Buy it already built. Spend more than $5k in cash. For between $10-$15k you can get something well sorted that is already built. If you buy quickly enough you might even able to convince the 48 hours people to let you in, if you are a solo driver! You will thank me later.

 

Thanks for all the input. I've made my final decision and it is for a nicely setup M30 BMW race car owned by a PCA member in Atlanta:

http://www.peachstatepca.org/mart/th...asp?cat=racing

I'm going to learn something about momentum driving now!

 

Mark,
If you can stand having on 130-135 whp the 2.5l 8valve 944 NA is a great car. You can get near complete race cars for 5k and any 944 with interior stripped out and a reasonable suspension is fun car on a track in the turns. They are not fast on straights, but there is not much skill in pushing your foot down and holding on.

Turbos are nice cars, but an order of magnitiude more expensive to run. It is not so much becuase they are less reliable in stockish form, but that it is so easy to boost the hp here and there slow build a monster. More hp means more stress on the chassis and engine. It also will lead you to more tire and stickier tires. Again this puts more stress on the chassis. It is this added stress that costs money to maintain and could cause problems at the track. Same goes for the motor. Remember the 944 NA uses the same block, crank, head, cam, headgakets and waterpump as a turbo car. Consider how much different is it to push double or almost triple the hp through the same parts.

The 944 S and S2 are sort in between since their 16 valve motors marke more hp they put more stress on the chassis similar to turbo cars over the 8valve cars, but since they can't easly make much more than stock they are not as costly to run or mod. The extra cost is really in the 16 valve part of the motor. S2's also tend to run more tire and the larger and fatter the tires the more expensive they are.

Most 944 spec guys can race a full season on two sets fo Toyo RA-1 225/50 R15 tires. They cost about $130 each. Compare that to getting 2 weekends from a set of 18" hoosiers at $225 each you will have HUGE savings there.

 

Mark, just saw your post & pics in the Road Atl thread - the car looks great & ready to go. I just stepped out of my e30 track car and really enjoyed every minute on track with it. It was a hoot and while most frequently served as a moving chicane, it was always the 'passee'.

 

i am selling a 86 944 turbo with a vitesse stage 3 turbo /mass air,rebuilt motor with less then 10,000 miles full cage and a lot of other goodies for 9,000.00...for some reason i am unable to post pics again..not sure why..ill have to ask john D again but if you are interested i can email pics

Doug

 

I'm excited to get the car, although very sad to be without a GT3. However, it will be nice not to have to worry about balling up such a nice car on the track.

 

Focus on the good - you've got a dedicated track car that is better suited to developing the driver & focusing on the driver rather than a glorified street car which might be more akin to wrestling a very expensive rattlesnake.


(imho, ymmv, says the envious driver who does not own a GT3)