I get the impression that these engines wear out quickly

[Dohertycm]

Porsches are just like aircraft, the more you drive them the better off they are.

Porsches are meant to be driven, driven hard but treated with respect not abuse.

If you let them(Porsches and Airplanes) sit around and not run or fly things tend to get weak and leak and then when it comes time to drive them they break.

My mechanic says that you dont break porsches when you drive them, you just find the weak parts...

So Pat you are right in the respect that you drive your car, you know every noise that comes from it and you take care of it...Some Porsche owners dont. They dont know their car well enough to know what needs attention before it gets out of hand, and end up breaking it worst in the end.

Racer_D was also correct, in the begining there were some design or manufacturing flaws that put a bad taste in some peoples mouths. I own 2 porsches and they run fabulous. The key is shop around and do your research on what to look for when buying one.

To be quite honest, coming from AUDI I dont see why you are not trying to find an S4 for an 85-88 quattro for racing. Good cars and they have a great club.