944 Turbo (944)

From 924 to 944 to 951 The 944 arrived in September 1981 as Porsche's answer to the 924's borrowed Audi-derived engine, using instead a 2.5-litre inline-four that Porsche developed in-house and which the factory describes as effectively half of the 928's V8. Like the 924 and 928 before it, the 944 used the transaxle layout: engine over the front axle, clutch at the front, a slim driveshaft running in a rigid central torque tube between the seats, and the gearbox and differential mounted at the rear axle. Porsche's stated aim for the concept was an axle load split as close as possible to 50:50, and the 944's handling reputation rests almost entirely on it. The 944 sold faster than any Porsche before it, and the factory extended it into a family: Turbo, S, S2 and Cabriolet.

The Turbo, Type 951 The turbocharged car carried the internal type number 951 and reached the market for the 1986 model year, with a short pre-production run recorded in 1985. It used the eight-valve engine with compression dropped to 8.0:1, a KKK turbocharger fed through an air-to-air intercooler, ceramic liners in the exhaust ports to keep heat in the gas rather than the head, and a water-cooled turbo bearing housing to prevent oil coking after shutdown. Output was 220 PS and 243 lb-ft, roughly a hundred horsepower more than the base 944. The gearbox was strengthened and given a different final drive, and both engine and transmission ran external oil coolers. Brakes were four-piston fixed calipers on ventilated discs, taken from the 911. ABS became standard on the Turbo for 1987, when it was also an option rather than standard equipment on the rest of the range, and the Turbo was among the first cars anywhere to carry a driver's airbag as standard.

The 1988 Turbo S For 1988 Porsche released the 944 Turbo S. The engine, stamped M44/52, took a larger K26-8 turbine housing and revised mapping that held maximum boost to 5,800 rpm, lifting output to 250 PS and 258 lb-ft at 4,000 rpm and, on the factory's numbers, a 261 km/h top speed. With it came the M030 suspension package - height-adjustable Koni dampers, progressive-rate springs, 27 mm front and 18 mm rear anti-roll bars and firmer bushings - along with a limited-slip differential, 928 S4 front brakes, and forged 7x16 and 9x16 Club Sport wheels. Porsche planned around 1,000 cars in Silver Rose Metallic with burgundy interiors but demand ran past that; 1,635 were built, and PCA notes that the Silver Rose colour scheme covered only about the first hundred. Genuine cars are identified by option code 758 on the build sticker and the M44/52 engine stamp near the bell housing.

S Spec as Standard, and the End For 1989 the S designation was dropped and the Turbo S drivetrain simply became the 944 Turbo, minus the M030 suspension and the forged Club Sport wheels, which reverted to the options list. The Turbo left the US market after 1989 but continued in rest-of-world markets, including Canada, until 1991, when a small run of 944 Turbo Cabriolets closed out the model. The 968 replaced the 944 for 1992. By the end of the series Porsche records 163,302 944s of all types, though independent variant tallies run higher.

The defining cost is belt service. The camshaft belt and the balance shaft belts must be replaced together on a mileage or time interval - published guidance ranges from 30,000-35,000 miles (Pelican Parts) to 30,000-40,000 miles or five years (stuttcars.com), while Classics World advises every four years - with the water pump, rollers and tensioners changed at least every other belt job. Belts need re-tensioning shortly after fitting. A full service commonly runs $1,200-$1,800. Oil leaks from the front crank seal, cam tower seals and oil pan gasket are routine and matter because they contaminate the belt area; the pan gasket is largely a labour charge. Head gasket failure shows as frothy oil. Turbochargers need periodic attention and eventually rebuilding. Clutches wear faster on turbocharged cars and replacement is expensive because the transaxle must come out, quoted at roughly $1,500-$2,500 in the US or GBP 1,200-1,800 and up in the UK. Elsewhere: vacuum leaks and failing air flow meters that dull performance, oil cooler failure that mixes oil and coolant, cracked plug leads, corroded battery trays, dead odometers on the oval-dash cars, speedometer pulse generator failures, and the general electrical unreliability of thirty-five-year-old grounds and connectors.

Service history is the single most valuable document on a 951. Ask for dated evidence of timing belt, balance shaft belt, water pump, rollers and tensioner replacement; the engine is an interference design and a belt failure destroys it. Check for oil weeping from the front crank seal and the cam tower seals, because that oil lands on the belt. Confirm the turbocharger has been serviced and listen for shaft noise or smoke on overrun. Verify a claimed Turbo S properly: option code 758 on the sticker near the spare, engine stamped M44/52 near the bell housing at the number four exhaust manifold, transmission oil cooler loop, adjustable spring perches on the front Konis, 27 mm front and 18 mm rear anti-roll bars, and the 7x16/9x16 forged wheels. PCA's own advice is that few of these cars have escaped modification, so a pre-purchase inspection at a specialist familiar with 944 turbos is not optional. Bodies were galvanised, so visible rust points to accident repair or long neglect rather than normal ageing - check the battery tray, sills behind their covers, wheel arches and the hatch surround. Test every electrical function; a clutch that is high, slipping or hard to shift means a transaxle-out job.

As of August 2026, classic.com's 944 Turbo market benchmark stands at roughly $27,800 with an average sale near $28,200 and recent results spread from about $9,300 to $49,000; the benchmark trend is upward. The 944 Turbo S sits close behind on classic.com, with a benchmark near $29,800 and an average around $29,900 on a thin sample running from about $13,500 for a 155,000-mile car to $42,500 for a 51,000-mile original, and that page's data ran through late October 2025 with a downward benchmark arrow - the Turbo S sample is small enough that its benchmark should be treated as indicative rather than firm. Retail-facing guides sit above the auction averages: stuttcars.com's buyer's guide puts sorted Turbos at roughly $20,000-$35,000 and 1988 Turbo S cars at $40,000-$60,000 or more, while Classics World's 2026 UK guide quotes Turbos from around GBP 20,000 with strong examples at GBP 30,000-45,000. The spread between benchmark and best-of-market is unusually wide, which is normal for a car whose value is dominated by documented belt service history and whether it has been left standard.