TD

Hi,
I've been looking for a silver 964 cab for several weeks now and think I might have found a good one. It's in great shape, but has a significant autocross history and one DE.

When considering purchase should this be a detractor or is this just "driving it the way it was meant to be driven?" I'll be using the car for 90% street driving, hopefully with some autocross and/or DE days thrown in for good measure. Naturally, I'm getting a PPI done.

Thanks,
TD

J-McDonald

Owners who are enthusiastic enough to use their cars for autocross/DE use will generally be more aware of their car's needs and, therefore, more likely to keep them serviced properly.

That being said, track use is probably two or three times as hard on a car's components than even aggressive street use. As a result, you should be very careful in buying a car that has been tracked. Since the wear/stress items will, generally speaking, not be obvious (i.e., internal engine, transaxle/differential, suspension), you should absolutely get a thorough PPI done by a shop the specialized in air-cooled 911's, including compression and leakdown tests and analysis of transaxle/differential fluids for metallic residue.

Although it may not seem like it, there are lots of cars out there - be careful in picking the right one.

Good luck!

Ruairidh

As a current silver 964 cab owner - I think you are making a great choice.

I think the above advice is spot on with one additional thought - when I was looking for mine the advice I got was to avoid "hobby" cars (which means cars which have been frequently tracked) if my intention was to use the car as a more than weekend driver. If I was going to use the car for weekend fun (including DE) then a hobby car might - if the PPI was clear - work.

That made sense to me then, but had I come across a Silver Cab which had been tracked I'm also pretty sure my heart would have overcome my head..............

joey bagadonuts

Autocrossing is not that tough on the car. Most of the competitions I've participated in are comprised of 5 to 6 one minute runs.

As for DE's, you might get in a full hour of track time. Yes, the braking is very hard and the car is pushed more than usual, but 60 to 90 minutes shouldn't be much of an issue. That is, unless the PO spun the car, scraped a wall, clipped other cars, etc. You did say one DE, right?

At face value, this car is not any more suspect than most 964's, but a PPI is definitely the way to go.

Jim Michaels

I agree with the general trend of responses. The biggest wear item in autocrossing is tires. Only one DE? Not much wear from that. Just go by the PPI results, service records, and your "interview" with the PO. For my last purchase I narrowed down to one car that had no autox or DE, one that had been autoxed once a year, and one that had been in concours, autox, and DE quite a few times over the past several years. I bugged the patient owner for a month and got a PPI, but I bought the most "experienced" car and it has served me well.

oldtimer

Surely Porsches were designed and developed to stand up to enthusiastic performance driving ? Last year I bought a 964RS that had done a good deal of its 20k miles 'on track', and it is going to do more... <img border="0" title="" alt="[Wink]" src="wink.gif" />
A 964 is now a 10+ year old car, it looks great with those classic lines , should be used and enjoyed even if that wears it out. Makes a lot of sense if you have another car for shopping and general trawling about to share the load. Good luck !

TD

Thanks for all the comments. Some very good thoughts/advice.

Turns out I'm going to buy the car. The Carfax and PPI both came back clean.

I'm flying to NYC to pick it up on Sunday and I'm so excited I can barely sit at my desk today. If you're interested in reading more about the car it's still in the Rennlist classifieds. It's the only '93 C4 Cab listed. Anyone know Wayne and his car?

TD

Jim Michaels

Hot doggie, TD. You got me excited too. Maybe not as excited as when I was awaiting the delivery of my Red Ryder BB gun, but a little excited anyway.