It is that time of year when I take my annual summer vacation. These trips were usually good for some rental car reviews, and last summer I even rented a C7 Corvette through Turo and reported my findings here.
Alas, COVID-19 means that this summer’s vacation will be a staycation, but at least I can still get my Turo rental fix. I live in northeast Ohio, and the vehicular pickings on Turo are considerably slimmer than in LAX, where I had my Corvette Summer last year. I was looking for something either exotic or old, preferably with a manual transmission, and then I spotted this 1985 Porsche 928S which actually met all these criteria.
To prepare for my drive, I did my homework. First I pored over every post here at CC on the 928. To my surprise, there were no fewer than eleven articles and even a COAL from a former 928 owner. (It really is tough finding fertile ground to write about here.) Then I rewatched every scene in Risky Business with a 928 in it on YouTube (really, there’s no way that ‘75 Cadillac should have been able to keep up for as long as it did).
As an added bonus, this 928 is one of the rare few cars on Turo with a manual transmission. The 5-speed unit on the 928 has a reputation for being balky, with Car & Driver having the temerity to declare that they prefer the 928 with an automatic. Sacrilege, I say! I say if you are going to drive a Porsche, you should shift your own gears. So is the 5-speed really that bad? I’ll find out.
My Turo rental turned out to be a well-used 1985 928S, with at least 149,000 miles on the clock (probably more – the odometer was non-functional). However, the owner has done a good job keeping up with the car, with a new set of rear tires, a recent engine rebuild, a replacement transmission, and a 2011 respray among the maintenance items performed.
I opened the long, heavy door and (being careful to avoid the door-sill mounted handbrake lever) slipped back into 1985. It is a very long reach to get the seat belts, as they are mounted to the body behind the door opening, and there does not appear to be anything to stay the loose belt to the seat.
This is a car literally from another place and time. Surveying the interior, there are a bunch of chunky knobs and buttons with cryptic icons that wouldn’t look out of place in the Millennium Falcon. With the large instrument pod (that adjusts up and down with the wheel), it feels a bit like piloting a spaceship.
After inserting the key into the dash-mounted ignition switch, I noticed that the engine requires a few turns more than modern engines to fire up. Once it does, it settles into a raucous burbly idle that would sound instantly familiar to any muscle car owner. While not unpleasant, it certainly doesn’t sound very exotic. And it certainly sounds nothing like a flat-six with a large cooling fan, which surely must have appalled Porsche snobs of the era.
Pulling the gear lever down to first (the 928 employs a dogleg racing pattern, with first down and to the left), I ease up the gas (the touchy throttle is a little difficult to modulate) and raise the clutch pedal for what seems like an eternity before hitting the very high engagement point. Unlike Japanese cars, which begin disengaging the clutch almost as soon as the pedal is off the carpet, German cars seem to prefer a high clutch engagement point, which always makes the pedal action feel a little less immediate. My TT, Jetta, and A4 all had a similar high clutch engagement point.
The 5-speed is a close-ratio unit, which in practice means lots of rowing. I quickly learned to skip gears to minimize the workload, similar to my six-speed Jetta. Other than a clutch that required a somewhat high level of effort and the additional shifting dictated by the close gear ratios, the experience is certainly not unpleasant. The transmission is a brand-new unit with less than 20,000 miles and snicked satisfyingly smoothly between gears. I really have no idea what C&D could have been complaining about.
Single turn signal indicator
Once underway, strangeness abounds: The side A/C vents are mounted to the door. There is a single indicator light on the dash for the turn signals, like on an old VW Rabbit. Above you is a comically small mail slot of a sunroof. Oh, and there are rear sun visors over the hatchback.
Once I hit the freeway, the 928 finally hit its element. This would have been a supremely easy way to gobble the miles at high speed in 1985. The transmission and clutch are of no issue since it is always in fifth gear, and it lazes along at 2400 RPM at 70 mph. The brakes are highly effective; nothing like those on the luxobarges and K-cars I was driving back in the 1980s. The ample glass area affords excellent visibility in all directions. The seats are surprisingly comfortable, even on my 35-year-old high-mileage example. The hatchback is spacious, large enough for a couple to easily carry enough luggage for a week-long trip.
The air conditioning, since you asked, is adequate, but only just. It is a semi-automatic unit, with automatic temperature control, but manual fan and direction controls. I later found out that the owner had converted the system over to R134a from R12, which might explain its decreased output. In any case, I could only get cold air out of the center outlets and not the door-mounted ones.
Finally, to answer the question everyone seemed to ask me: Is it fast? I have to qualify my answer and say “well, it’s eighties fast” which basically means that it was a fast car in its day. A well-driven modern Civic Si will run circles around it (or even a modern Cadillac, in what would surely be an interesting reversal of Risky Business). This is no knock against the 928 – it is more a testament to the capability of modern performance cars and 35 years of advancement.
It is easy to see why the Porsche faithful were not impressed by the 928 at the time. It is not a hardcore sports car, from a company that up until that point had built nothing but. It is a grand touring car that is as concerned with passenger comfort and gadgets as it is with all-out performance.
It may not have been appreciated by the Porschephiles of the day, but the 928 it ended up being on the right side of history in a lot of areas. The last air-cooled Porsche rolled off the line in 1998. All Porsches since have been cooled by (gasp!) water. The Panamera and Cayenne would ape its front V8 engine layout. Its one-time polarizing spaceship styling has been worn smooth with familiarity, as well as the aerodynamic revolution of the 1980’s it presaged.
In the end, the ethos exemplified by the 928 would prevail. Modern sports car reviews routinely included paragraphs dedicated to extolling how streetable, accessible, and (dare I say) comfortable they are to drive. Even the mighty 911 itself would eventually get tamed, first in the form of the 1986 959. The 959 was a water-cooled, twin-turbocharged, all wheel drive 911-based supercar loaded with technology, yet so docile it could be driven by your grandmother. In other words, a modern car.
The 928 was a brave move by Porsche, in the “Apple removing the headphone jack from the iPhone” sense of the word. It was aimed at where the puck was headed, not where it was at in 1978. It was so ahead of its time that the car was able to be sold with only minor changes for almost two decades (1978 to 1995).
A second generation was never planned or built, but the 928 got the last laugh. By the time the 928 finished its run in 1995, a second generation model was not really needed. It had left its mark on virtually every successor Porsche.
Related Reading
CC How-To: Renting a Car through Turo
COAL: 1983 Porsche 928S, No Such Thing As A Cheap Porsche
Curbside Classic: Porsche 928 – The Future Of Porsche, Twenty-Five Years Too Soon
I really liked the looks of these when they were new, but then I was not a Porschephile, either. Getting to experience one of these now would be a hoot, so good on you for going for it.
Yes, the 80s was a dismal time for automotive performance, especially if you liked larger cars. 100 horsepower in a VW GTI was enough for it to become a “pocket rocket”.
I really HATED the styling on these back in the day, but it looks great in the lead photo. And the 3/4 rear photo…beautiful! But the profile? It looks like it was rescued from the crusher a second and a half too late.
Very nice review of an old classic! I know its looks are not for everyone, but I’ve always loved the way this car looks, and I would love to drive one someday.
The article did a really nice job of capturing the perceptions of stepping into one of these for the first time, and we also have a lot of hindsight on a car like this now that 35 years have passed. I agree that an automatic would not be nearly as cool!
I like the idea of renting someone’s classic for a weekend. I can’t imagine that a well used 928 would be all that expensive. I’d love to rent an old 911. I have never driven one of those either, but I was a passenger in one when my uncle hit 100 mph in his girlfriend’s 911 when I was just a kid – it was glorious.
Yes the 928 love runs deep on these pages, many have tried their hand at writing something about it over the years. What a great experience driving one in one of its best forms, i.e. the original body but with the 4-valve engine. It being more of a grand tourer likely explains why most were sold with the Mercedes sourced automatic, it probably fits the character of the car better.
One minor note: the 959 featured water-cooled heads but not the entire engine.
So that would be air cooling for the cylinders, then? That sounds like a good subject for a CC technology post if one doesn’t already exist.
Great posts, Tom and Matt! Almost makes me want a 928 or similar classic. Unfortunately, even a rental like Tom’s sounds challenging due to the described driving position.
Yes that’s correct, air cooled cylinders. Whereas in the later 986/986 series cars the whole thing was conventially water cooled. Note that while the 959 was introduced in the early/mid 80’s, there were still the whole 964 and 993 generations of 911 before water cooling was introduced en masse, including the turbocharged cars. Increasingly stringent emissions regulations had more to do with the change in the end than anything else as a more consistent temperature pays dividends there which was less of a consideration on the 959. As much as people like to play up the “magic” of the air-cooled era, the watercooled era produced significant power gains as well and the sound didn’t change drastically either, most changes in that respect were predicated more on noise regulations in place in various locales.
Porsche had also used water cooled cylinder heads in the “Moby Dick” 935 slopenose racers as far back as 1978. A lot of the engineering in the 959 dates back to the 70s group 5 cars.
I think its kind of humorous that some Porsche purists balk at the idea of water cooled heads/cylinders but will favor the water to air intercooled turbo models to the air to air ones.
The fastest I’ve ever driven on a public road was in a 928S2. One hundred and fifty-four miles per hour. It’s nothing to be proud of, Rusty.
Well, it depends. If your public road was an autobahn in Germany now, it would indeed be nothing to be proud of at all. You’d be in one of the better Golfs, and likely in the right lane!
Speed might seem to bend time, but time does strange things to speed, it seems.
You’d have to be pretty determined to hit 154 km/h on the autobahn today. The number of Golfs that can hit 154 MPH in the US fit on the head of a needle.
Such a smart observation – the 928 WAS the future, and is indeed all modern Porches in proto.
It has always struck me as a bit weird the 911 became such a fixed cult, especially as the very original 356 was mid-engined. Even Porsche with his damned and cursed swing axles – I have a thing about swing axles, my apologies – figured that mid was inherently a better thing than rear. Parts and price and VW determined the compromise layout that became the legend. But it wasn’t what was best. Even Ferrari moved on eventually.
Sure, expert drivers have made incredible things out of the compromise, and still do, and so has Porsche itself. Sure too that the original-style 911 must be special to drive (I haven’t, I must disclose). But watercooling had to happen, and no-one uses torsion bars anymore, and heating, ventilation, ride, gearchange, all of these things were going to have to move on from an essentially pre-war set of ideas one day. Porsche had to make the 928. It just made it too early. (Perhaps, emblematically, a bit like that styling: for mine, never beautiful, but then to now, striking. Never of its time, but wanted more now than then).
The auto/manual thing is fascinating to the point of being suspicious. I say that because even in little old far-flung Australia of the ’70’s, by surely no coincidence, the major local magazines ALSO emphasized that Porsche themselves said the auto was better, and faster. It’s a bit hard to credit: the auto was the Mercedes 3 speed, super-smooth, but also super-slothful by design in shifting, in pick-up and general responsiveness.
It’s interesting to contemplate the supposed superiority of the auto when considering just how persuasive a manufacturer might be when one is testing their latest car, at their expense. Lord knows there’s been many an example of the maker’s line ending up in ALL publications, and all of them equally misled.
Great review, Mr H.
This entry is a fine follow up to the Junkyard Jag XK8. This Porsche displays what is true patina, normal wear from conscientious usage, with required repair and preservation done. The interior is worn but that’s to be expected. Not every item works, but that is also to be expected. The owner has made a definite commitment, a sizeable and expensive one. New paint, new transmission, and especially the engine rebuild. Financially I ‘d bet that the owner is still underwater, as it’s only been in the last few years that values for the 928 has started to rise. I doubt that they will ever match vintage 911 prices. I applaud the owner’s efforts to preserve the car. It is a long range game to amortize the expenses. There is a co worker of mine that has a 928 that he occasionally drove to work. One time as I was exiting my XJS and he was exiting his 928, and we just exchanged knowing glances.
If you want a real shock, try driving a Seventies muscle car. You will be surprised by how crude, unrefined, and poorly engineered they are. Yet they are worth a ton of money. Nostalgia doesn’t have to be practical and it isn’t cheap.
When this car was new I had the pleasure of autobahn storming in a 69 Spitfire. Hitler didnt plan that far a head and just approved 2 lines each way. Stuck behind a caravan of trucks doing 60mph you go to over take at 75 then out of no where comes a S Class doing 130 flashing head lights!. Frighting.
You are properly aware that the 928 was Car of the Year 1978 and was due to be a direct replacement for the 911 ,so I will not tell you.
Car & Driver tested a 1985 0-60mph in 5.7 sec and top speed of 155 mph. A 2010 Honda Civic si is still slower and has no rear wheel steering for cornering.. A manual transmission 928 is worth 2 x new Honda civic in 2020.
Not to the man who owns both.
I have always been a fan of the 928, it’s really crazy how far ahead of its time it was stylistically and mechanically, and as someone who is quite fond of 90° V8s it’s not exactly an unwelcome presence.
That said, I am a luddite, and I do sort of have to separate the 928 model from the Porsche brand to appreciate it. Water cooling, automatic transmissions, coil springs, any engine placement but rear engine etc. to one person is progress, but to me it’s the unwelcome homogenization of the industry. I’m of the mind that anything can be made to work exceptionally well with great engineering, and Porsche themselves demonstrated quite well how well they made all of those “wrong” ingredients work in the 911, and because it did things so differently than any comparable sports car it was a truly unique product to boot. I look at Porsche’s lineup today and besides the mercifully still rear engined 911, and getting passed the SUVs in what I will forever consider a sports car maker, under the skin, what’s special about them? I don’t doubt they are exceptionally well engineered, but the bones of what is engineered is as conventional as what’s used on a modern Hyundai.
“I say if you are going to drive a Porsche, you should shift your own gears.”
Agreed fully, even though most 928s came with automatics. I’ve always liked the way these looked, too.
A former co-worker had one that had had a Chevy small-block transplanted into it; he’d occasionally take it to the drag strip.
Interestingly enough, the manual transmission today has become somewhat like the air cooled engines of yore: Obsolete technology still clung to by enthusiasts. I stand by my statement (at least I’m the context of this piece). Back in the 80s there were definite advantages in performance, economy, and number of gear ratios to driving a stick.
I’m coming from the enthusiast side so I am obligated to argue for the sake of it that switching to water cooling didn’t really change the driving experience the way nixing manuals does. The only truly obsolete element to manuals is the inexperience each new generation of drivers have to them, but when you look at the operation of a modern dual clutch automatic, the fundamental operation is the same as a traditional manual transmission, only with complex hardware and programming to make them shift automatically. It’s not a clear victory for automatics of the classic torque converter/planetary gear set variety as used in the 928 especially in the segment of current luxury sports cars in its vein.
But that is a great analogy as it pertains to the subject, since water cooling is still applied to same fundamental flat 6 design mounted at the rear the 911 has always clung too, and cooling with water like the shifting operation of a DSG is just an add on to their respective fundamental designs. The difference is we as drivers weren’t physically blowing on a straw to provide airflow to the cylinders cooling fins.
Funnily enough, even the Porsche Weissach engineers I worked with preferred the automatic 928s – the car received the 4 speed auto quite early on and that suits the car really well in my opinion. My ’84 928S was a 240HP car (MY ’85 got 300HP), so really not fast in today’s terms, but sounded great, felt really solid and handled very nimbly. That “Weissach” passive steering rear axle really works, too.
The ergonomics, with the cluster moving with the steering wheel and wraparound design of the cabin inspired many later vehicles (lookin’ at you, Nissan 300Z), but materials and finish do not take the years well, with dashes cracking and leather shrinking.
Mine did not have the side rubbing strips and looked really pure in its 80s quartz grey metallic. Thing is, I thought these were big cars in Europe in the 80s, but they now look and feel laughably tiny amongst today’s vehicles.
Would I like another one? Yes please, but make it an S4 or GT….
Tom, you made some great points in this article, especially that the 928 pointed to where things would go in the future.
I would argue that the 928’s successor as the family friendly Porsche was the Panamera (or one could even argue it was the Cayenne!)…..
I’m sure I’m gonna get some flak for that!
YT Porsche enthusiast Nick Murray has acquired a very nice 928.
What!. Back in 02 the Lexus dealer were I was working gave £3000 part exchange, and that was generous for an auto, S. When straight to auction. No one got excited about it ,engine in the wrong place and the wrong transmission.
These are one of the few cars I can think of where color plays a critical role in subjective beauty, especial the early spoiler free cars. I cannot get behind one of these in dark shades, too many fine details shadowed over…