Reviews

964 Reviews

have been buying bits of 964 sales literature and reviews from folks on eBay. Take a look at a number of original reviews from 1989/90 as well as UK Car magazine's review of my 964 in their May 2001 issue. Also included are Excellence's series on 'Wringing out the Carrera 4'.

Check-out reviews from Autocar and Motor, Automobile, Road & Track, Car & Driver, Porsche Panorama, Excellence and Car. Plus recent articles from 911 & Porsche World and GT Purely Porsche. Click the magazine cover for the 964 Reviews index page.

964 Running Reports

Running Reports from Sixteen 964 Owners. Every six months, twenty-four proud 964 owners from around the world submit a Running Report describing their 964s behaviour over the last six months. Their first reports are now available for your winter reading. Click here for the reports.

Books

I now have a separate section on Porsche books. Check out the recommendations of fellow 964 enthusiasts and then buy with one-click through to Amazon.

Buying a 964?

The above reviews and reports should help you in your decision on buying a 964. Cruise the rest of the site as well.

911 & Porsche World has a great issue just on sale focussing on the 964.

There is a 12 page buyer's guide to the 964 (including an Owner's View by yours truly) + a review of the 1990 Carrera 4 RS Lightweight + a story on buying a 964 in Germany and importing it back into the UK.

The Buyer's Guide is now available on my site. Click the cover page to check it out.

For some specific tips on what to look out for when buying do visit Stig's 'Buying a Porsche 964' page.

Laurence Gibbs has written up a buying guide to the 964 RS.

10 Signs (and more) that you are a 964 Addict

Emanuele Ferry started a thread on the Rennlist 964 Forum on the 10 signs you are an addict theme. Here are 69 of the signs! Thanks to all.

You reach 80 km/h in town just to raise the rear wing
You consider ABS warning light an annoying thing
You consider fan belt sensor the cutest invention ever
When you see another 964, you check on the rear badge if it’s a 2 or a 4
The word “Cup” only means a kind of alloy to you
You asked a friend to raise rear wing and watched the mechanism with open lid
Seat adjustment takes you half an hour
You lower rear seats even if you have to load a briefcase
Moquette in your front boot is cleaner than in your bedroom
You proudly show to friends Porsche badged mini-compressor
You believe temperature on heater knob is really temperature inside car
You’re planning to buy a whale-tail
You scare friends by suddenly pushing door lock button
You consider 3.0 SC too old and 993 not enough wild
Your car spares dealer is no longer puzzled when you ask for 12 spark plug
When approaching a stoplight...you watch closely in the rear view mirror as the people behind you point and exclaim, "WOW, look at that!" - as your electric tail lowers right in front of them
You can spell "Freudenberg" without blinking an eye.
You're proud to state "My Car Doesn't Leak"!
You've got $2k stashed in your safe (that your wife doesn't know about) for the inevitable DMF replacement.
You've memorized the Porsche part number for the dual distributor vent kit.
You know you can just swap your Potenza S-03's on your C4 with Blizzaks and kick any SUV's ass in the snow.
You're now used to and have gotten over the rest of the Porsche crowd calling your car the "Ugly Duckling of the 911 World".
You've priced the 3.8 litre piston and cylinder kits at least once.
You publicly state you love your 964 and would never get rid of it, but secretly you'd trade her away in a second for a mint 964 3.6 Turbo S if you could afford it..
You keep the revs below 4000rpm for the first 1 hour and 35 mins of any drive - 'cos that's how long it takes for the oil to warm up....
First purchase is a Chamois sponge to get rid of all that condensation in the winter
Always travel with a fully charged mobile phone, because it's German it should be reliable, in the real world it never is.
You lose a nights sleep because it has developed a clunk which you imagine is going to cost £2,000 + to fix (it ends up being a loose engine undertray!!)
Although you would never like to admit it, you secretly hanker after a 993 or in darker, weaker moments a 996 with a GT3 body kit!!
You say you really like Guards Red, but you would never order a new BMW in solid red!!!
You start to believe that a repair bill of £500 "is quite reasonable, and less than I expected"
It takes you about 15 mins, 3 loo rolls, running in and out of the car and wrestling with a 4 foot long dipstick when topping up the oil.
Your clutch has no resistance for the first half inch of travel and you don't care.
In the face of universal objective criticism you convince yourself that the dash switchgear layout is ergonomic perfection.
You've never dared ask 'why not turn the engine round, lose the useless rear seats, and...hey presto....you've got a mid-engine supercar?'
You just have one more look at it before you go to sleep ... (I meant your car, you maniacs !!)
Your wife asks you : "If you had to make a choice ... me or your car ?"
At night when nobody sees you, you can sit for 10 minutes in front of your car just to admire the curves
You think that--without a doubt--the 964 is the most attractive 911 ever produced. And, you're not just saying this because you own one.
Every time you see another 964 on the street, it makes your heart beat a little faster.
At a stoplight, with all eyes on you and the car, you feel flush with supreme confidence.
You're starting to get used to the fact that the exhaust exits from the RIGHT side!
You can't get away from the habit of leaving your wife's stomach behind when pulling away just to hear her squeal ....
Having that "don't even try" look in your eyes when a BMW driver pulls up next to you looking for a race!
When looking at your car from the back, you can't remember when you've ever seen a sexier pair of hips!
Your accused of rubbing your car more than you wife
You have a secret credit card (hidden from wife, statements sent to your office) to pay for performance enhancements
You know why the ignition key hole is on the "wrong" side.
4Your two most-used acronyms are DMF and AMF. 'Dual Mass Flywheel' and 'Adios, M***** F*****.
When you decide that your next 911 will be a 964, NOT a 993
You open your window when you're driving thru' a tunnel or a narrow street just to hear the sound of the engine bouncing back to you
When you saw 'Sexy Beast,' you didn't understand the film's title until the last scene
When you're comfortable with the fact that many of the "brake ducts" offered on the market don't actually do a damn thing for brake cooling on a 964...they just look cool!
You know that what some illiterate folks call an "ugly duckling" is The most Aerodynamic, Slickest CD (.32) body Porsche has ever sold on a Real air cooled production 911!
You open your cab top, sometimes also in winter, to hear full engine sound
You think a non-adjustable wheel is normal in a supercar
You have an open account with a local circus contortionist to provide interior cleaning of the rear window, as needed.
You love the high pitched whine of the curved fan blades. (I wonder if you can hear it only in the car?)
When you have a 993 and you lust over a 964 3.6 Turbo S
You open sunroof to suck hot air because engine compartment fan doesn't work
You know your VIN number by heart
You know your VIN number by heart and you know what groups of numbers stand for
You know what a 965 is
You decide to sell it, but then each week you somehow forget to advertise it properly so it ends up staying in the garage...
You better understand the expression "you want to play, you got to pay" (but don't seem to care much).
When someone says to you "how's the baby" & you smile to yourself thinking of that flat six...
So you tell your wife you only want 2 kids 'cos you can't fit any more into the back of a 911
When you laugh out loud on your own in your car after you've had a long blast.
So you enjoy washing the car and view it as some sort of bonding experience with your car touching all those curves