944 Tuning

"A Porsche for the Masses."

We have a few Porsche owners among our members and quite rightly so, the 944 offers good levels of fun at a great price.

All 944s are good, practical cars. 2.5s are the common ones and are easiest for home mechanics. These come with 160bhp as standard but not much tuning potential. The 2.7 engine was better but has some specific parts which are expensive if they go wrong.

 

The more modern 3.0ltr S2 is a very good all rounder and entry into Porsche ownership. 211bhp standard so plenty for most people. If you want tuning potential though then the turbo model is the way to go. Originally 220bhp to start with, then in 1988 they did the 250bhp S model which became a standard model in 1989.

Tuning tips and articles

Engine tuning Transmission tuning Care care Intake & exhaust mods Improve handling Forums

A highly regarded 'sweet spot' for this engine is around 330bhp. Achieved fairly reasonably (need to spend around £2.5k) and is reliable. After this you start changing turbo's and Maf kits etc and you jump to 400bhp+ for around another £3k+! There are 600bhp+ cars out there!!

Some of our members have used Porsche engines in other projects including a Morris Minor and a number of Classic VW Beetles so there are plenty of mods you can do to a Porsche engine. Improving the handling should be your first priority in your 944 tuning project. Drop the car by as much as 35mm and fit stiffer dampers, bigger drops will need other modifications in most instances.

Turning our attention to the 944s engine we need to get a bit more power out of the top end.

Following our tips for tuning your 944 you will end up with a practical scorching hatch that will embarrass bigger cars.

When looking at a car, condition and history is more important than mileage (they are all at least 18-27 years old these cars!) Sills are notorious for rust, blocked drainage tubes are also rust traps. Belts, rollers, tensioners etc should be done every 4 years along with water pump every other belt change.

Porsche 944 tuning mods.

This list of the stages and uprated upgrades are usually carried out by our members, decide how far you want to push your car before you get started.

Getting the best motorsport modifications for your planned usage of the car is vital. Stage 3 competition upgrades just won't work well on the road hard to control in slow traffic.

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Guide to the Best Tuning Mods & Upgrades

  1. Mods that Remove a Restriction

    If the intake or exhaust are restricted in any way this will have an impact on your cars performance, so use an induction kit/filter upgrade and better flowing exhaust whenever your tuning creates a flow restriction.

  2. Mods that Improve Handling

    Braking, Suspension and general alignment of the suspension components is vital for any tuning project even before you start increasing power.

  3. Fit Stronger Parts

    Tuned cars will show up weaknesses, typically in the turbochargers, clutch and internal engine components. Whilst most engines can cope with mild tuning mods, TorqueCars recommend that you upgrade the internal components before these weak spots manifest themselves.

  4. ECU Tunes & Remapping

    While some cars can be easily remapped, others may require piggyback ECU's or aftermarket ECU's but this is the most vital step of your tuning project as it fully releases the power from all of your mods and upgrades. Expect 10-20% on NASP engines and 30-40% on turbocharged units.

  5. More Power Needs More Fuel & Air

    Every tuning project will aim to increase the air supply, but fuel supply is just as vital and will need to match the air the engine can utilise. Fuel to Air ratio is vital so upgrade the fuel pump & injectors. Also you can look to perform head mods (flowing and porting), bigger valves, fast road cams and forced induction upgrades to improve fuel.

Stages of Tune

Stage 1 mods: Sports exhaust, Lighter flywheel, Alloy wheels, Panel air filter, Remap, Suspension upgrade (drop 30-40mm).

Stage 2 mods: high flow fuel injector, Fast road cam, Ported and polished head, fuel pump upgrades, Power/Sport clutch.

Stage 3 mods: Sports gearbox, Internal engine upgrades (pistons/head/valves), Competition cam, Engine balancing, Adding or upgrading forced induction (turbo/supercharger).

You really need to keep as much low end power as possible and aim to get a long power band rather than a narrow top end power hike.

The aim of our hints is to give a limited introduction of car tuning mods and point you in the right direction, our forum is where you can ask for more detailed advice and tips on your customized car project, the best motorsport parts and all aspects of modding cars.A fast road camshaft typically is one of the best NASP power mods you can do from a single upgrade to your engine.

It improves the intake and exhaust flow and increases the power if done right. Ideally you'd add other mods and finish up with a performance chip. We'd also caution you not to go with a motor sport cam as this upsets the engines idling and general town driving characteristics.

You will need to ensure that the engine is not starved of fuel so will need to pay attention to the fuelling.

Most power losses, flat spots and erratic idling after modified upgrades are done can usually be traced to fuelling or timing issues.Improving the injectors is another beneficial modification and will deliver sufficient fuel.

If have increased your fuelling with bigger injectors you will also need to get a bigger fuel pump to supply it.

Porsche 944 Intake and Exhaust Tuning.

Breathing mods are usually next up. Air induction kits only help to boost performance if your cars air intake is restricted!

Maximum power gains come from a full induction kit with a cold air feed on heavily tuned engines, this can be sited within an air box but a performance panel filter should suffice for most applications. TorqueCars suggest you use a panel air filter as these are easy to clean and maintain and generally perform better than paper ones.

Sports exhausts can usually air flow from the engine but avoid an exhaust that is too large or you could will reduce the flow rate. Stick to 1.5 to 2.5 inches as a rule of thumb.

Airflow through the head can be dramatically increased with some professional gas flowing. These should match and be setup to take into account any other engine mods.

Never skimp or expect a standard clutch to cope if power has been increased by 30% or more.

In nearly all cases of 944 tuning your clutch will start to slip and this needs to be uprated - read our guide on clutches for more information. The best mods in our opinion for your 944 are remaps, sports camshafts and induction improvements.

Turbo engines are just pleading to be flashed. You will see significant power gains on most modern turbo engined cars including diesels making a remap one of the most cost effective and significant modifications for your money.

We've also come across some owners playing with twincharged applications and making some seriously high power figures.

Despite the large cost involved adding forced induction to a NASP engine will give large power gains. Turbos are usually harder to add than a supercharger. Turbos increase power in increasing proportion to rising engine speed and this can make mapping difficult.

It is simpler to map a supercharger because the boost is directly proportional to engine speed on a linear curve. Decreasing the engines compression ratio will allow you to add forced induction, water injection may also help prevent detonation.

Remaps offer significant power gains on all turbo charged 944's. On NASP engines the benefits are doubtful, but will help unleash the potential if you have done a lot of mods. Adding forced induction will see big power gains but this is usually too expensive to be cost effective.

 

944 Tuning

Porsche 944 Wheel modifications.

The benefits of alloy wheels include a lower unsprung weight and more efficient brake cooling. The downside to large alloy wheels on your 944 is that you alter your effective final drive ratio and this will have a detrimental effect on performance.

They will also weigh more and this unsprung weight is not good for handling. For this reason we would advise sticking to a maximum wheel size of 18 inches, although we know some of our members have gone larger than this with no problems.

There is a more updated version of this Porsche 944 Tuning article on TorqueCars.com.

For more information on Tuning your car please join us in our friendly forum where you can discuss 944 options in more detail with our 944 owners. It would also be worth reading our unbiased Porsche tuning articles to get a full grasp of the benefits and drawbacks of each modification.

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