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fantastic idea, just the wrong time
Old 944s can be had for (granted, a large amount of) pocket change, so it's cheap enough for people to experiment on. Therefore there is a lot of engine transplant options out there.
986 is still relatively pricey. People who buy these don't intend to modify them in such drastic ways as to stick a non-Porsche engine in them. I have no doubt this will happen when 986s are as old and cheap as the 944s are now. But this seems a long time away. The 986 still looks good, and so you want to stick a more powerful engine in it. But the fact that it still looks good is also the reason they are still relatively pricey. By the time its value drops such that people can afford to R&D on them, they are no longer desirable machines - which is why the value dropped in the first place. It's a bit of a dilemma.
Having said that, I personally have no quarrels with non-Porsche engines in Porsches. As long as it can be considered an upgrade in real terms. Japanese cars are far more superior to European cars in all respects but styling, IMO. Dollar for dollar, there is no comparison. This may have been due to the sheer quantity of cars they manufacture. This provides them with experience many European automakers don't have. Ferraris and Lamborghinis and Maseratis and what not, are notorious for "premature" engine failures on their road going cars. Porsches with its RMS issues on the 996/986 series engines is also an example of low volume manufacturing. If Porsche sold as many cars as Toyota, this problem would have been picked up within a year and fixed for the subsequent years. Of course, one may argue that if Porsche is as popular as Toyota, you wouldn't buy one, or it would lose it's niche appeal, etc. But that's topic for another conversation. Also, those that site F1 as example that Ferrari engines are more reliable than Toyota need to understand that Ferrari has been making more F1 cars than Toyota - again, a volume = experience thing.
In terms of the idea itself, I think putting a turbo boxer engine into another boxer engined car is a great idea. Turbo engines also have more torque than NA engines. Heck, my Mazda MX6 2.2T from 1989 has a lot more torque than my Boxster! But again, who is going to donate their car to R&D? Not many, you will find. It's just pricey to play with at this point for most. But if you can get your hands on a dirt cheap one - maybe sold because it's engine is failing, then by all means go ahead. I know I would. Except here in Australia, even the oldest zero option vanilla Boxster still goes for around $45000AUD...
Just my $0.02.
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--1989 Mazda MX6 GT
--1997 Porsche Boxster
--2005 Lexus RX330
--2007 Maserati Quattroporte Sport GT
Last edited by Jinster; 01-14-2007 at 10:11 PM.
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