatious 'Carrera' graphic plastered along the off-side front wing is perhaps a bit '80s, but helps contribute to the sense of anticipation as you walk up to take the wheel for the first time.
The wheel itself, V-sectioned, four-spoked, leather-rimmed and close to the vertical, is familiar to anyone who's ever been inside a four-cylinder, front-engined Porsche. The general style of the facia also exudes a feeling of déja vu, its simple lines very obviously the forerunner to the 944's. The quality of plastics has moved on a bit since the start of the '80s, so although our 137,000 mile test car is Porsche solid, the materials used to build the cabin seem to have been borrowed from a VW Golf of the same era. Not that the appearance of plastics (or any other cabin material, for that matter) has ever been much of an issue for the diehard Porsche driver.
You don't so much sit down in the Carrera GT as drop into it. Its deep bucket seats are lower than those of a 924 or 924 Turbo and the car sits 20mm closer to the ground in the first place. The seats' side bolsters are substantial, so once you are in, you'll be staying in, regardless of how hard you drive. Just from the driving position alone, you're very obviously in a sports car, and one with considerable potential.
Because of your low-slung position, the chunky gearlever, jutting proudly from atop the fat transmission tunnel, initially seems pretty high and unmaneagable. Resting your elbow on the tunnel helps give you the angle needed to overcome its apparent awkardness, although the long-throw of the leather-wrapped lever prevents you nipping through with any wrist-flick changes. As is the race car norm - and don't forget the Carrera GT has the pit-lane in its DNA - first gear is a dog-leg affair, left and back, leaving all the more regularly used ratios in the H-pattern. Contemporary road tests don't mention it, but the clutch on our 20 year-old example takes up quite late in the pedal travel, meaning both practice and care are required for smooth getaways and gearchanges.
As the four-cylinder two-litre turbo churns over into life, your ears will tell you that the engine is not one of Porsche's own; its origins can be traced, via Audi, to the VW LT van. It's gruff at low revs and loud with it, and not as eager to spin as we've since come to expect from subsequent Porsches, especially the 944 S2 that appears over the page. For all that, though, it's a lugger at low revs and off-boost, happy to chug along in traffic with 1500rpm on the dial. in these sorts of conditions there's little hint of the Carrera GT's full potential, no real clue, not even a shrill whistle from the turbocharger, to the car's specialness.
At around 3000rpm the turbo rises from its slumbers, rushes up to working speeds, and unleashes a stream of energy that turns your pace from merely brisk to barrelling forwards.Suddenly the Carrera GT exposes its motorsport pedigree, rushing headlong and lustily towards the next braking point, its throttle response electrifying, its acceleration genuinely exciting. The lag that has all but been eliminated from modern turbocharged cars adds to the thrill of the Carrera's power delivery and means that the 210bhp produced by the GT feels subjectively to be a whole lot more than the 21obhp cranked out by the 944 S2. It does mean you need to be careful on the throttle through corners - you really don't want an on-boost moment as you bear down on a tight apex.
Not that the handling's a problem, quite the opposite. Though the steering's heavy at low speeds it's your informative friend as the pace picks up, while the balance of the chassis boasts the same on-the-limit poise that makes the 944 such a joy. When the tail lets go it does so progressively, and if you're in the mood and the engine's boosted up, it gives you the confidence to indulge in some opposite-lockery. Far better, however, to feed the Carrera silkily through bends, working up gently to the edges of its roadholding, and making indecent pace from point to point.
In a modern context the 21-year-old Carrera GT is now starting to show its age, the only surprise being that it has taken so long to do so. Its laggy turbo, occasionally harsh ride quality, and comparatively soft brakes are the giveaways; in truth a good modern hot hatch, a Honda Civic Type R for instance, would within a few miles be flashing its tailpipes at the Porsche. Yet the Carrera CT remains quick and feels special, in a way no hot hatch comes close to matching.
Compared with the 944 S2, its chassis feels less accomplished but its performance is more brutal, more likely to stir your emotions. Despite its well-trimmed and luxuriously appointed cabin, the Carrera GT’s competition roots show in the way it drives, in its raw edges - that's not a criticism, it's a compliment. When new the Carrera CT was lauded as a new breed of supercar, one which could do 150mph yet also return 30mpp, a track star which could be easily used to fetch the weekly shopping. It was a stunning achievement, and is still able to impress more than two decades on. Such a shame Porsche built only 400 of the things ... BM
TECHNICALLY SPEAKING - 924 CARRERA GT
'It would be a worthy successor to the 911 Carrera RS launched seven years ago.' So said the original Porsche press release of the Carrera GT, written after the design study was first unveiled at the 1979 Frankfurt Motor Show. In reality, this was more a reflection of Porsche's desire for its customers and the press to move on and forget about the 911 (it was at a time when 911 production was planned to cease) than on the driving experience of the new hot-shot Carrera GT.
What it did share was its racing homologation roots. In total 400 were built to satisfy Le Mans regulations in 1980 (an additional six for press and PR, and 12 for Australia) with three being raced in the same year (finishing 6th, ]2th and 13th). However, the road car was only endowed with 210 of the race version's 350 horsepower.
Even so, it was the ultimate road-going 924. A larger turbo running at increased boost (0.75 bar rather than 0.65), combined with lighter pistons and an air-to-air intercooler marked it out from the standard Turbo model and gave it that extra 40bhp. The gearbox was strengthened to cope with the increase, and the suspension stiffened and endowed with a larger anti-roll bar. However, it perversely had the best mpg figure of any 924.
But what really marked the GT out from the rest of the 924 crowd was its looks. On the bonnet an aggressive air scoop replaced the Turbo's NACA duct, at the rear a larger spoiler was added along with the unmissable 'Carrera' decal that also swathed the front wing. But it was the flared polyurethane arches that increased width by 40mm front and rear that characterised the GT. These formed the basis of the 944's styling which appeared two years later.
1989 - ’91 PORSCHE 944 S2
Big deal. The 3.0-litre 944 S2 had a small engine displacement advantage over its 2.7litre brother, boasted 211 bhp against 190bhp, employed four valves per cylinder instead of just two, polished off the 0-60mph dash in 6.9sec compared with 7.9sec, and could manage 149mph rather than 142mph flat-out. But these specification details were mere nuances of difference, surely? Yet, despite the apparently slight evolutionary advantage, the S2 emerged as the ultimate 944, leagues ahead of the 2.7-litre car.
While it seems implausible that a bigger engine could make such an important difference, that's precisely what happened. The disappointing 944 2.7 was beaten in a 1989 Car- magazine group test bv the front-wheel drive, supercharged VW Corrado G60, losing the contest because it felt heavy, barely outperformed its German rival, didn't handle as sweetly and was considerably more expensive. The S2, which arrived shortlv after the 2.7, tackled most of the criticisms and was widely proclaimed as the next best thing to the 944 'Turbo - better in most people's minds - and for thousands of pounds less. Anvbody who had previously doubted the dynamic excellence of the 944 could now be prepared to eat either their hat or pants, depending on how cocky they'd been at the time
Quite apart from how well the S2 went, it marked the 944's coming of age with a more mature visual package The stylistic changes in essence weren't much, but they moved on the looks from being plain and dated to purposeful and confident. The front end featured more slats and larger supplementary lights, there was a distinctive undertray beneath the rear bumper, and the wheels grew in diameter from 15" to 16"; altogether it was a more expensive-looking package.
At least, that’s the case from the outside. Open the door, armed with raised expectations, and you're greeted by a cabin depressingly similar in design to the elderly and far humbler 924's. There's nothing wrong with it per se, yet even in 1988 when the S2 was launched, some grumbled that Porsche should have tried harder to create greater distance between this and lesser models.
Nevertheless, once you've lowered yourself to the electrically height-adjustable seat, there's no doubting that you're aboard a sports car, not a three-door saloon. The facia may be lain, but at least it's solidly made and its switchgear and dials easy to find and use. Athough it's oh-so similar to the interior of the Carrera GT, the S2 feels different to be inside, partly because you sit higher and partly cause by this stage Porsche had discovered interior colours other than black.
Compared with the 2.7 it came in over the top of, the S2 has 22 per cent more torque (2071b ft at 4000rpm), a statistic that nips to the forefront of your consciousness as you flick the ignition key for the first time. At idle the 16-valve 3.0-litre four-pot is generally hushed, almost too quiet, in fact, but if you listen hard there's a distant hard-edged buzz to the exhaust note, sufficient to convince you that there are good times to come. The robust, leather-clad gearlever requires careful, deliberate slotting into first, then you're away in lively fashion.
To make a three-litre from the old 2.7 involved far more work than merely increasing the bore and stroke and whipping on a four valve head - Porsche put a huge amount of effort into making this a torquey motor, and you can feel the rewards of its endeavours within a few hundred yards. The S2 gets all vigorous and urgent from as low as 1500rpm, which is impressive stuff from a normally aspirated multi-valver. You can even tootle through town in top. Mind you, a sharp eye on the speedo is needed to fully appreciate the S2's gutsiness, because so little effort is required and the low-end noise levels so low, there's a danger of being left unimpressed.
By the time you reach the midrange 3000rpm and above - the picture becomes clearer as you begin to feel the speed and hear more strident tunes from the engine andexhaust. Even then, though, you need to spend a little while behind the wheel, as the linear rather than explosive nature of the power delivery tends to mask just how quick this car is. In the Carrera GT a huge lump of accelerative force is suddenly dumped under your right foot; there's no lack of urge from the S2, you just have to concentrate hard to appreciate what's on offer. Only at around 5500rpm (the point at which the large capacity four-banger's impressive smoothness and refinement runs out) does the S2 subjectively feel to have the pace of the Carrera GT, despite its wealth of torque.
Brakes from the 944 Turbo and a stiffer suspension set-up make the S2 a much sharper tool than the 2.7-litre car. True, the heavyweight S2 doesn't have the cat-like agility of the best modern sports cars, but it's satisfyingly involving to thrape down deserted back roads, and monstrously fast if you apply yourself to keeping your inputs and the car's movements fluid. Reach the end of the roadholding and the tail is easy enough to catch, a fun activity until you have to start paying for the tyres.
The S2 doesn't provide the instant gratification of the Carrera GT, is less of a head-banger, less obviously inspired by the need to go racing. It's a car requiring patience and concentration, the willingness to first identify its strengths and then to exploit them to the max. In the long term it's probably the more satisfying of the pair, because the learning process takes longer. And once you have built up a bank of experience, boy can you put it to good use. The S2 is about as quick as anyone sensibly needs to go on the public road, and although the better modern hot hatches and four-wheel drive rally replicas will easily equal it for sheer pace, it's unlikely that any will give you so much pleasure.
TECHNICALLY SPEAKING - 944S2
For some, the Turbo might well be the favoured 944 but for the rest of us the S2 represents the zenith of the model's achievements. Where the Turbo was brutal, the S2 was smooth, and although its outright pace couldn't match its forced-induction stable mate, accessing that performance was often a more pleasant and less laborious experience. It also benefited greatly from technology shared or borrowed from other Porsche projects, making it a truly polished product.
Nowhere is this more true than under the bonnet. For a start, the 2990cc I6v four cylinder was originally derived from the 928's five litre V8 powerplant, and in 2497cc guise was first used on the S2's predecessor the 944S. However, in this form, the engine noticeably lacked low and mid end pull, so to address this, Porsche used the new aluminium block of the 2.7 litre 944. The advantage this had was in the cylinder spacing which allowed both bore and stroke to be increased, giving an additional 511cc, and more importantly, greatly improved driveability. Another key feature was the cooling system that was developed from the experiences learned from the firm's TAG Formula One experience.
Elsewhere, the suspension was stiffened and a sports option offered, giving the customer access to the same set up as the Turbo S. The brakes were taken straight from the 250bhp Turbo model, as was the complete low drag bodywork. In fact, there was extremely little to differentiate the two models from each other in terms of interior or exterior styling.
When you consider the Turbo was always at least £7000 more expensive when new, the S2 represented great value. As our Buyer's Guide pointed out last month (GT-Purely Porsche, Decembe 2001), that it's still good value today, despite the price differential having been completely reversed with the S2 commanding higher used prices than most Turbos.
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