The official Porsche 914 thread

[Por-cha]

Anyone wanting to know about our fun little cars is welcome to ask questions.

But here are the rules:

NO SMACK TALK

If you don’t like 914’s, a certain person, their ride and/or whatever,
PISS OFF! Take off eh, go away!

Play nice and we won't have another closed thread.


Some people did have genuine questions and interest so we’re here to answer them.

[tat2dphreak]

914 school is now in session

[Ben]

This is all fine and dandy, however any Elitest attitude and talk about "How My 914 is the greatest car on the road" will also not be tollerated. Both sides are under the looking glass.
Also, Valid and diplomatic reasoning about why you dislike either the 914 or any other vehicle will be tollerated. We cant have an all praise no disagreement forum, or what would be the point of a car discussion forum?

[Por-cha]

Doh...someone locked the other thread and now it's open again.

I still think we should start here fresh, group hug.

Again play nice!

[ZorroAMG]

If someone wanted to get into a 914, what would they be looking to pay for it? What are the best years to buy? (am I correct in assuming the 914-6 is the one to get?)

[Por-cha]

Depends

Project cars maybe cheap to buy BUT expensive to restore. I personally would buy a nice rust free 914, so about $8000.Canadian, $6000USD would get you in the seat of a /4.
About $10000USD+ for a /6

The /4 had three engines 1.7 80hp, 1.8 75hp (smog), and the 2.0 95hp. An original /6 was a 2.0 and was only 110hp.

A /4 can be done up to 150-180hp and a /6 can take up to a 3.2 without a lot of mods. A four can be made into a six. All these mods cost money anywhere from about $4000 to $20000 Canadian depending what you do/want.

A /4 is a boat load of fun and fast, but a /6 is cool.

[ZorroAMG]

Does the 4 need many mods to fit a 3.2? Is the front clip of the 6 bigger to accomodate the engine or is it the same as the 4? Would you say the best route is to mod a 4 2.0?

[tat2dphreak]

914-6 would be the one to get, assuming the car is in good shape, miinimal rust etc... an original -6 in GOOD shape will run 16-18K on average... a 4 cylinder that has been converted to a nice 6 (say a 3.0 Carerra motor, all installed nicely) will be a couple grand less (since it's not original)

the 73-74 2.0 4-banger cars are then next on the desireablity list...
they have a motor that's only 5hp less than the stock 6, and weigh a couple hundred pounds less... they also have a slightly better suspension, and a much smoother-shifting tranny... expect to pay 7-8K on average, more if it's concours quality

after that... it's pretty much: the best you can find...

in fact, with rust being the biggest contributor to these cars dwindling numbers, the "most desirable" is really just one that is rust free... everything else is easy to fix!

you can get decent 914s under 5K if you look hard and are willing to do a little work on them

oh, and in regards to your other Q(best to modify a 4?): me and many others will argue this point... you CAN mod it to a -6 for about 8-10K and have 250-300 hp... you can put a Chevy V8 in for 5-6K and get 350hp + or for 6-8K you can have "the best in the type 4 business (Jake Raby) " build you a 200hp 4 banger that's VERY Light and VERY fast... I personally like the Raby engines

[Por-cha]

The engine is in the middle

It's built for a six but I won't kid you a /6 conversion is not cheap. About $8000 - 10000Can + the engine and then you would want install a 911 front suspension for the bigger brakes, etc. ching-ching.

It would be cheaper to get one that is already done or buy someone’s abandoned project for 10 cents on the dollar.

Like any custom job /4 or /6 it can get into big coin.

But a nice /4 with just a couple of grand in suspension etc mods is a ton o' fun.

[ZorroAMG]

Originally posted by Por-cha
The engine is in the middle

HAHAHA oh shit, I knew that, just with all the 500E talk on the 914 thread, I got in a front engine mindset LOL

[MidEngine]

Originally posted by ZorroAMG
If someone wanted to get into a 914, what would they be looking to pay for it? What are the best years to buy? (am I correct in assuming the 914-6 is the one to get?)

Yup, the sixes are the most desirable. Check out this beauty that was on ebay a while back. The '73 and '74 2.0L four-cylinder cars are also strong but they don't sound as sweet as the sixes. Here's an 8.5 mb quicktime movie of a six-cylinder 914 on an autocross course if you want to hear the six.

[QuasarCav]

what is the benefit of using one of these compared to an older 911?

[4CylFiero]

Ouch those are expensive cars. Too pricey in my eyes, you can swap any Engine into a Fiero for a fraction of the cost. I currently have about 190 HP out a 4 banger in mine and the car weighs about 2600 with stereo and spare tire stuff. What drives you guys to own those cars, they are not attractive in my perspective, actually ogt any pictures of the back and interior.

[4CylFiero]

That E-bay 914 is alright from the back, I don't care for chrome on the car body. The interior is horrible, it like a truck with a high dash or something, I don't car for the shift stick out of teh floor like that.

[Weapon_R]

They are attractive in their eyes. A Fiero is not attractive to me, but you like it, and therefore thats what drives you to own one. Personally, I think owning one of these would be pretty damn cool. Imagine having an old school porsche, especially like the one posted on ebay. That blue one looks fantastic!

[4CylFiero]

LOL it no wonder it weighs 2200 pounds it's jack is held in by and elastic band.

Just out of curiousity whats in the front, a fiero has brake booster/master cylinder, clutch master, radiator, cooland resevior, and then the spare and jack of course.

[ZorroAMG]

I agree, a mint one like the one on E-bay is way nicer than the ones I usually see, still way up on the fence on the styling overall though :tongue:

[MidEngine]

Originally posted by 4CylFiero
Ouch those are expensive cars. Too pricey in my eyes, you can swap any Engine into a Fiero for a fraction of the cost. I currently have about 190 HP out a 4 banger in mine and the car weighs about 2600 with stereo and spare tire stuff. What drives you guys to own those cars, they are not attractive in my perspective, actually ogt any pictures of the back and interior.

Well, you could buy a four-cylinder one and then drop in a V8 . That way you'd have one quick mid-engined car for less than $15,000.

[Redlyne_mr2]

Did you guys see the 914 in this months Excellence? Such a clean awesome little car. Then theres the 914-6 GT which placed 6th at Lemans in 1970 right off the showroom floor, there were only 20 of these made. If you can't find or afford a 914-6 gt then the standard 914-6 will do just fine. It placed 6th amongst Excellences ten best drivers Porsches,pretty impressive IMO. This comment by David Colman a feature editor for Excellence magazine comes to mind: "The mid-engined VW-Porsche 914 is the best handling, most useful Porsche built to date. Unfortunately, the company has abandoned the value segment of the market to build cars affordable only to the rich. Since most of them can't drive a proliferation of luxury items has supplanted performance options. Instead of gearsets, we get leather options. Instead of hardcore race goods, we get soft-core adorn. That's why you'll find the older, simpler, and sharper cars domination my list. Give me a knife-edged 914-6 anyday"

[Chevolvo]

Originally posted by 4CylFiero
LOL it no wonder it weighs 2200 pounds it's jack is held in by and elastic band.

Just out of curiousity whats in the front, a fiero has brake booster/master cylinder, clutch master, radiator, cooland resevior, and then the spare and jack of course.

The big black blob in the back of the shot is the gas tank, and under the floor of the trunk is the spare tire. Lots of room for luggage in there, and the rear trunk has even more. I'm going to be taking a 6000 mile cross country trip in a few weeks, and even with all my clothes and a very complete selection of tools, jack, etc. I'm still going to have plenty of room.