The maintenance costs are absurd. Also it seems that 944s don't hold up to time as well as the FC. I've seen plenty of usable FC chassis running around but 944s seem to deteriorate a bit quicker.

And around here at least everybody has a broken 944 in their backyard but there are NO FCs around.

 

I've always liked the fc

Rotary >Pistons

 

I would honestly recommend a 944. They are more plentiful and more people can work on them. My uncle has had many 944's and they always run. Both are somewhat similar, but the RX comes with issues relating to its the only ******* rotary car here. Get the FC if you love the rotary. Else, get the 944 and enjoy having a more reliable car than an FC.

 

Would you recommend a rotary over a piston engine? Note I've never had a rotary but I do like them.

 

Can you list three reasons why?

 

Rotary powered cars are not really made for daily driving. They can be fun but they also can drive you crazy.
You will need some money to drive one. You can buy them really cheap but you will need much money to maintain them.

Porsches are pretty reliable. 944 parts aren't even that expensive because many of them are used in VW-cars, too. There's only one repair which could get really expensive: a new clutch.

I really don't get why you all are hating Porsche electronics. There are wiring diagrams for the 944, too. You just have to get them and read them. And by the way: I live in Stuttgart. That's the city where all the Porsches are built and i know many people driving old porsches. I never heard anyone of them complaining about bad connections or broken wiring harnesses !OR BAD SOLDER JOINTS! so far.

You need to know what you want to get: A reliable car wich takes you to work everyday and still is fun to drive? Then take the Porsche.
If you want to get a car which is even more fun to drive and you are able to do repairs on your own from time to time AND you don't need it everyday, take the RX7.

 

^^ Not everyone lives down the street from the factory. Parts arn't exactly cheap here. Dont get me wrong, Im a diehard porsche guy, and dream of the day a 911 will grace my garage, but the fact is your buying a car that's potentially expensive to maintain, then souping it up, which increases that expense overall. To buy it and maintain it as a factory car is a whole different game than maintaining a souped up version of a car that is already potentially expensive to maintain. Not to mention its 20 ought years old, so whatever problems previous owners might have set into motion.

If you want the in between car? Buy a Nissan. 240's are everywhere and there is a zillion parts and swaps for them. Majority of the guys starting out drifting that I've met roll with Nissans, wether they are nissan guys or not.

 

Essentially, I disagree with everything said here.

 

+1

 

Check this Top Gear thread out. Compares the S4 Fc with a 924

https://www.rx7club.com/west-rx-7-fo.../#post11309472

 

fc for sure.. 944 are a Pain in the MFA. Parts are a pain. working on them is a pain. The rear end and the trans is a Pain. And i would not want to get the tools to even try working on them. I owned a benz my friend had a 944 and they are not cheap to fix

 

Dear Der Vaterland cheerleader,

I have been daily driving my S4 Vert since I purchased it in 1992. It was most recenty loaded up and driven to Dallas, Texas for a two year job gig, driven all over the Southwest to such places as New Orleans and Kansas City, daily driven through their crazy weather including frozen tundra winter streets, and then loaded up and driven back to So Cal.

Prior to that my daily driver was a 1979 RX7 Ltd Edition purchased in 1980. Driven up and down the coast to and from Seattle at least a dozen times.

So my SA was my daily driver for 12 years, and my S4 Vert has been my daily driver for 20 years and continues to be my daily driver.

They are no different than any other car. If you pay attention to maintenance, they'll be just as daily driver reliable as any other car including those way over priced POS German cars.

Your closing comment could not be more wrong. Such regular maintenance for a Porsche will do MUCH more damage to your wallet than what an RX7 would. Especially with the resources that can be found on this forum. Have you even priced a porsche replacement part? Any part?

Please keep your ill informed opinions off this forum and go back to the Prius Forum.

 

The design and technology I think is better than a piston engine but they still need to be perfected. I like the size to power ratio. The fast that a small two rotor engine can produce power pretty much equal to a v6. And they seem very simple.

 

+2

My RX-7 has been the most reliable car I've ever had. That is because it is well-maintained by myself.

 

I have owned the Porsche 944. It was a 1988 model and I would urge you to stay away from this car. Their is ZERO clearance if you snap the rubber timing belt and damage is done to the head. Changing even a water pump is a MAJOR ordeal. The clutch requires dropping the entire rear end to get the shaft holding the driveline to get the transmission to remove from the engine to replace. Nothing about the 944 is easy or simple. It is a headache to work on.

Stick with a RX7....

 

RX-7's a better drifter hands-down. Easier to work on, parts are cheaper, differential's standard setup, and best torque.

944's great if you're trying to get laid or just want a sexy fast car with great fuel economy. My buddy's building one for drifting and it's a nightmare to work on. Everything's packed in tight in the engine bay and you have no room to work on anything; the transaxle's the biggest PitA ever to grace the face of the earth; "german engineering" = half the stuff on there looks/feels handcrafted, so good luck cross-sourcing parts from a donor car; and finally, think about how much you'd hate your life after losing a little paint from a little love tap. In an rx7 that's a mark of honour. In a Porsche? It's just tacky.

 

fixed!

 

The FC doesn't necessarily make a great drift car with out a lot of work. Don't know much about the 944. The car has a low polar inertia which makes it a great road race car, b/c it transitions throughout the corner very well. The short wheel base does not help either. If you road race a lot I'd recommend the FC, but not for drift. There are much better platforms for drifting that would be a lot cheaper to set up. (Everybody has been watching too much initial d lol)

As one said earlier, it's a love hate relationship with the car, it's got whheird. technology way before its time, which in a sense is amazing, but still whheird.

I have a ported 6 port NA and its quick, but leaves a lot to be desired. If you get one, aim for a turboII. I'm going in a much different direction next year, sticking with the car, but bastardizing it lol.

Good luck with your choice of vehicle.

 

Na rx7s really don't have the power or torque to drift like a Turbo rx7 will.

I had an na s4 street ported with a full exhaust and its really hard to get a lot of power.

With a very good street port and tune you'll get 170+ to the wheels, most will get 150+ whp without a good tune and a streetport(that's pretty much the power of a stock t2), you could still get it without the porting too but it will have less peak power.

A turbo 2nd gen you'll get that 170+ whp by just bringing up the boost and/or adding a cat back exhaust, 200 whp is easy to make on a turbo rx7 but on an na it takes quite alot, not to mention turbo cars get more torque, which is what u want for drifting.

Rotary >Pistons

 

LOL you're not heckling the car that the FC was BLATANTLY modeled after, are you?

Cmon now.

 

yeah maybe. dad an i went to Rennfest at laguna seca, which is the biggest Porsche meet in the US (its like sevenstock) out of the 5,000 Porsches there, they STILL made the 944/928 people park in town.

it was kind of funny, after seeing 5,000 911's, i came to the conclusion i don't like them. most of them are modded so tastelessly, or they are 996's...

 

I agree. 911's are classic cars, tho, and a well-sorted air-cooled one sounds like nothing else on the road.

They really are a dime a dozen though, and I'd DEFINITELY rather drive an S5 TII than any 944. I remember when both cars came out. The 944 came 1st, then when the FC came along, people used to mistake them for 944s. It was pretty close looking.

We all agree which one aged better.

 

yes, that is the funny part. the 944 was cool in the 80's, but now it seems very much like they just tacked a bunch of wings and stuff on it. i actually like the 924 better now than the 944.

whereas the FC has done the opposite, as newer cars keep getting blander and uglier the FC just looks more muscle car.

IMO of course....

 

As already alluded to, 911 drivers do not consider the 944/924 a "real" Porsche. Yeah, most are pretentious ******, but it's hard to argue with the amount of VW parts on the 944. Heck, the 924 was designed by VW, not Porsche. Either way, since prestige/heritage is one of the perks of having a Porsche, you can basically forget it with the 944.

NA RX-7 vs NA 944: RX-7 is superior. My dad was on his second 944 when I bought my first RX-7. I had more power with just an exhaust and I was on regular while he had to use premium fuel. Was nice since I was in college. The 944 is a typical German car where they work well when in the Black Forest, but are total pieces of crap in any actual weather. I drove mine year round for 4 years in plus 40c and - 40c. Always started, just put gas an oil and had money for fun mods. 944 was always leaking oil from every orifice, stupid ball joints in non removable a-arms wore out fast and the timing belt needed to be changed every 30k and checked for the correct deflection every 3k. Interference engine, so skip a tooth and good-bye engine. If you look at how that engine is in there, it's basically designed to be taken out to be worked on. It's friggin' shoe-horned in there. I go on and on about the issues with the 944 but essentially it's low horsepower for very high maintenance. If this is your dream car or something, go for it but other wise RX-7 all the way.

 

The 924 was ALMOST called a VW. The oil crisis came along, and VW scrapped the project in favor of the 1st gen Scirocco.

Trivia: the 924 was produced at the NSU factory...The same NSU that made the very 1st rotary powered production car, and the same NSU that eventually became Audi.