[Davbert55]

I am really enjoying track days here in Northern California. I mean a lot. Sears Point and Laguna Seca are magical places. Leather seats and air-conditioning just don't seem that important on the track. So, I'm kicking around the idea of trading my 968 for a C or D sports racer.



Obviously this creates a whole new batch of issues. Tow gear, storage, obsolescence of an older SR type, feedback from the WAR department, and on, and on.



Talk me out of it. Talk me into it. Do you have a buddy who is in the opposite phase of life as me and wants to simplify from track life?



I'd like to get some objective feedback.



Looking forward,

Dave

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[Rap]

Would this be a track car for racing, DE's or both? I have no experience on racing so I have no comment there. I've spent the last 3 years DEing. First year was three events in a different 968. This is a fun road but can quickly present some difficulties. First is financial. That would be something determined by you. Second. With any amount of track time eventually you would contemplate a towing vehicle and trailer. It saved my bacon the last two events. Yet although it makes the effort easier mentally, it creates a whole new class of work which will continue to grow. Every event it seems like more and more stuff goes into the truck. While most stays there in between events and is on a list there is a limit in space. Some might say yea you should have gotten an enclosed trailer but unless it had been a really big one this space deal happens there also.



Loading and unloading your car and tires takes time. You get better and faster but it still takes time. Plus it adds two more vehicles

to license, insure and take care of. So you go from one vehicle to three. Some times I think I spend most of my time on one of the three vehicles! Tires seem to grow like rabbits. Expensive rabbits. Make sure you have space for them in your garage. Garage? Where do you store all this stuff you quickly start to accumulate?



Other than that I say pedal to the metal and full speed ahead. Oh if you have a wife or significant other make sure she has a hobby or pastime that occupies her time while you spend your weekends busy or away! Lol

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[Davbert55]

I roadraced motorcycles for years. Time spent pre race preping and post race repairing is what finally did me in. Most fun per cubic dollar I ever had. One too many 5:00 am alarms to ensure I got a good pit stop. That was the beginning of the end.



I'm primarily interested in DE and TT or Time Attack at this point. Like golf, the competition is between me and the course.



The type of tow vehicle and trailer would determine how far I would go for an event. Motorhome or toy hauler would expand the event radius I'd be willing to endure. Kind of like, spend more money on gear to spend more money on running events.



Rap, message delivered - message received. Thanks for the input.

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[Rap]

Your welcome!

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[optigolf]

Dave, I have 92 MO30 which has some preparations to be ok tack/race car. I have had so far only one three day DE at the Glen with it, faster than many 911s and I am going next weekend there again.

I have also 94 968 cab which I used last year on the track, however it is now retired from that use, it's now cruising car.

If you are interested in to talk, please call me on 585-789 0988 or e-mail: m.wekara@optigolf.us

Regards, Mark

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[blau]

Still on ebay...for a few months now I think. Might be worth selling yours and buying this one?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Porsche-968-Fire...1280855015

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[Ryan]

Wow the ebay car is a great deal for all the work done on it.

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[flash]

given the choice between a 968 track car, and a spec c or d car, i'd dump the 968 in a blink

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[Cloud9...68]

What condition is your 968 in? How much do you think it's worth? I was planning to sell mine and buy/build a dedicated track car, but found my 968 was worth so little that the sales price would barely buy a set of wheels and tires for a track car, so I decided to keep it, and convert it to a track car. Given the choice, I would have preferred to go the lightweight track car route, but the 968 has been amazingly fast - I'm keeping up with, and regularly passing, what should be much faster cars, like Boxster S's and even 997S's. I would venture to say that if I drove it in a racing class that went strictly by power/weight ratio, I would be a real force to be reckoned with - the 968 corners that well.

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[94SilverCab]

I know the Fire Hawk car, the owners were the "spare no expense" types. I'm guessing this car is exactly as represented and would probably be a good value for a dedicated race car.



If I were to have a dedicated car, I would probably go with something like a Miata or at most 944. 968s are too rare and too expensive to fix in my humble opinion.



Jay

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[Cloud9...68]

I don't disagree - my hand was kind of forced by trying to sell my 968 when the market had absolutely bottomed (the story of my investing life...), and an error-riddled <acronym title='pre purchase inspection'>PPI</acronym>. But if the Factory Five 818 had been available at the time, I think I would have bitten the bullet and built one of those. 1800 lb mid-engined purpsoe-built tube frame chassis, with a Subaru engine capable of a reliable 400+ hp. OMG.

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[Rap]

While the 944 are readily available it has been my limited 3 year observation that a vast majority of them at DE events need to be repaired while at the event.

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[94SilverCab]

Yup, I wouldn't recommend a 944, only for those that MUST drive a Porsche. Miata's cost about 1/8th the amount fix and there are so many aftermarket companies that you can plug-n-play for any HP /handling level you can imagine.



Jay

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[Rap]

There is a turbo Miata built from the ground up that is for sale in the Phillie area

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[Davbert55]

I've been following the Firehawk 968. Great looking car. Appears well prepared.



My desire would be to acquire a sports racer or Formula-something that may be obsolete from a racing class perspective but still supported in the aftermarket. I'm not looking for an ex-Indy car or Can Am monster. 1,500 lbs empty wt. with 150-200HP would be sweet.



A purpose built race car is different in so many ways from a converted road car. First and foremost is ease of maintenance. Second would be tuneability (quickly between sessions). Third would be lack of compromise between handling and anything else. Obsolescence has its own problems with lack of tire sizes for the wheels it runs, parts that are out of production, vendors that are out of business, etc. I understand Van Diemen is owned by Panoz. So there is some hope for older cars.



Obviously, driving it to the track is out of the question.

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[Rap]

Buy a tow vehicle and trailer and kiss your worries away!

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[flash]

this was exactly why i stopped driving on the track. once i had driven a purpose built car, i could never go backwards to a production based car again. every time i did, it felt too big, heavy and slow. even when i was driving a car that was the same weight as the purpose built car, there was still something about it that felt less capable.



the ease of tuning is a big deal too. in any production based car, no matter how stripped down, you have to work around the things that such cars have, that purpose built cars don't. it just makes it harder.



if i ever go back, it will be open wheel for sure. spec is cool, but still heavier and somehow less raw. less stuff flying in your face though, and that has a certain value.

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[Cloud9...68]

Must....resist....urge....to....jump....into....a....formula....car. They have classes designed around them at Driveway Austin. Like Flash's experience, I'm sure that would ruin the 968 track car experience for me.

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[flash]

yup. many people have had the same experience. we all get into this from the same place.

we enjoy driving a performance car.

then we learn how to drive faster.

then we start modifying the car and go even faster.

then we buy the other half some flowers.

then we take it out on the track and fall in love with the speed.

then we start setting the car up for that. then we dedicate the car to that use.

then we take the wife out to a really nice dinner or getaway weekend.

then we buy a trailer and tow rig and really set up the car.

then we buy the wife a new car.

then we realize that we could go faster, if we weren't limited by the car, so we take a ride in an open wheel car.

then we realize that we will have to start looking for a new place to live.

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[Cloud9...68]

lol - too funny, but too depressingly true as well. I'm somewhere in the middle of this progression. We'll see how fast I fall into the abyss... My rate of descent is at least severely dampened by my available budget...

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