Porsche 944 turbo: under pressure

By Neil Winn

| 11 Nov 2024

Classic & Sports Car – Porsche 944 turbo: under pressure

Half a century ago this year, at the 1974 Paris Salon, Porsche introduced the ‘turbo’ model designation for its flagship 911.

Since then, that five-letter word has become almost married to the enduring sports car.

Mention to a Porsche enthusiast that you drive a turbo, and they will almost certainly picture a rear-wheel-drive, rear-engined coupé with an extravagant wing, broad wheelarches and italicised script on the engine cover.

Not long after Porsche turbocharged the 911, it gave the 944 a boost with forced induction

However, lurking in its shadows, the often-overlooked 944 may well have benefited from forced induction to an even greater extent.

Turbocharging was not only baked into the 944’s DNA from the beginning, but also helped Porsche demonstrate that its transaxle cars were capable machines in their own right.

It was a tough point to prove.

Indeed, if the 944 turbo could lie on a therapist’s couch and spill its guts, it would point an accusatory door mirror at the 924 – a car with such a confused and contorted conception that it is hard to believe it ever reached production at all.

The Porsche 944 turbo’s seats are set quite high, so getting comfortable can be tricky

Engineered by Porsche for Volkswagen, the 924 project (EA425) was dropped by VW in the early 1970s when the energy crisis led Wolfsburg management to conclude that the cheaper-to-produce, Karmann-built Scirocco was a better alternative.

This would prove to be a shrewd move for VW, but it left Porsche with quite the conundrum: throw away all its hard work and the DM30million it had sunk into the project, or buy the entire programme outright?

A compromise was reached.

As part of a deal worth around DM100m, the Volkswagen Group would supply the required componentry at a discounted price, while production would be subcontracted to Audi, rescuing its Neckarsulm factory.

Behind the Porsche 944 turbo SE’s 16in wheels are brakes from the V8-engined 928

This would also fit neatly into Dr Ernst Fuhrmann’s overarching plan to replace the not-so-evergreen 911 with a cheaper, more efficient alternative that could sit alongside the front-engined, water-cooled 928, which was already under development.

But the 924 was about as un-Porsche as you could get.

Here was its first model with an engine mounted in front of the driver; not just any engine, but a water-cooled lump shared with the Audi 100 and a VW LT van.

And things didn’t get any more exotic under the neatly creased body panels.

‘The Porsche 944 turbo is a properly sorted GT car by any measure: effortless, almost clinical, but very approachable. It even rides well’

Front suspension? Sourced from a Golf. Rear suspension? From a Beetle. The rear brakes? Drums, from a K70.

And while the rear-mounted transmission was a clever bit of engineering that would become the hallmark of Porsche’s new transaxle family, it shared components with an Audi 100.

Mercifully, the resultant whole was better than the sum of its parts.

As Autocar remarked in its February 1977 road test: ‘Though the configuration of the 924 may make it sound like a “bitza” car, the whole effect is harmonious and obviously well engineered.’

Porsche script on the 944 turbo SE’s rear bumper is a neat detail

If it had been badged a VW, or even an Audi, it would no doubt have been judged a success.

But it wasn’t a Volkswagen, and it wasn’t priced like one, with a base 924 costing around 30% more than an Alfa Romeo GTV.

And while it could quite convincingly out-handle its rivals, journalists were unimpressed with its top-end performance and refinement – a problem for a car wearing Stuttgart’s city seal on its nose.

The Porsche 944 turbo’s 2.5-litre engine is in effect one half of a 928’s V8

An inauspicious start, then.

But, as history has shown, when Porsche commits itself to the development of a design, it remains faithful to it, despite the faults and foibles.

It’s an attitude that was echoed by Dr Fuhrmann in 1976, when he sought to reassure the assembled press: “Under our guidance, the 924 will develop like a real Porsche.”

It was a statement that, in effect, kick-started a lengthy process of the company redesigning the 924 in its own image – and turbocharging was to be at its core.

The Porsche 944 turbo’s gearbox is a five-speed transaxle

First to come, in 1979, was the 924 turbo, which offered vastly improved performance and handling (Autocar clocked one from rest to 60mph in just 6.9 secs – nearly 3 secs quicker than a regular 924), yet the Porsche cognoscenti were still not convinced by its narrow body and Audi-based heart.

And neither was Porsche’s head of R&D, Professor Helmuth Bott.

Indeed, when the firm announced it would field three factory-supported 924 GTRs at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1980, it was his job to get the most out of Audi’s 2-litre engine, and that was a process he and his team likely didn’t relish.

Porsche’s 944 turbo shape still looks fresh

As he later remarked: “I like Black Forest cake. It has rich ingredients. But if I give you some sand and a bucket of water, you cannot make a Black Forest cake that I would enjoy.”

Yet Porsche was going in the right direction.

It was returning to its roots by competing at the highest level with a four-cylinder coupé, and the turbocharged Carrera GT was a proper homologation halo car that could satisfy the appetite of real enthusiasts – even if only 400 of them were produced.

The team was clearly on to something and, in truth, Bott’s impatience didn’t come from the GTR’s lack of pace; it came from the fact that work was already under way on the new 944, which was to race the following year, in 1981.

Subtle aerodynamic enhancements keep the Porsche 944 turbo stable at high speed

Marketed as a ‘924 GTP’, Porsche’s four-cylinder entry at Le Mans in 1981 was in fact a thinly disguised prototype of the 944 turbo, making its racing debut just a few days before the new road car was announced.

The engine was therefore a closely guarded secret, but had someone sneaked into the pitlane at La Sarthe and taken a peek under the GTP’s curvaceous Kevlar bonnet, they would have seen what was, in effect, one bank of the 928’s V8 engine canted over at a 35° angle.

A curious example of Porsche engineering, the vibrations of this 2.5-litre, all-alloy ‘four’ were calmed by an exceptionally strong bottom end with its block cast in a single piece, plus a counter-rotating balancer-shaft system licensed from Mitsubishi.

A luggage net bolsters the Porsche 944 turbo’s GT credentials

It also featured a single KKK turbocharger, a trick 16-valve cylinder head and computer-controlled, fully electronic ignition that was combined, for the first time, with a timed fuel-injection system.

With such a technically complex engine, Porsche was prepared to run into problems at Le Mans, but remarkably the 944 turbo prototype had a trouble-free race: it completed the 24 hours without any technical issues and finished seventh overall.

It even won a trophy for spending the least time in the pits.

Advertising campaigns don’t get much better.

The Porsche crest on the 944 turbo SE’s bonnet

But buyers would have to wait almost four years until they could get their hands on a roadgoing 944 turbo.

Not that this impacted sales in the short term; even in naturally aspirated form the 944 received a rapturous welcome in all markets, with buyers taken by its muscular, wide-bodied look and the fact that it finally had a bespoke, Porsche-developed motor under its long bonnet – albeit one with no turbo and only two valves per cylinder.

The only problem was that this 163bhp car wasn’t particularly quick, and rivals such as the Mazda RX-7 and Mitsubishi Starion were nipping at the 944’s heels.

‘Turbocharging raised power from 163bhp to 220bhp – which put the 944 turbo worryingly close to the 911 Carrera’

Writing for Road & Track, Porsche expert Paul Frère summed it up neatly: ‘Neither its performance nor its fuel economy is claimed to be better than the Porsche 924 turbo’s. The principal difference is one of image and development potential.’

If you didn’t know any better, you might accuse Mr Frère of having insider knowledge…

In 1985 enthusiasts got the car they had been waiting for.

As Autocar’s road test put it: ‘The normally aspirated 944 Lux is an extremely competent sports coupé, but into the turbo has been injected that most intangible of qualities – excitement.’

The Porsche 944 turbo’s four-dial binnacle

How so? By turbocharging the 2.5-litre engine, power was raised from 163bhp to 220bhp and torque from 151lb ft to 243lb ft, dropping the 0-60mph time from 7.4 to 6 secs – huge gains that put the 944 turbo worryingly close to Porsche’s 3.2-litre 911 Carrera.

It wasn’t just straight-line performance that had 911 owners concerned.

Uprated springs, dampers and anti-roll bars combined with cast-aluminium (instead of welded steel) front wishbones and rear trailing arms brought a marked improvement in handling.

Autocar praised the new range-topping 944 for its ‘beautifully predictable’ balance, prompting the team to sign off with a punchy conclusion: ‘The Porsche spokesmen must be more than a little concerned about the way in which the 944 turbo could affect sales of the 911.’

The Porsche 944 turbo’s old amplifier meets a new radio unit

As we know now, these worries were largely unfounded and the flagship continued to sell in healthy numbers.

But the theme of the 944 turbo giving its older brother a bit of headache continued throughout its life.

Especially when, in 1988, the ultimate development of the 944 series arrived: the turbo SE.

Based on the Cup racer (see below), it received upgraded brakes from the 928, adjustable dampers, stiffer springs, a thicker front anti-roll bar and a limited-slip differential.

But the headline-grabbing news was a power increase to 247bhp, courtesy of increased boost from a modified KKK turbocharger.

The Porsche 944 turbo SE responds well to a hard-charging approach, without threatening to bite

With a claimed 5.7 secs 0-60mph time and a 162mph top speed, it had proper supercar performance backed up by polished dynamics, and it didn’t take long for Stuttgart to capitalise on the hype surrounding the SE by making it the default turbo version in 1989.

It’s that very model which Porsche has pulled out of its museum for us to sample on the roads where it was developed in the Swabian Alps.

The first challenge is finding a comfortable driving position.

The Porsche 944 turbo has pop-up headlights

Porsche raised the height at which the steering wheel was mounted on the 944 S2 in 1985, but, coupled with a driver’s seat that’s located quite high, the wheel still rests in your lap.

Best, then, to slide the seat a long way aft and adopt a Stirling Moss-style driving stance with arms outstretched.

The second revelation is that those counter-rotating balancer shafts might be clever, but you’ll find the engine chunters into life before sitting at a lumpy idle.

It’s almost enough to make you question what the Autocar road testers were smoking back in 1989, until you remember that even well-maintained museum cars need a few miles to blow off the cobwebs.

The wider 944 turbo helped to define a new design language for Porsche

And so it is here.

Get some speed into the car and the overwhelming impression is that this is a properly sorted GT by any measure.

Put your foot down and the motor pulls all five ratios hard with little lag, imbuing it with a grown-up, effortless demeanour.

It almost borders on the clinical, until you throw it into a corner and discover that it’s more approachable and exploitable than a 911 of a similar vintage.

It even rides well by modern standards.

The Porsche 944 turbo got an additional air intake above the numberplate

And that’s where the magic of the Porsche 944 turbo lies: in its bandwidth.

It took its maker another 15 years to come up with a non-911 that was faster (the Cayman S), but as a strict two-seater it was a less usable replacement.

And while I’ve been lucky enough to spend lots of time behind the wheel of what many consider to be the sweetest driver’s 944, the 16-valve, 3-litre S2, if you drive both back-to-back you’ll find the turbo feels like the more modern car.

So perhaps it’s time, then, 50 years on from the introduction of the legendary nameplate, for Porsche’s 944 version to be given the credit it deserves.

Because, while the transaxle cars would eventually turn into something of a product cul-de-sac for the firm, for a short time the Porsche 944 turbo took the concept from a mere curiosity to a capable class leader.

Images: Roman Rätzke/Porsche

Porsche’s power couple

Ben and Cheryl Dimson met as students at California’s ArtCenter College of Design, but their legacies would be built in Stuttgart.

“My first job at Porsche was with Wolfgang Möbius [head of production car design], who instructed me to develop a more homogeneous look for future models,” says Ben, who was at Porsche for eight years.

“They liked the sketches I was doing, which led to them saying: ‘Let’s try this on the 928.’

“And because it looked good on the 928 [launched on the S4], everything snowballed.

“The design department applied the same philosophy to all the other cars.

“The original 944 had a separate bumper design, so the trick for the turbo was to blend it into the front end. I did that by grafting both the lights and a new air intake into the bumper.

“However, the turbo needed way more air than the regular car, so coming up with a new design of intake without perforating the bonnet was a challenge.

“The 924 turbo had four slots above the bumper; with the 944 we wanted to move away from that aggressive design.”

The ‘turbo’ script was designed by Cheryl

“We did that by putting the air intake for the intercooler around the licence plate,” he explains.

“The philosophy goes back to what Tony Lapine [director of design] wanted to achieve as the overall look for Porsche as a brand.

“I take great pride in seeing the public’s acceptance of the car’s design, and it’s amazing to see them become collector pieces.”

Cheryl’s influence on Porsche’s brand identity has been arguably even greater, having developed the ‘Carrera’, ‘turbo’, ‘targa’ and ‘Convertible’ scripts that Porsche still uses to this day.

“I wanted the design to be evolutionary, not revolutionary, so it would evolve from the original Carrera script,” she explains.

“I also wanted to create a consistency across the board, so it was important to work on all four badges at the same time.

“That said, the ‘a’ in Carrera is not quite how I would have designed it – it was modified to work on the back of the 911’s sloping rear end.

“I loved the idea of being able to do branding directly in-house, and I just was lucky that the right portfolio landed on the right desk on the right day.”

Porsche’s turbo track pioneer

Porsche’s one-make racing series was used to develop the 944

With its young-driver programme and one-make Carrera Cup series allowing Porsche to take talented rookies from grassroots to greatness, the firm has an omnipotent presence in GT motorsport.

But did you know much of it is owed to the 944 turbo?

The Porsche turbo Cup one-make series began in 1986, featuring technically identical 944 turbo Cup cars, which were so closely related to their roadgoing counterparts that they were constructed alongside the production models in Neckarsulm.

The series quickly gained popularity due to its large entry lists and thrilling sprint races, and soon expanded well beyond Germany to include further championships in France, South Africa, Canada and the United States.

The competition not only nutured young talent, but also contributed to the development of the 944 turbo road car.

In 1987, the 944 Cup racers received a boost to 247bhp and several chassis upgrades, including a stiffer anti-roll bar, uprated shock absorbers and 928S brakes with ABS.

These modifications were then incorporated into the roadgoing version, culminating in the 1988 turbo SE.

The concept of the Porsche one-make series, which has featured production-based racing versions of the Porsche 911 since 1990, remains one of the most successful in club motorsport today.

Factfile

Porsche 944 turbo SE

Sold/number built 1985-’91/25,245 (all turbos)
Construction steel monocoque
Engine all-alloy, sohc, 8v 2479cc ‘four’, with KKK turbocharger, intercooler and fuel injection
Max power 247bhp @ 6000rpm
Max torque 258lb ft @ 4000rpm
Transmission five-speed manual, RWD
Suspension independent, at front by MacPherson struts, lower wishbones rear semi-trailing arms, torsion bars; telescopic dampers, anti-roll bar f/r
Steering power-assisted rack and pinion
Brakes vented discs, with servo and ABS
Length 14ft 1in (4290mm)
Width 5ft 8¼in (1735mm)
Height 4ft 2¼in (1275mm)
Wheelbase 7ft 10½in (2400mm)
Weight 2970lb (1347kg)
Mpg 19
0-60mph 5.7 secs
Top speed 162mph
Price new £39,893
Price now £20-35,000*