Charles A. Toupin

I’ve been pondering a new race car for many months now. I’ll be keeping my 944 race car because all my friends are still racing them and I like to race with them. But at some point, I’d like to race something faster, once in a while. Our 944 cars are lapping Mosport in 1:38.

For me, the most important thing in racing is competition. The more I have, the more I find it interesting. So racing against 20 or more cars is a prerequisite.

Here is a quick tour of the options I’m considering and the series pertaining to each of these cars.

1) Porsche SP996. Could build a very nice car for 55K to 75K, depending on the engine and transmission rebuilds, paint. Not a lot of cars to race with in the North East. Reliable, good looking, but the best looking out there. Looks better in race trim than in street trim. 325HP or so depending on the chosen year, 2700 lbs or so. PCA multiclass fields.

Laps Mosport in ???

2) Howe Racing Mustang for the Trans-Am Serie (American Muscle categorie). 475 hp, 2900 lbs. Reliable Emco 4 speed gearbox. Tube frame car, low tech. 600$ for the set of Goodyear slicks that have a quite long life. A brand new car can be had for 95K or less. Ease of repair of the fibreglass boby and tube frame. Up and coming categorie in the Trans-Am serie because of the low cost of operation . You can buy a seat for an entire season in a championship winning car for 100K. Car count will go up this year. Sharing the track with the quicker TA and Global GT cars.

Laps Mosport in 1:25

3) Used Trans-Am car for the TA category, the 800hp Corvette. Found a 2010 Tony Ave chassis, complete, ready to race for 110K. Same as #2, but with more expensive body (Kevlar/Carbon) , tires and brakes.

Laps Mosport in 1:18

4) World Challenge Ford Mustang, brand new from Ford Racing for 85K. GTS categorie. There must be something to add on it to make it front runner. Nice serie with visibility, but lots of races far from the east coast. Share the track with quicker GT cars. Manufacturer involvement (Kia and Acura) surely makes a season quite expensive. The Camaro seems to be a better car than the Mustang, but is also much more expensive. Most likely too expensive for my budget, even if I’d own the car, unless I want to run at the back of the pack.

Laps Mosport in 1:27

5) Ford Focus ST from Ford Racing, 98K brand new from Ford racing. Can be run in World Challenge, Grand-Am Continental and CTCC (Canadian Touring Car Championship). Same as 4) above, and Grand-Am is endurance with pit stops. But running CTCC would allow me to closer to home, reducing travelling costs in a competitive serie. Sharing the track with the faster cars, except in CTCC.

Laps Mosport in 1:32

6) Used Porsche GT3 Cup (2009) for IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge. The greatest car in this list, the most expensive to buy, to maintain and to race. 120K to buy a good one. 150K to do a season. Damn too expensive... Engine rebuilds and transmission rebuilds are pricey.

Laps Mosport in 1:22

7) F2000. To race in the F2000 Championship Serie from the SCCA Pro. You can buy a good used car for 35-45K, a brand new one for 90K. You can do an entire season for 40K. Arrive and drive programs are 130K. 7 race weekends. 2 races per weekends. No sharing of the track. Good looking car and fast. Off track excursions can become expensive (wings, diffuser…), but these cars stop on a dime even when spinning. Can also race regional races with SCCA and Formula Libre in Canada, which are budget friendly. Will require the help of an engineer at some point.

Laps Mosport in 1:20

8) F1600. Can race F1600CS or the Formula Tour 1600 in Quebec and Ontario. A new Mygale with a Honda Fit engine is 70K. A good use one is 35K. Less expensive to run than F2000, can run a great events like the Montreal Grand Prix. F1600CS has its own run group, like F2000CS. Formula Tour has its own run group, most of the time.

Laps Mosport in 1:30

9) Porsche Cayman ITC. Great looking car. Can buy a used one for 85K-100K. I did not do much research on these yet. My favorite Porsche to race. But I doubt there is a lot of cars out there. Just like SP996.

I see the Howe Racing Mustang and the F2000/F1600 cars as the most cost effective way of racing at great venues .

What do you guys think?

c.

Howe Racing Mustang picture added. If only Trans-Am could allow 18 inches tires on nice wheels, the look of the car would be great... But these 75$ steel wheels and 600$ per set of tires, that is cheap...

Matt Romanowski

Running an F2000 or FF is completely different than everything else you listed. The guys at Apex Speed gave you a good idea of what to expect.

The TA2 is the most cost effective. As you know, Tom and Bob started running TA2 becuase it was cheaper than any other major series. Plus you get a purpose built car that is VERY durable.

A TA car is probably near as much to run for a year as a Cup Car if you want to be at the front. The ~800 horse motors are not cheap. Look at the front runners and they are spending way more than $100k a year.

Count the Continental series out. Kia spent $1 million on the two cars in 2011 to win the ST title. You can't do well on a budget.

If it was me, I would go with a TA2 car becuase I don't fit in a F2000 car. If I could fit in an F2000, there is not better car or series.

Charles A. Toupin

Hi Matt,

Yes, the guys at apexspeed were nice with me! This is what I think too, F2000 is great and budget can be ok. What do you think of the those steel wheels and fat tires on the TA2 car?

I already had a few conversation with Bob to rent a TA2. Still have to wait a bit to pull the trigger... Will most likely rent a F2000 too. But what will happen with my love of Porsche

Thank

c.

GuyIncognito

do some research not into cars, but field sizes for the cars you list. If a car really turns your crank but 2 of you show up, so what. Should be fairly easy to get a good list from SCCA/NASA/PCA/etc on their respective websites.

and if big fields are your thing, FF might be the way to go, especially if there's some young kids coming out of karting and trying to make their way up the ladder. you'll learn a lot, and/or be thoroughly embarrassed

PS that Mustang looks badass

Matt Romanowski

Who cares what the rims/tires look like. It's purpose built race car that handles well and has a big motor! Plus, at $75 a wheel, it's much better to replace those than a Fikse.

You'll either love the F2000 or hate it. That will probably determine the rest for you.

ProCoach

Call David Clubine at Britain West about FF1600 and FF2000. Great series in Canada and super racing. Also just over the border is Mike Rands F2000 Pro Series. Good stuff and there is NOTHING like a purpose-built race car. Even the full-blown T/A car, while fun and gratifying to drive (and VERY, VERY fast) is SO much more expensive to run, it's not funny. You could buy a decent 01 VD for what an ENGINE would cost in the T/A car.

Sounds like the idea of renting a TA2 car from Bob and perhaps an FF2000 from David would be the best next step.

Charles A. Toupin

On the wish list. I'll make a decision by april 1st. Will most likely rent the F2000 inthe US, so I can race F2000CS where car count is great.

c.

Charles A. Toupin

The whole idea behind TA2 (now AM) is plain great. The engine can do 4 seasons and a rebuild is less than a 944 engine rebuild, unless you choose the Katech engine... Gearbox is sturdy (Emco, if you choose it, even the standard one is fine). You can have a spare EMCO for 6K, a standard Jerico for 3K. Tube frame is easy to repair. All suspension parts are affordable. Even the Penske shocks.

Does it handle well? I guess it is not GT3Cup standards, but lapping Mosport in 1:25 is not bad at all.

c.

Charles A. Toupin

Looking forward to be embarrassed by those young folks...

I'll drive FF1600, then F2000 and that Mustang (or Camaro, same car, different body). Mustang looks better though. See what comes out of it. And I may drive a WC Camaro too...

c.

Van

I'm going to do some math for you here:

GuyIncognito

when you put it that way....

K964

Why build a SP996 for "$55k to $75k" when you could buy a 996 Cup for the same money??? Seems like a no brainer to me. The C3 field in PCA is huge and very strong in the Northeast.

stuttgart46

Keep the 944 and do some Skip Barber race weekends and rent a ride stuff. That way you get to run some tracks that seemed like an impossible tow.
Just my $.02

MarkM

K964 - You must be using the same logic I try with my wife when I want an upgrade.

In reality, there is no comparison in costs between an SP996 and and a Cup car. I have never seen a good Cup car for sale at the price, and the running costs are far greater than with and SP or stock class car.

Charles, PCA H class had 25 cars at the Glen last year, and usually has 15 or so cars at other races. I like it because there are also prepped 993s and 964s in the group that make the racing pretty interesting.

Veloce Raptor

Actually, K964 is correct. There are a number of qualiity 6 Cups in the higher end of that price range...and worth it.

But again, the question is what size race fields will the OP face where he lives?

Also consider SM and SRF.