Lefty's Deceiver

OK all you tech wizzards.

I want a RS America (who doesn't) for the track potential and collectability over the regular C2.

However, I do want to be able to take my kids etc. for rides. Can I retro-fit C2 rear seats into this car and then remove them if I want to sell at a later date?

What are your thoughts?

Thanks

Lefty

SonnyV

You are in luck, some RS America 911s come with rear seat option. I believe it is the last year of production. In this case you don't have to remove anything.

The other case, you would have to buy the entire rear seat assembly to swap out and yes it is possible.

Good luck,

Sonny

Bill Gregory

[quote]<strong>I want a RS America (who doesn't) for the track potential </strong><hr></blockquote>

Lefty, if you intend to take it on the track for some casual use, ie, you're just starting down the path towards the dark side, er, rather, just starting out in drivers education, an RS America will be a fine ride. However, if you get serious about track work, you're going to rework the suspension and upgrade it. The RS America has the M030 suspension on it, which was a thicker front sway bar and stiffer Turbo rear springs and Turbo rear shocks. And the interior has a bit less in it, so it's a few pounds lighter. That's basically it, especially since most, but not all, came with sunroof and a/c. So, if you want to enjoy an RS America and take it on the track now and then, have at it, as it's a great model within the 964 family. However, if you intend to do any serious track time, consider saving the roughly $10K RS America premium over a C2, find a nice C2, with the rear seats already in, and put the $10K towards the suspension upgrades, seats, harness bar or rollbar, harnesses, and track wheels/tires you'll want.

Cupcar

There are a bunch of brackets welded to the rear bulkhead that are required to mount the rear seating, these are removed on the RSA (except the 1994's with the seats). Not having these brackets would make it impossible to mount the seats.

Kevin

Cupcar is correct, also the rear package tray is mounted by using the outer seat belt threaded nut in the body, the inner mounting nut is not present so you would not be able to properly secure any seat belts. However you could drill the holes and tack weld a nut on the inner tunnel.

Lefty's Deceiver

Guys,

Thanks for the answers. Yes, I see the point of going with a vanilla C2 for about $10k less. It makes perfect sense. The really attractive thing about the RS America is the potential for growth.

I was reading in a car collectors album that they expect the RS America to appreciate 3% p.a. for the next 10 years. Whether that's true or not remains to be seen, but even if it remained even that would be a great deal.

Cheers,

Lefty

Rich W

Lefty,

It all comes down to why you want the car. You've mentioned collectibility/appreciation, which is certainly one aspect. However, you must bear in mind that the more mileage you put on the vehicle, the less it will be worth.

As has been pointed out, if you're serious about track/racing, save the extra dough. You've apparently realized the sense of this, but I just thought I'd throw my $0.02.

FWIW, I just happened to get my RSA at a time when the price was comparable to a C2. It was once a daily driver, but it is now a weekend cruiser and occasional track driver.

Jim Michaels

The '94 RSAs had rear seats, but very few '94s were built. The previous owner of my '93 RSA had his kid in the back seat bucket, and he was belted in. The PO removed the rear shelf to find the carpet covered seat buckets and also tapped holes on each side for seat belt bolts. He bought seat belts and bolts to fit the empty bolt holes.

Bill, we appreciate your continued efforts to drive up the market value of our RSAs.

Lefty's Deceiver

OK, I'm slightly confused. Are you guys saying that a C2 with $10k in mods is the preferable track option? I thought RS Americas would be sought after by the track fraternity for their immediate track potential.

PS. I have a few eye-balled @ $30 (62k miles) to $34k (39k miles). I have not seen ANY C2s that are $10k less than that and have comparable mileage.

Input please!

Cupcar

Here's a crazy suggestion for Lefty's Deceiver. Get a '92 USA Carrera Cup Edition car. It is factory equipped with a lot of the mods desirable for racing, it has appreciation potential and has the rear seat brackets left in (unless you buy the first one built which had them removed). You would have to remove the package tray and install the pivots for the seat bottoms, but hey, it would make a great track car that has rear seats too! <img src="graemlins/beerchug.gif" border="0" alt="[cheers]" />

Lefty's Deceiver

CupCar. I would LOVE a C2 Cup. But the only one I found was in the $70k region. I could have two nice RS' for that price.

Lefty

Jim Michaels

Scarcity accounts for most of the price gap between C2s/RSAs and USA Carrera Cups (more than double the price). The rest of the gap is probably because so many of the Cups were redone to the origional Andial specs, or even beyond. I prefer white, but I saw the only red one for sale not long ago.

LD, I think you can sort this out for yourself, given the relevant info in previous posts. If an enhanced and fast track car is what you want, you don't need no stinkin RSA; a regular C2 will do fine for that. If you really want an RSA, then go for it. You can also have both, because most RSAs for sale seem to be enhanced for track (see <a href="http://www.rsamerica.net)." target="_blank">www.rsamerica.net).</a> I think you're right about the price gap between comparable C2s and RSAs being much less than $10k (but I appreciate Bill's efforts to enhance the value of RSAs). The value of RSAs has depreciated, of course, but not quite as much as that of C2s. Not bad for a car that dealers had trouble selling for below their cost.

I bought an RSA because it was compromised a little more toward autox/track than a regular C2. I did not expect their value to ever be higher than a C2, but I don't mind that it's happening.
I'd love to have a USA Cup car too, but can't justify paying that price. Buying a RSA seems much more reasonable. My basic philosophy of life (to minimize regrets) means my advice is to buy the car you really want, and don't let a couple of $k stand in the way.