I’ve done a lot of research on both models 944 and 944S, here’s what I found out;

944
Best engine builder in the country is Jon Milledge, he claims about 180hp, costs can be upwards of 10K. According to him, scca has the car too heavy (what else is new!) based on his calculations, he raced the ARRC years ago and was pulled by top SpeedSource (Sylvain Trembly) car on straights. Most of the hp gains made are in the head work he does. The engines come balanced, almost no gains by burning new chip.

944S
Exact same motor except for head. According to Milledge, this head is designed really well so you wont get the kind of gains in a 2v car. His rebuild S motor puts out 200-205 hp max. Draw backs to the 944S and why the potential is not the same as say a comparable ITS car like 4 valve BMW e36 are the following: The ECU doesn’t offer any major gains, not as programable older system, second, the cams can not be re-indexed because the timing belt goes to one cam only (exhaust) then a chain from the middle of the exhaust cam connects to the intake cam. (sprocket is welded to the cam). As in a BMW e36 they have a Vanos cam adjusting system and you can play with the cam timing by re-indexing each cam.

With the increased weight of an S, and the same brakes (944 and 944S use exact same caliper and rotor) there’s not much of a difference when you calculate power to weight.

Have spoken to 5 guys around the country who run 944S, (2 of the 5 what I consider maxed out to the IT rules) same response everytime: good car, fast but no broken track records, and pulled by e36’s on straights. Since they’ve been let into the class (944S) 3 years ago, I haven’t heard of any winning races and none show up at the ARRC.

Other comments???

B Pickett