Charliefc

I have been wanting one of these cars for a while, but considering how scarce they are and unfortunately I can't afford to pay +50K for my fun car. Lately I have been thinking about buying a higher mileage 964 and turning it into a 964rs replica. From my understanding, these really are the ultimate track cars and are very nimble due to the reduced weight. I guess the engine would pretty much stay the way it is? Maybe a cup pipe and perforated airbox. Besides a good suspension setup, a couple of Recaros, roll bar, race wheel and a few other accessories there really doen't seem to be that much involved. Well besides the drastic weight reduction, but tearing out the carpeting and sound insulation can't be too onerous. Have any of you guy's thought about this project or actually done it? Any advice or feedback appreciated.

Greg_L

It depends what you mean. If you want a proper replica all the way from the blueprinted engine to the monoball suspension system you could spend a HUGE amount of money. I think it would make more financial sense just to make your 964 more of a track car - rip everything out, get some very light seats, tweak the lump a little, some good suspension and upgrade the brakes.

Charliefc

I am interested in having a fun track car more than anything else. I don't mean to create an exact replica, just something that would have similar performance to a 964rs without putting to big of a dent in my wallet.

carreracup21

Not sure what country you are in. I often see a lot of nice cars for sale, already set up for track, and fittng your desired performance here. The RSA's can be made to perform as well as a RS, but are less expensive.

tonytaylor

You can build a track car out of a 964C2 for half the cost of a genuine RS and a standard RS wouldn't see which way it had gone on track. Many track RSs are modified as well but that's a different story.
The problem with heavily modifing a C2 is that you'll never recoup the costs of the modifications. Building an RS replica is a bit of a none starter in that there are just too many expensive differences between a genuine RS and a standard C2 for such a project to be financialy sensible.
I've built, or rather my C2 has evolved into, a track car and the view of people who ought to know seems to be that it feels just like an RS, although it wasn't my intention to build a replica.

Bill Gregory

Before proceeding down the path to the dark side, you should add up the potential costs. In the March 2004 Panorama, there's an article on 964 track preparation which may help answer some questions (it's also posted on the web) . Figure on $10K-$15K+ to make a C2 very track ready, above what you might buy it for. If you're going to start from scratch, using a C2 will be less expensive than an RS America, however, with either a C2 or RSA, you'll save money by buying a car already prepared for track use. There's also an article entitled 'Lightweight Carrera Confusion' which was originally published in Pano, but can now be found in 'Up-Fixin' and is also posted on the web.

Charliefc

Thank you guys for the insighful feedback. I will keep you posted with my decision. Would you have any apprehension buying a higher mileage car (i.e. +100K miles) for track use? Would the increased wear and tear from track/autocross driving curtail the engine life and be more detrimental on higher mileage cars?

Greg_L

Of course.

garrett376

Actually, you will devalue a lower mileage car more by driving the heck out of it on a track, versus doing the same with a higher mileage car. You'll wear out any car faster on a track - track duty beats up a car whether it's new or old. But the value is diminished significantly faster on a car with lower miles because you'll end up paying a premium in the purchase price for that lower mileage number.

My opinion: go for the higher mileage car so you can beat the heck out of it without feeling bad. You might even increase its value by improving it!

clubrcr

Just my two cents, I have had two US Carrera Cup cars (similar to the 964RS) and 2 regular C-2s. I think the C-2 makes a great track car, but the performance is not going to be close to the performance of the RS. There is a reason the RS costs more in the beginning. Yes, the car does lack some of the amenties that a regular C-2 has, but the engine and drive train is different as well as the body is seam welded, suspension is tighter, the brakes are bigger...etc. It is not just a stripped down version of a C-2. Think of how mcuh you want to spend. There are several alternatives, but your budget will give you an idea of which alternative is the best.

tonytaylor

This perfectly true and as I say above there are far too many differences between a C2 and an RS to make creating an RS out of a C2 a financialy sensible proposistion.
However an RS is nothing more than a modified C2, albeit modified by Porsche themselves. There are non Porsche parts available that are superior to those fitted by Porsche to the RS and latter Porsche parts that are superior as well.
A more hard core faster track car than the RS can be created out of a C2, as Geoffrey seems to be doing on this forum. It all comes down to budget really.

clubrcr

I agree, there are superior parts that are available and also agree with the budget. What I was trying to say, is dollar for dollar, a RS is not that expensive considering what is different in the cars. The RS comes with a better motor and trans, that would be very expensive to duplicate.

I also thnk that before anyone does any mods to the car, they should consider what they plan to do with it. A stripped out C-2 with mods would be a great DE car, but might not be a competitive race car or it might be out classed as a GT car.

I know I have been there.

Bott