RetroStyle

So last year I sold my 1987 Porsche 924S manual. It was a fully restored car that i had brought to near concourse condition and with lots of nice new parts and upgrades from only944.

I hadnt been using it much, and if im to be honest while a fun car to drive, the transmission was not the easiest thing for me to drive, even with brand new parts, tweaks and shifter mods it was always very lurchy on takeoff and it didnt like to be rushed, and i never liked the clutch action.
Mostly though the problem was my girlfriend liked the car but she was very scared to drive an old school manual so she never used it.

Now Im starting to get the itch to get back on that transaxle life, so im on the lookout for an auto model this time. Im not a huge fan of the 968 body style, but mechanically its an incredible car i know for auto its far superior than 944, but i just love the 924/944 wedge shape and square lights.

So, what i wanted to know is, whats the top spec 944 im going to find ? As far as I know S and S2s and Turbos never came in automatic ? Which leaves me with just base 944, but what was the final years of the 944 Auto ?
Lastly ive seen a couple Renegade Hybrids LS swapped 944s in my country, but im not sure if Renegade ever offered options for automatics ?

Gage

The 924s and 944 base all use the same basic 3 speed vw audi transmission. Best chassis is subjective but the 1989 944 with the 2.7 would be my choice for the added torque and creature comfort. Watch out for a failed drive damper as the replacement is expensive.

Tom R.

If you want an automatic transaxle Porsche there is also the 928.

RetroStyle

Yeah the 928 would be a great option since its factory V8 with a decent automatic. Problem is they are very verr expensive here to get a working one. A good condition 928 S4 goes for 996 4S money, I just cant justify that when i can get a 944 for less than a quarter of that price.
The cheaper 928 are always ones that seem to have a ton of expensive labour intensive work to be done. My mechanic has about 4 928s sitting in his shop that need significant work to get them running again that the owners cannot afford.
And i absolutely do not want to consider a V8 car thats using Bosch Mechanical fuel injection, after the problems iv have with Mercedes V8s with that system and the difficulty of getting parts I dont want to touch a car with that again.

So yeah, a 928 S4 or GTS automatic would be great but they are far far out of my budget.

TurrFinn

If you do find an automatic with a damaged damper. You can fix it it without a new automatic damper. Its just a swap from automatic bits to manual bits. Flywheel, cluch, pressure plate. Not throwout bearing or fork needed.

Tom R.

same for a tip? I have a 968 that seller said has a bad damper.

TurrFinn

I'm not very knowledgeable about 968s but it's a similar engine, so probably the same flywheel. I'd imagine the clutch setup would be the same then.

Jfrahm

Good question. I have an S2 flywheel and clutch which might work to replace the 968 Tip flywheel/damper.
I believe the 968 Tip uses the 944/S/S2 bellhousing (or something like it) but probably needs the S2 flywheel for the single crank sensor.
The 968 MT6 uses a different starter and crank lock, dual-mass flywheel and clutch that is serviceable without dropping the transmission. The 968 Tip uses the normal-looking 944 starter and the 968 MT6 uses a starter with a long pinion.