The Porsche 944 Turbo was built between 1985 and 1991. Although many of the body parts were new, the 944 adopted many design features from the 924 Turbo and the 924 Carrera GT. The 944 used far more Porsche parts because manufacturers did not want to repeat the problems associated with the 924 and its link to Audi and Volkswagen, which caused many to not view the 924 as a true Porsche. Nevertheless, the 944 still contained quite a few Volkswagen parts, such as the suspension, brakes, and even interior styling elements.
Porsche Turbo 944
The changes that really made the difference from the 928 significant were applied to the car's braking and suspension systems. Furthermore, in the second half of 1985, Porsche introduced more major changes to the 944: an updated interior, an integrated radio antenna, and new rims to replace the old "cookie cutter" wheels, as well as improved mechanical components such as the cast aluminum wishbones and semi-follower arms, and improved transmission mounting.
Interior of the Porsche 944 Turbo.
The performance of the 944 was also improved compared to the 924. The sprint from 0 to 100 took 8,3 seconds and the top speed was around 200 km/h. Thanks to the rear-mounted transaxle, the car had an almost perfect 50/50 weight distribution and was praised as such for its superior handling characteristics.
Following the release of the 944 and its first update, the 944 S was introduced. With a more powerful 188 hp DOHC version of the 2.5-liter engine, the 944 S sprinted to 100 km/h in 7.9 seconds, and the top speed now reached around 215 km/h. In 1989, after the 944 Turbo S had replaced the standard Turbo, the 944 S2 was released. The 944 S2 had a 211 hp 3-liter engine. Convertible versions of both the Turbo S and the S2 were also released, which were first shown at the Frankfurt Motor Show in 1985. Initially, 500 convertibles were to be built, but just as with the 1988 Turbo S, Porsche couldn't resist and the brand built 625 units.
Porsche 944 turbo convertible.
