Would you track a Carrera GT?

 

Van, this is a great question. And you have a good point, but you should understand why I would say no to even a GT. When I park my 951 somewhere in a lot at a mall, or whatever, never does the thought cross my mind of " Which spot is closest to the store" or whatever. I actually look for the spot farthest away from cars or people. And when I walk away, I cant stop looking at it as I get get farther from the car. I think "Damn its beautiful" then as I lose vision of it, I wonder "Will it be ok"? "Will some idiot deliberately park next to it anyway and ding it when Ive taken the proper measures of parking it far away to prevent that from happening.?'' Now do you get what Im saying? I think if that nice car would be on a track with someone unfamiliar with the feel and layout that its chances of getting damaged or wrecked would increase dramatically. I really do believe these cars are excellent, in almost every way. I loved the 944 when I saw my 84' for the first time. And I guess I dont think there are many nice examples left. I was lucky to buy my 951 in the condition it was in, which was close to excellant. Which is why Im so paranoid I guess and why I said he shouldnt buy an "S" spec model to track in the first place. So many worse things could happen on a track then in a lot, my view is why take the chance. Maybe I like these cars too much. This was a long reply, I know, but it was the only way I could explain why I said that. He should get a N/A anyway, by the way his initial post sounds, hes never owned a 944. So how are you going to use an S spec 951 to full advantage when you dont know the 944 anyway? Yea yea yea, buy it and learn by making mistakes. MISTAKES? With such a nice car? Good thinking.

 

I think it's been said several times now, but all 1989 944 Turbos were "S" models. They started the Turbo S model in 88 with a limited run of limited option cars with 247 bhp. In the later half of 88 they decided to open up the Turbo S model to all options (like a sun roof). In 1989 the standard Turbo was replaced with the "S" outright, and the S designation was dropped from the books - same stats and the same options. There never were any distinguishing marks to show an 88 S from an 89 except for what owners have done - and perhaps some special Turbo S trunk carpets I've seen.

I also somewhat agree with nitehawk951. It would probably be smarter to buy an earlier model Turbo for a track car, and mod it. It makes little sense to risk such a "limited" production model - something like only 1,385 89s were shipped to the US. I bought my 89 for show car/enjoyment purposes, but I doubt I'd track it. But that's really all just personal preference I suppose. The same argument could be made about a CGT or an Enzo or something, but if no one drove their cars like they were meant to be they'd never see the light of day. I would suggest that no matter what you do, you go to a racing school. Until you have heal-toeing down, and hitting the apexes, and proper braking techniques, I wouldn't risk your Porsche - no matter what year/model it is.

 

I completely disagree with the advice to buy an early model for the track. The S has bigger brakes which you will want, adjustable suspension which speaks for itself, and most important to me on the track...it has limited slip. Besides all of that it has a ton of other parts that I won't try to name. All of this in a package that is bred for, designed for, intended for and by all means should be put on the TRACK. If you can't afford to play..then don't. But for a couple grand more.....get the S. It's just isn't worth all the time you will spend upgrading in order to have a car that when you go to sell it...still .... is..... not.... an..... S.

Buy the S. Play consourse guy with it if you want, rubbing it down with diapers and dry humping the mirrors secretly in the garage. But understand, that car was designed by race engineers, built by what USED to be a racing company, assembled by racing enthusiasts, and on the track it shines like it was intended to do...no diapers needed (except for the novice in the passenger seat)

Buy the S. Track it. Be a man. I'll buy you a beer while the engines, brakes, turbo's cool down.

 

You have a point. I was looking at it from the standpoint of a limited budget (right now), but if you have the money and the expertise then by all means use your Porsche the way it was meant to be used!

 

LOL! A good string of posts. And clearly there is no right answer. Circumstances, perhaps luck, also play a large role... Let me tell you about two of the '88 Turbo Ss I've owned:

#1 - my [now] track car - I'm the second owner, and I've had it for 7 years and 50k miles. It was pretty darn close to perfect when I got it. It was all original, no blemishes/flaws in the interior and in real nice shape on the exterior (one fog light lens was cracked and there were a few small stone chips on the front). When I got it, I was an intermediate track driver, upgrading from an N/A 944. This will be my 8th year tracking this car (now I club race with it), with an average of 20 days a year at the track. Luckily, knock on wood, the only damage it's received has been in my driveway when my wife backed into it. Although, certainly due to its usage, it's not as pristine as when I acquired it.

#2 - my parts car - an absolutely better car than mine (before the accident)! It had a little more mileage but was completely babied. It had never seen rain, was immaculate, always stored indoors and had excellent paint. The previous owner was driving along one day, and a PT Cruiser ran a red light and t-boned the passenger side. A cryin' shame.

The point of all of this isn't to say these cars should only be preserved or only turned into racecars -- but to show that there are people who have successfully driven anything they own on the track, and sometimes life takes a cruel twist and can take a car that's sitting still in a parking lot.

Personally, I love driving my turbo S at the track, and would (and have) driven all of my p-cars at the track. Clearly Nitehawk would like to preserve his for display. I hope someday we get to park the two cars next to each other and over a beer exclaim what great vehicles they are and drink to the Porsche engineers.

 

I'd say the best way to use any Porsche is however you get the most enjoyment out of it.

 

Bill, you and I seem to be of the minority opinion here. I bought mine for the sole purpose of getting into DE's and work up from there. Sure it was a limited production car. It was the best car I could afford that was designed by a bunch of engineers a whole lot smarter than me that was intended for track use. I couldn't be happier with my car. It's easy to work on, fairly inexpensive (for a Porsche) to maintain, and I can do all the work myself. I bought mine cheap as it needed a clutch, brakes, suspension rebuild, and a real nasty oil leak. But after a winter's worth of disassembling, cleaning, upgrading, and rebuilding, I have a car that is a hoot to drive and can keep up with cars that cost 5x more than mine. I say buy it!

 

Can I get an Amen....

 

Ummm......yes, yes I would. If I could afford to buy it, I could afford to track it. Otherwise, why buy a car like that. Much more comfy in an austin or bentley.

 

Musche's got it right. I feel like an uncle to his project. He cased the market. Found a 951S in the Annapolis area with a cosmetically spectacular interior, nice exterior with evidence of one minor repair. At 150K it needed a complete mechanical fresnening, but was never abused. After what appeared to be a thoroughly enjoyable winter of disassembly, drive line maintenance, mild suspension upgrade and reassembly, Ol Musche hit the PCA DE circuit with a big splash and has never looked back.

While costs are all relative and an early 944 could have been a cheaper starter, it is hard for me to imagine a better and cheaper path to enjoyable tracking and instantly competitive performances than starting with a 951S. I'm sure, by the end of the day, a fella could end up with a ground-up early track car that outperforms a lightly modded Turbo S, but the total cash outlay to reach the same end might be a lot closer than it appears on the surface, especially when labor is figured in.

The Turbo S can be all things to all people, IMO. If you're looking for an affordable start in Porsche collecting, it is the best bargain out there in terms of performance per dollar and not too bad on the scale of OE rarity....with only something like 2,300 of them imported to the US over two years of production. Add to that the goodly number of them that have been turned into track cars or wadded up once at the track, PLUS a number of them that have fallen off the planet because they weren't distinquished from the hoard of less valuable 944 variants...and you've got a satisfying and unique factory bahn burner...and it's fair enough if it's worth too much to you to modify.

If forced by the "Millionaire" host to choose between tracking and preserving, I tend to think I would have to say track, though, since even a pristine 951S is a rough and tough daily ride on anything less than perfect pavement. I love my very original Turbo S but, truth be told, it spends 90% of it's life trundling around obstacles that other cars simply plow over in an effort to keep my fillings in my teeth and all the nice OE bits still attached to this wolf in sheep's clothing. This car's performance window is so far outside the legal traffic laws it deserves to be tracked

 

Thanks guys----would you believe I called the guy to tell him I was fedexing the money and look for the transport truck in a ffew days and he has decided not to sell it-------what a bummer!!!!!!!!!!--------so I guess I am still looking------

 

Wow the guy is smart, how much were you looking to spend? There are like 5 for sale right now on autotrader.com. I think the cheapest one is 9k with black/black. Looks nice, may need to change the rims though.