@ Rob: I hope you are right. Would make sense and since i am now rebuilding my stock gearbox (2nd gear synchro shot) it shows that the street box is not so bulletproof as i thought. But i have been reading a lot about this matter and i think the ones with smaller budgets and high expectations tend to be a bit opportunistic. I have made myself the promise that i only buy a Cup car, if i can also have 15.000 euro taped under my seat, at any time, just in case. The normal expendables for brakes, tires and oil changes are not part of that.

@ King Roland: Thanks but i even found a better option that i am considering now. The road registering is a nice idea though.
I know more cup cars who have done that.

The car i am considering has been running until recent (this year) and has been serviced to win accordingly
Engine has done 22hrs. Drive Shafts, Moton's and Gearbox all only 5 hrs ;-)
Comes with fresh Endurance front brakes, Airjacks, Motec and all 2005 upgrades. 12 wheels and nice spare package. Price 49.000 euro

Gearbox is a Hollinger sequential 6 but i would actually prefer a normal gearbox.
Have been seen some onboard footage of the actual car, and it looks very shaky in the downshifts.
I might prefer the smoothness of a normal 6 speed box. So if i would get the car, i might trade in the Hollinger for a normal box.

Any thoughts on sequential Vs. Normal ?

1st clip is onboard footage of the actual car with Hollinger.
Compared to the second clip, i also feel the set up of the car is very rough and bumpy but maybe that's due to the typical driving style of the pilot.

2nd clip is my reference for a manual gearbox at the same track. I just think that is more fitting to my driving style for now.




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Sounds like a nice one.

The sequential will keep you entertained for hour upon hour. It also seems to be totally rebuildable, so if it's on the car, it could be cool to try it. You can always buy a H-gearbox if you don't like the seq, plus, I am sure that you could re-sell the seq if you needed/chose to. I assume a price under 10.000 euro for a complete cup box. http://www.holinger.com.au/pcs.php

Holinger EU distributor is in Germany http://www.holinger.de/

 

Cup car with normal Porsche Cup Car gear box.

I believe the sequential gear box is more costly to maintain. Cup cars are easier to work on because they don't have as many of the street car pieces in the way. You can stretch the hourly service intervals as well. Porsche AG hour figures are set to minimize the risk of failure. They cannot have SuperCup and other one marque series races with the cars breaking down on track. Bad for the ole reputation.

Are you looking at the Rennlist Cup Car Forum Threads?

 

Been reading the Cup forum as much as i can. Very helpful topics and some interesting cars have been offered there for sale. Exporting to the EU is unfortunately not an option. It's just too expensive. We need to pay so much taxes. The formula is: Purchase price + shipping incl insurance x 10% import duties x 19% sales tax. That would make a 50.000 $ car cost 71.000 $ to get into the EU. So that's not an option.

 

I understand. My point about the Porsche Cup Car forum was to look at operating costs, getting support, and level of satisfaction in owning a production based race car rather than tuning a street car for the track. You should have plenty of 996 GT3 Cup Cars to select from in western Europe.

I also recommend that you get a 996 Cup Car without any historical collector value. Those examples typically cost more and make you worry more about damage instead of driving.

 

Great advice on this thread, and I second Rob's comments around running costs...

Let us know what you choose to do. For me, getting a garage at the local track was a no brainer. I go out there often to tinker, and also get out on the track as often as possible to free my mind and relax. For me, the trailer concept would be a no-go as I have limited free time as it is, and IMHO is far too much work and maintenance... Food for thought.

-Blake

 

If you haven't decided yet, have a look HERE. Go right to 2:30, or watch the whole thing.

You wouldn't argue with Chris Harris now, would you...

 

Thanks FFaust. I love Chris Harris.
No matter what he covers, it's done in great style with a proper pace.

FFaust: This is also an option of course and just wait another year to see also those prices drop more. The 7 Cup is so much more sexy.
"I would go for the 7...might as well start where You will end up anyway..." Glen... Just to be clear, we're talking about Cups.


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Haha, I lifted that line from one of Glen's posts. I thought it was catchy

 

Don't forget to leave a little money in the budget for a weekend's worth of that cheap racing fuel.

 

if you are serious about racing - cup car is the only way to go, for too many reasons. I am not sure how with no previous experience one can get into racing just after 20 DE days but it is a different issue, may be you are a natural.

i would advice to hook up with local guys who own cups, find a local shop that services cups, speak to all, establish good relations, work on infrastructure, get a very good idea of how much you can afford to spend, count your race days, practice days, define a budget you can spend on slicks.

with DEs one can get out of 120-150 hours from rebuild to rebuild on a cup.

but once you got into racing in a cup that means you need to rebuild car into certain spec class, that means top $ rebuild from an approved vendor only. check with those vendors on how much it costs, exactly. in your fisrt racing season you most likely will kill your engine/tranny as it will take time to learn this car, so it is about of $50K job, total, to renew the car up to specs after full season from what I was told by the shop I use. so it is up to you, just be realistic of how much you can spend and do not rely on any info from forums - speak directly to those who run those cars and those who fix them. second hand info like mine means nothing.

racing porsches is an expensive hobby. still i would buy a cup car and i will do the same in 3-4 years when time will come, as to run street car at cup car rate (slicks, G forces, bearings, axles, etc) is even more expensive as it falls apart much faster and demands a lot of work eventually.

 

great thread - thanks Guys!