How (Un?)Reliable is a Porsche 944?

[OWC Jamie]

[quote microchip13]I get that.


I will not buy a Corolla, driving one now, I hate it. It's boring, slow, ugly, fuel-inefficent, and pretty far from fun.

A Corolla is supposed to get you from point A to point B.

You should be getting decent mileage, though.

[Filliam H. Muffman]

A 92 BMW 318i has similar specs as the 92 Prelude except for the Honda being FWD.

If you can find a 92 Prelude Si, it would have a bump in power at high RPMs over the 318i but the performance ends up being very similar to a Civic Si because the Civic weighs 500 pounds less.

[quote AAA]
here's a list:
http://cars.ign.com/articles/780/780250p1.html
A nice list but I think the years listed are way over the price range being considered. A couple have already been mentioned. The Mister Two (MR2) is a nice platform but I would hesitate to recommend a turbo to a driver lusting for power if they have not had some sort of advanced training. A 92 VW GTI 16V is a decent car but I do not know if one that old would be reliable enough.

[Don Kiyoti]

Chip,

Look for a Honda del Sol. If you're into sporty driving, be sure to get one with the 1.6 litre B16A DOHC VTEC engine. This is a wonderful engine (8k rpm redline) that will go 200,000 miles with reasonable care. There were three trim levels: S, Si, and VTEC. A lot of sellers advertise the Si cars as VTECs but you don't want one of those.

The fellow I bought it from fitted it with a rear strut tower brace, a front strut tie bar, & Eibach springs which lowers it a bit (I have about three inches of ground clearance) so it corners like a slot car. It also has a cold air intake, a header and a low restriction exhaust. These bolt-ons aren't all that expensive and really make this car fun (really fun) to drive.

Besides that, it's a convertible.

[Filliam H. Muffman]

[quote Don Kiyoti]There were three trim levels: S, Si, and VTEC. A lot of sellers advertise the Si cars as VTECs but you don't want one of those.
I have tried to learn a lot about Hondas in the last three years. I am not even close to being an expert, but I think you have that sideways. The Si is usually the highest performance model in any line and would be the one that has the 8000 RPM redline. This is a good short history of the Civic line. I am not sure it is entirely accurate.
http://www.hondacivicforum.com/Civic-si.asp

[Don Kiyoti]

[quote Filliam H. Muffman][quote Don Kiyoti]There were three trim levels: S, Si, and VTEC. A lot of sellers advertise the Si cars as VTECs but you don't want one of those.
I have tried to learn a lot about Hondas in the last three years. I am not even close to being an expert, but I think you have that sideways. The Si is usually the highest performance model in any line and would be the one that has the 8000 RPM redline. This is a good short history of the Civic line. I am not sure it is entirely accurate.
http://www.hondacivicforum.com/Civic-si.asp
That is usually true, but not in the del Sol's case. The Si has the SOHC 1.6 engine, which also uses the VTEC system but only for the intake valves.

[Filliam H. Muffman]

[quote Don Kiyoti]That is usually true, but not in the del Sol's case. The Si has the SOHC 1.6 engine, which also uses the VTEC system but only for the intake valves.
Very interesting. That motor sounds identical to the earlier rare Si-R Civic. I found some links to it but not all I would like. Do you know the motor ID number (b16a, b16b, b16z)? I would guess it is very hard to find good used examples.

[Don Kiyoti]

In a del Sol VTEC it's the B16A.