What the 911 was like in 1984

http://members.rennlist.com/emcon5/84-911_C-N-D.pdf

 

I had an '85 for 20 years-- wonderful cars. I'll own one again someday (probably the same one), but for now my Cayman S is about as close as you can come in a newer car to those mid-80s 911s.

 

How!? I haven't driven either but would assume that they are very different.

 

My first Porsche drive was in an '84 911 cabriolet and my most recent (other than my 356) was a 2013 Cayman. The new car leaves it for dead in any way you can imagine, other than the old air-cooled Teutonic character -- which was over and done by 1989.

It is impressive to see those 5.3 sec 0-60 times out of a normally aspirated flat six back then. I don't think the Countach was that much faster when it finally arrived in the US, and the 308 QV couldn't touch the 911 of the time.

 

Air cooled 911's continued through 1998, not sure what you are saying...

 

I think I understand what he is saying...and btw, he knows that air cooled cars remained until 1997.

 

I owned an 84 m491 coupe for 7 years. it was a great car in the day...they still are today.

 

just a small comment on don Sherman's assessment. he says the pedal placement is a 10 on the difficulty index. the fact is that there has never been a set of pedals with better placement than on the 911. modulation of the brakes w/ your toe while matching the revs with your heel...utter perfection!!!!

 

Yep. Old 911's are one of the few cars that I can truly heel and toe instead of splitting the brake and throttle. Something from the hip down just doesn't let me do it in much of anything else. LOVE the bottom-hinged pedals!

 

indeed!

 

I had a '96 993 Great car, but very different than the 911s. Porsche reworked everything, especially the suspension and brakes.

 

There was a 1998 993 model, with the 996 coming out in late 1998:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porsche_993

 

Agreed. I have a 991GT3 and a 997 GT2. They are awesome cars and I absolutely love them. However, I also have an 1986 dp cabriolet which I have had for about six years. It is by far my favorite. May not be the fastest car, but handles very well and just a great driving experience.

 

Similar size, similar power to weight ratio. The Cayman, IMO, has much better pedal placement and ergonomics, and the shifter on the Cayman is worlds better, but they both still have a similar sound, and just a similar feel. At least, that's my opinion.

Next spring, I'll probably drive them back to back and see if I still feel that way (my old 911 belongs to my brother now).

 

Every time I drive my 1984 I still love it. Thanks for posting.

 

I agree with slm, I have an 86 DP coupe turbo and taking it in the twisties here in Colorado is an absolute blast..

 

Thanks for sharing!

 

And, if we are truthful, made it far BETTER.

I owned (for a short while) a new-ordered 1982 911SC Targa. I sold it after about 3 months and bought back my old 1975 911S Targa.

We may have forgotten that many multiple-car owners of the really old skinny-tire 911s (likr myself) were disappointed in the first wide tire versions of the 1980s. There were issues there which IMHO were not really resolved until the 993 - which is in my opinion the best air-cooled Porsche ever made.

 

I can understand and agree with the skinny versus wide tires, but I think it was addressed with the 964 not the 993.

The 993 made the "911" better looking again after the long hoods. Funny thing is that I used to think that impact bumper 911s were good looking. Just my opinion.

 

You could make the argument for the 964 (which I did like) but the rear suspension upgrades and subframe on the 993 just simply transformed the whole car up to a higher level.

Despite the cost of new rear tires every so often.

And yes, Porsche did the impact bumpers better than practically any other manufacturer - especially better than Mercedes on the (gag) 450SL series.

 

Personally would take my 1st 911 T, Kelly green mechanical injected, with fuchs wheels over my 84 911 or my 88. The T with bursch exhaust sounded and handled once set up. Never liked the impact bumpers on the 80's Porsches. Power was poor.

 

I drove one of those (in dalmatian blue) - '73.5 car and stock exhaust. Awesome car, still sounded great, and I agree with you on the impact bumpers - yes Porsche did a better job than other marques, but they sort of blunted the car and ruined the long hood look.

That said, I didn't push the car all that hard, and it didn't feel that planted to me. Maybe because of the tires. The 993 is the oldest "911" I've driven that didn't feel like it wanted to kill me.

 

I can relate. My first 911 and first track car experience was an Albert Blue 72 T with mechanical injection. It was meant to be a stepping stone to the 80s 911s that came afterwards. Now, my opinion is reverse.

 

+++ 1. U got that right! Just at idle, long nose mfi cars makes the hairs stand up on your forearms. 72 being my favorite ever driven.

993 most likely best resolved but bit too plush for me with new lux interior, over assisted pw steering and sorted rearend.

I had a 930... by far the most overrated as a track car in stock form but a hellacious fun street car.

Best practical classic starters are sc and 3.2's. The later is a somewhat affordable benchmark performance car of the era that you can hammer on the track. Not a fast car by today's standards but enough to make it relevant.

I driven a couple of 964's, to theses eyes it's the worse looking aircooled with a desperate attempt to update the looks with plastic cladding. today I find its quirky persona appealing with its torky motor, still lively rear end. It has a much stronger and safer platform that responded well to upgrades hidden under that icon classic pontoon fender profile. but manual coupes are hard to find now especially with its new audience thanks to peeps like rwb, singer..etc. anyone have one out there for me ?

I didn't and still don't pay much attention to the cis 2.7s.

Everytime I start searching for a update on my DD, I end up deciding the cayman would be the perfect car for me. In stock form it will out run all of the air cooled easily on tracks without long power straights hungry for turbos. It's affordable, attractive, practical ,trackable, fuel efficient and an extremely precise tool for carving up the roads. It's so well rounded but somehow I'm not emotionally connected. I keep asking myself should I just get one or should I look for another awful overweight, 12mpg 930 DD which I dearly miss?

Enough of my rambling...