1983 Porsche 928S Automatic Test: The One to Get

From the September 1983 issue of Car and Driver.

The Porsche 928S is a driver’s car in the extreme. It is at its best at speeds over 90 mph. This is a realm where few cars and even fewer drivers are comfort­able, and not many of either belong there. The 928S, however, is so pleased to function in the over-90-mph region of subsonic travel that it makes semi­-capable drivers feel like seasoned pro­fessionals and seasoned professionals feel like gods on earth. Around town, though, the 928S is somewhat out of its element, feeling more cumbersome than its dimensions would imply and more truculent than its specifications would suggest. It is a heavy car, and its controls relay the message well. This is not a car for the addlebrained dilettante who is loath to give more than a quarter of his attention to the driving process. Still, as with the rest of us, he too will appreciate a new refinement that Porsche has brought to its speed-meister.

For the first time, the 928S is avail­able with a four-speed automatic trans­mission, and it proves a most robust companion for the famed Porsche V-8. In the past, Porsche offered only a five­-speed manual gearbox and a three­-speed automatic. The three-speed is hereby replaced by the four-speed.

The only drawback to the five-speed stick is that its shifting action is less than perfect, although it works well enough when shifted deliberately. The old three-speed automatic always behaved well enough, but it lacked flexibility and low-rev cruising.

Now comes the four-speed automatic, and, stick-shift purists be damned, it’s probably the way to go. This Mercedes­-Benz-built transmission (Porsche man­ufactures the aluminum case itself) is a direct-in-fourth design, eschewing the American manufacturers’ preference for both a lockup torque converter and an overdrive top gear. The Porsche drives through a 2.20:1 final-drive ratio. Just about the only thing you can’t ask of it is lever-activated control of first gear. This is somewhat surprising since Mercedes has a world-beating shift gate in its own big V-8 cars: a snaking slot carries M-B’s refined shift lever, and the amount of effort required to manage it is as nearly perfect as perfect can be. Of course, we’re talking here about active driving, wherein you’re seeing to the shifting yourself, up and down as you wish. The magic Mercedes shifter also gives you an extra slot tucked aside at the bottom that will get you smartly into first gear.

Porsche’s application uses a more conventional T-handle lever that moves straight backward and forward, stop­ping resolutely in second gear at the lowest selection point. Any move to first gear must be accomplished solely with the kickdown supplied by your throttle foot. Most of the time this doesn’t mat­ter much, because the Jack Armstrong (Jochen Armstrong?) engine offers so much horsepower and torque that the need for a manual kickdown is rarely crucial.

Porsche provides a car with an ex­tremely tight structure, an amazingly healthy and civilized engine, and a fully independent suspension and four-wheel disc brakes whose coordination sets the standard for road cars. With their help, you reshape your motoring parameters completely. What you must concern yourself with is that you don’t extend the 928S so far that you get out of phase with the rest of the world. Other drivers don’t expect cars to do what the 928S can do, which is reduce the time-versus­-distance equation to little more than conversation material.

The Porsche’s 0-to-60 time is 7.0 sec­onds, and its top speed is 142 mph. Sur­prisingly, its traction limits seem to be reduced by the application of Goodyear NCTs in place of Pirelli P7s. (These two brands and also Dunlop currently sup­ply tires to Porsche for the 928S.) The NCTs ride better, but the skidpad-cor­nering limit has slipped from 0.81 to 0.76 g, and 70-to-0-braking distance has increased from 180 to 197 feet. Still, ex­cellent seats, a fine driving position (the wheel and the entire instrument pod ad­just up and down for the best comfort and viewing), and heartening high-­speed stability put the moves on every other car in this exclusive class. If there is anything semi-dreary in the biggest Porsche’s outlook, it is that the looking out from inside is pretty shrouded by the cloaking B-pillars and the low-hanging roof at the rear. But even the fuel economy, at 17 mpg for both the EPA and us, is pretty good, considering the outrageous job you can do with the fuel.

And as for how the 928S compares with the Corvette—well, it’s amazing how much satisfaction an extra twenty grand will get you.

Specifications

Specifications

1983 Porsche 928S
Vehicle Type: front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, 2+2-passenger, 3-door hatchback

PRICE

Base/As Tested: $43,000/$46,395

ENGINE
SOHC 16-valve V-8, aluminum block and heads, port fuel injection
Displacement: 285 in³, 4664 cm³
Power: 234 bhp @ 5500 rpm

TRANSMISSION
4-speed automatic 

DIMENSIONS

Wheelbase: 98.4 in
Length: 175.5 in
Curb Weight: 3415 lb

C/D TEST RESULTS

60 mph: 7.0 sec
1/4-Mile: 15.2 sec @ 92 mph
100 mph: 18.9 sec
130 mph: 44.0 sec
Top Speed: 142 mph
Braking, 70–0 mph: 197 ft
Roadholding, 282-ft Skidpad: 0.76 g 

C/D FUEL ECONOMY

Observed: 17 mpg

EPA FUEL ECONOMY
City: 17 mpg 

C/D TESTING EXPLAINED