[Fronkey]

I had a 944 Turbo S for years and loved it. Great little sports car. It's definitely roomier than the Toyobaru (for front seat passengers) and the hatch makes it WAY more practical. I once fit two 42 inch flatscreens in their original packaging, two big boxes of liquor, and a passenger while we were Christmas shopping. It's the only car I've ever driven where there was still room to move the driver's seat back after being adjusted to fit my 6'5", 240lb frame (I'm trying to shed some of those pounds, but my wife just learned how to make pizza from scratch so that's probably not happening anytime soon). The huge fuel tank was awesome, I once drove from Amarillo, TX to Joplin, MO (~500 miles) on a single tank just to see if it would make it.

Being a Turbo S, it had all the bells and whistles including factory Koni yellow shocks, adjustable ride height, big 928S4 brakes, and even automatic climate control. It was quite fast with just a chip and exhaust, and there's decent aftermarket support despite it's age. Cruising at triple digit speeds was effortless, though I don't know if the base model feels as planted as the heavier Turbo S with wider rubber.

That said, I'm quickly falling in love with my new (to me) '14 FRS. The FRS feels smaller, which I like despite the fact that it's just at the limit of me fitting comfortably. The back seat is actually useable if there's a smallish person in the passenger seat (I don't even acknowledge the existence of the driver's side rear seat). It feels more more direct and livelier, probably just as a consequence of it's age compared to the 944. While I haven't done much with the FRS yet, some pre-purchase research shows that the FRS will be much cheaper to maintain and has great aftermarket support too.

944 pros:

Brand prestige (if that matters to you)
Front seat passenger space (by a pretty good margin)
Old school look and feel
Big fuel tank for long trips

944 cons:

Older, will need more maintenance
Porsche, so parts are expensive
Clutch replacement is expensive, and a lot of work
Timing belt is a ticking timebomb with a water pump that's begging to kill itself, said timing belt, and the rest of your difficult to replace engine.


Toyobaru pros:

More modern chassis
Better suspension layout
Newer, will be lower maintenance
Subaru/Toyota reliability and parts prices
Feels sharper/more responsive (subjective)
Cheaper/easier to upgrade
Almost useful back seats
Nicer shifter

Toyobaru cons:

Smaller front seats (if you're a giant)
WAY less cargo capacity
Smaller tank means more stops on long road trips
NOT a Porsche (if that matters to you)


Faced with the choice between a base 944 and a Toyobaru, I would get the boxer any day of the week. The 944 is old enough that it will be a maintenance hog, and parts are going to have a much higher price and lower availability at this point. Both are beautiful cars (though I greatly prefer the post-facelift 944).