general use of a 944

[zcacogp]

ORIGINAL: poprock

I suspect there's something in modern safety standards. If not then it's just a fashion thing. Pillars between windows, especially at the rear of a car, are massively wide compared to older motors like our 944s. In my wife's Mini especially, those rear pillars are enormous and leave zero visibility at a three-quarter angle out the back. It makes for "˜interesting' times reversing into our garage.

I was suspecting exactly the same thing this morning. I'm not sure about the rear pillars (have a look at the rear pillars on a Mk1 Golf - they are huge), but certainly the A- and B-pillars have grown. I noticed that the A-pillars in the Mk5 golf have airbags in them which can only serve to make them thicker.

Rear headrests are always a major pain in the bum when reversing. And I think that the amount of glass in modern cars is decreasing as a proportion of the size of the car ... oh, and cars are getting much much bigger these days. Really MUCH bigger. Next time you see an original Mini look closely at it - it is tiny! The latest generation of (BMW) MINI has a longer wheelbase than the original Range Rover had ...


Oli.

 

[RJones]

Thanks again for all of your comments. I'm hoping to have a 944 in the next 2/3 months. I'm sure I will have plenty more questions for you all!!


cheers,
becky

 

[Fat Albert]

Having just swapped my 2001 230BHP SAAB 9 3 Turbo for an '88 220BHP(?) 944 Turbo as my only car (My Wife's BMW is the family wagon) I can do a bit of comparison.

I spent just over £2000 on the SAAB in 18 months & 5k miles, but that did include swapping out the interior for a leather one and replacing the stock 16" with TSW17" wheels. The big bill was the new Turbo at around £900[]

I got low-mid twenties mpg as I mainly do 2-3 trips to the station each week (8 miles each way) and longer drives at weekends if the kids need to go in opposite directions or to get to the flying club. I paid £460/year insurance. I bought it (with a scrape/dent in the side) for £1500 and sold it for £750 (still with the scrape/dent!)

The 944 costs me £201 insurance based on 5k/year and seems to be giving high 20s MPG, I have just put a pair of 255 Falkens on the back and they cost me £110/each compared to £109/each for the 215 Toyo Proxes that went on the SAAB.

I will need to pay out on a big bill next month as it needs a full service, MoT and the Belts done, I expect this to cost around £600ish. It will also need 2 bits of rust sorted before the winter. I am hoping that over the next 18 months it will work out significantly cheaper to own than the SAAB, almost as comfy and 10 times nicer to drive (I was going to say exciting, but the SAAB's Power/Chassis combo was sometimes very exciting in the wrong way...)

 

[appletonn]

ORIGINAL: Fat Albert

Having just swapped my 2001 230BHP SAAB 9 3 Turbo for an '88 220BHP(?) 944 Turbo as my only car (My Wife's BMW is the family wagon) I can do a bit of comparison.

I spent just over £2000 on the SAAB in 18 months & 5k miles, but that did include swapping out the interior for a leather one and replacing the stock 16" with TSW17" wheels. The big bill was the new Turbo at around £900[]

I got low-mid twenties mpg as I mainly do 2-3 trips to the station each week (8 miles each way) and longer drives at weekends if the kids need to go in opposite directions or to get to the flying club. I paid £460/year insurance. I bought it (with a scrape/dent in the side) for £1500 and sold it for £750 (still with the scrape/dent!)

The 944 costs me £201 insurance based on 5k/year and seems to be giving high 20s MPG, I have just put a pair of 255 Falkens on the back and they cost me £110/each compared to £109/each for the 215 Toyo Proxes that went on the SAAB.

I will need to pay out on a big bill next month as it needs a full service, MoT and the Belts done, I expect this to cost around £600ish. It will also need 2 bits of rust sorted before the winter. I am hoping that over the next 18 months it will work out significantly cheaper to own than the SAAB, almost as comfy and 10 times nicer to drive (I was going to say exciting, but the SAAB's Power/Chassis combo was sometimes very exciting in the wrong way...)

And don't forget that whilst the Saab is still depreciating, the 944, whilst not quite appreciating yet, is certainly not really depreciating either []

 

[jmelhuish]

We recently sold my wifes Saab 900 and brought a 944 S2 as her run around, works vehicle and kids taxi. We've had to spend some money on it but.......who cares, it puts a great big smile on my face every weekend when I'm allowed to drive!!!! I would say bite the bullet and go for it and have a good look around for what you want. If you dont like it you can always sell it and buy a focus or laguna.