Cory M

There are always deals to be found, it's much easier to buy a used racecar then it is to sell one :

http://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?2182871-1999-E36-M3-Track-Car-Aluminum-Trailer-Combo

http://poc.westhostsite.com/forum/showthread.php?1114-1999-996-DE-Track-car-Race

MUSSBERGER

One hard weekend on a 5k Boxster is probably all you should expect out of it.

Martin S.

..what class you want to compete in, then buy an already built race car. If you want to do it yourself be prepared to spend lots of money $$$$.

good hands

If I was going to recommend a car to start with it would be a Spec Boxster. Problem is you are just not going to be competitive at DE's with it.

racing916

spec miata

Martin S.

I don't believe this is necessarily true for all the reasons listed below.

What is being competitive all about? Let's assume, driving Talent/Potential probably is distributed along a bell shaped curve, aka Gaussian Distribution, with the area under the curve being 100%. (The "three sigma rule of thumb" states that even for non-normally distributed variables, at least 98% of cases should fall within properly-calculated three-sigma intervals.") The 68%-95%-99.7% rule, with 1/2 of each subset distributed to the left and right of the mean.

Next, recall that 68% of the data, 1 standard deviation (aka 1 sigma) to the left and right of the mean under under the curve, 34% to the left of the mean, ranging from those struggling to the hopeless, and those to the right of the mean our average to high potential drivers, with 34% of them to the right of the mean. These are the guys that seem to progress, get better over time, some very much better, they have the potential and are developing their talents. The drivers closest to the right side of the distribution, are your drivers that have the potential to be you class champs. The last subset is less than 1 %, with approximately .5% at the far left of the curve. These guys are in rare air. They are "naturals" and have the potential to be great driving teachers, and Pro drivers.

So what is the message...some of us have been blessed with great potential and talent, and some not so much. What about those to right of the mean, average 1 SD drivers , and 2 SD drivers driver? Expect to see them improve, assuming they engage in the five (5) practices listed below.

The real message is that guys that have a degree of talent and potential, some lesser and some greater, are pro-active; they make it happen. They engage is such things as:

1. They go out with a Club Instructor (That's OK when the instructor knows what she or he is doing), never assume that they do.
2. Hiring a Pro-Coach, probably one of the investments with the biggest payoff. If you can get him/her to drive your car with you as a passenger, you will be amazed. They make it seem so easy and they are incredibly smooth.
3. The second biggest investment with a potentially huge pay back, incorporate the use of Data Management (AIM, etc) to assess one's performance. The least efficient of them will look at the data following the weekend, nearly a useless exercise, the better will look at their data at the end of the day, an OK approach but not the best, with the best looking at the data at the end of their session or race.
4. Car set up: The highest performers are focused on car set up, they keep logs, they enter data and look for areas where the car's performance can be improved. Note: In most cases, it's the driver, not the car that needs improvement. The assumption, we are talking about Porsche cars here. These cars are naturals for the track.
5. Seat time: The best drivers do whatever it takes to get seat time, seat time with specific improvement goals. They have lots of goals, big and little and are obsessed with the details, after all, The Devil is in the detail.

From the wise-Geek, "The slang term “the devil is in the detail” has a number of different senses. All of the meanings for the term boil down to the fact that it is often the small details of something which make it difficult or challenging. These details can prolong a task, or foil an otherwise straightforward dealing. Like many proverbs which involve the devil, it is meant to sound a note of caution. It may also be used to excuse or explain the obfuscation of an otherwise very simple project or task."

So if you are not driving to the level you would like, then the question becomes, what are you doing about it?

Jonasjmac

Well I've decided to go with the boxster. While it's a 98 stock, and likely going to cost more in the long run, I'll enjoy the process of turning it into a track car. Thanks again for all the great advice!

Martin S.

Nobody has more fun than the Spec Boxster guys. Before your Boxster evolves into a total race car, you can push it through DE, Time Trials, get that cage in there and go racing.

I am afraid to drive a Spec Boxster for fear I'd have to have one.