So after having my 911 for about 2 months (an 84′ 3.2 L Targa) with no modifications I started to dabble. First a strut tower brace to tighten her up. Then a new rear sway bar (old one was gone - broken off). Needless to say cornering was drastically improved, but there was still something a bit “off” with the car. I knew it was 23+ years old and the engine had 111,000 miles on it, but it is still a Porsche right? I was happy, but something still nagged me. I went back through all the forum posts I had put up, and read all the great feedback, only to find one similar thread - a Steve Wong chip is a necessity.

I bought the chip a few days ago and it promptly arrived in my mail box. I read over the directions and something wasn’t that clear (my fault) so I called the support hot line, and guess who answers the phone. Steve. Yes, Mr. Wong himself from 911chips.com helped with my issue and walked me through a few things. After a nervous 45 minutes of toying with the electronics of my car I slapped in the 911 Chip and reassembled the motronic box… to find what I can only describe as a new car.

For the price of a good oil change and an hour of mechanic work, my car responds, performs and runs like it just rolled out of Stuttgart. The idle hunting is gone, its runs smoother, the throttle response is immediate, the low to mid range RPM torque is comparable to a newer C2 or C4. It also runs smoother, accelerates about 20% faster and hits top speeds (street) that I only thought I could hit because they were on the speedometer.

If you need a quick fix to bring your love back to your 911, or if you want to squeeze every last bit of performance out of possibly the best engine every built, call Steve or go to 911chips.com and order one, do not hesitate, do not think it isn’t a deal, don’t concern yourself with the cost (you shouldn’t anyway - you drive a bloody Porsche). Install it or have a mechanic do it, or pay $50 to Steve and he will do it - just DO IT. You will not be sorry.

I had my mechanic dyno my car today to verify a few things, and for my own comfort. We found that engine torque, horse power and acceleration were all 20% better with a measured 28 HP boost from stock. This is not BS. I don’t work for Steve, I paid full price from my chip. I have a brand new 1984′ Porsche, and I got it in the mail.

Thank you Steve Wong. Thank you.

Taking the car for a quick drive after reading some great responses from flat-6.org, a Porsche enthusiast web site, to questions that I had asked on handling, speed and driving. A very nice individual that owns several Porsche’s walked me through the proper shifting procedure with an ailing transmission and it worked like a charm. Better yet, from more than one resource, I found out that once the car is at full operating temperature (remember this is an air/oil cooled car) that everything works right and needs to be driven.

I started my little test drive on a small 2 lane freeway branch on the way to Oregon City and found myself all alone. I started to really push the gears up to the red line (well a few lines away at least, she is 23 years old). I found myself at the middle of 5th gear touching 127 miles per hour and there was more left… a lot more. According to the manual this particular 911 can so about 149 at its top speed and its mechanically governed to stop there. I am not sure I want to see that, not until I understand this car a bit better and know nothing can go wrong at that speed.

Thanks to the guys at flat-6.org and the forums… your input helped tremendously.

Driving the car back from Bend and around town for some fun I was actually nervous, I didn’t know much of the cars history and I was a bit confused about its current mechanical state. It didn’t have the tell tale features of a bad air cooled engine: no oil leaks, no smoke, no strange noises… so I thought I was okay.

This morning I took the Porsche to a very good mechanic at North West Investment Cars. These guys specialize in some extraordinary machines, and driving up to the place you quickly realize what exotic means. I saw a few Porsche’s, even one like mine (smile) but there were 911 turbos, Ferrari’s, tricked out BMW M5’s, Jags, Lotus, Lamborgini… and there I was with my little 911. The mechanic came out and I spoke to him at length about what I felt and how the car drove. He then began his 2 hour inspection and testing. I also asked the sales person there to value the car so I can have an accurate report when the mechanic was complete.

Here is what I found out… its is a great Porsche. There are no mechanical problems that needed to be addressed and just a few things to keep an eye on. It will at some point need a new transmission (rebuild) but that is really it. It was also missing a strut support torsion bar that he is going to find and put back on for me. The bad news, the tires were very low on life… about 20% or less. So I had to get some new ones and even the mechanic told me to do that elsewhere (Les Shwab) because they are a better deal and take care of you later on. It was an easy 1 hour of my life for 4 new Z rated touring tires.
I was happy as I could be. But the best news was yet to come. I apologize ahead of time to the seller of this fine machine that has made me very happy because the value came back at almost twice what I paid for the car. Not only that, with little tweaks, and some polishing I could even get more. Great news indeed - although I don’t think I am going to sell this one.

That’s all for now. I am planning a trip to visit my friend Will in Sacramento, CA and we will drive down to see him, hopefully on Pacific Coast Highway 101.

Well after months of looking at cars, saving money, eBay’ing many assets I have finally chose a car to quell my driving enthusiasm, and it was a tough decision. I was looking for a car that was in the 5 second club (meaning that you can get from 0-60 in 5 seconds) but also had some character. Unfortunately, there are not many cars that are affordable that can do it - except for a select few.

The first car was the Subaru WRX STI, this car is quite fast, even the non STI is very quick iwth a 5.9 second 0-6 and very responsive. I test drove one and did some numbers on it, but still at almost $25k for non STI and $35K for STI - it just isn’t worth it - and without insult - they are damn ugly. I won’t really look at an American car because I just dont like them and the quality isn’t there, so i started looking at the usual suspects. Here is a brief list:

Nissan 300zx (fast, good looking but to 80’s)
Acura NSX (fast, great looking, way too expensive)
BMW M3 (pre-96) (very fast, very expensive and very rare)

So I started to give up and comb the eBay and Craigslist listings for a new idea - anything really that would be fun to drive, not that expensive to repair, friendly, fast and well designed. I then stumbled on an eBay listing for a Porsche, 911. I never thought about Porsche, because they are very expensive but this one looked affordable. Quickly did I realize I was wrong. My highest bid wasn’t even half of the cars value.

Three weeks later, I bid on another and lost it as well. It was getting old and I was getting tired. Then I saw it… another eBay listing but in Oregon, and close to me. I bid, with the maximum I could get but I was quickly outbid by another buyer. I watched the item escalate in price to where I couldn’t touch it and then it was over… but the car wasn’t won.

I quickly emailed the seller and after three weeks of negotiations, tests and more it was mine. I got back yesterday from picking it up after flying to Bend, OR (27 min flight hungover) and drove it back. Let me tell you, the drive was fun, hitting speeds in excess of 120 MPH and toying with racer cars like they were, well, toys.

Here are some quick stats on this monster:

0-60: 5.2 Seconds
Top Speed: 149 mph
Weight: 2769 lbs
5-Speed Transmission
3.2 Liter, 6 Cylinder Air-Cooled Engine

Thank you to Goods-Bye Auctions in Bend, OR. A great company to deal with and even better people. I will keep you all posted on how my new car does with its new owner, me.