lol 914 sucked at handling. It did not handle like most porsche.
Actually they handle very well, if you swap the stock front stabilizer bar for a Weltmeister 22mm. As it will eliminate some of the over-steer in corners. Throw on some Koni's and it handles like it is on rails. At 80-90mph, they have very low RPM's, as opposed to most cars of that time period. The front suspension was directly from the 911 and they had 11" rotors in back from the factory.
The 914 made sense, before all of the VW BS over Nordhoff taking over as Head of VW and almost cutting the program. Say what you want, but I believe that Karmann made the 914/4 tubs. The Targa Top 914 had the same "rigidity" as a 911, which is somewhat of an amazing They look good to me and could give the Miata and MR2's a good run for their money and it is 30-40 years older. Nowadays every Auto manufacturer tries to rip off the "Nuremberg Rear door corner of the 3 Series", or the "A6 grille", etc.
Yes putting the Battery above the fuel tank was stupid at first and they addressed most of the fuel line issues (as well as finaly relocating the Fuel Pump's to a spot that was "cooler than near the engine"). The later designs implemented these types of things that Owners had done to their cars and the "major problems were no more" from the factory.
They were better than all of the bad press and BS people have said about them over the years. Yes, I have been able to drive a restored and very lightly upgraded version (I also drove it in its Stock form before the upgrades were put on). But the "Dogleg" First gear puts a smile on my face every time my buddy lets me drive it at the local track (Waterford Hills, in Clarkston, MI).
But from the factory, they were set up decent.
