jnicol

Hello,

Considering purchasing early Boxster for track use. Trying to figure out what it will cost to set up and what the finished product might look like.

Can anyone give me a source for a light hard top intended for track use?

I'm also looking into roll cages (although I might just fab one locally) and a short shifter if there are any suggestions. Trying to keep it on the cheap to start with just some safety mods (cage, seats, harness), and likely struts and tires.

Thanks in advance.

harryrcb

Check this out for your top. B&M short shifters work great
http://www.gt-racing.com/pdfs/GTR986.pdf the 656S should work fine for $616
good luck with your project

00r101

A light hardtop offers no rollover protection and will be more dangerous in a rollover than no top. I recommend a real cage and find someone who has done a Boxster cage before - they are not easy.

jnicol

Thanks! That's exactly what I was looking for.

jnicol

Yes, a FULL cage is absolutely going in. The roof is just to keep out some of the wet, improve aerodynamics and reduce the weight of the soft top and its bits and pieces. I didn't realize they were more difficult to fab. Thanks for the tip. I'm having a hard time finding someone who sells a Boxster specific cage online.

VERBOTN

Jim:
no affiliation but I did have one for a short period of time in my car before I went to a perm. solution: http://www.stableenergies.com/Porsche/products/155/

jnicol

Thanks. I did come across that one before. It's about twice the cost of roll cages I have found for other marques. Would this be due to it being for a Boxster, or the fact that it is bolt in and removable do you think?

racer

Check out the Boxster spec boards.. that should be a nice template for you to consider possible mods and costs. Seems most "new" spec boxsters are $35K cars...all depends how much you want to "delete" from the stock car.

I imagine given the boxsters engine location, engineering a useful cage is difficult. While not passing judgement, most of the cages on the site mentioned (911, 996, etc) seem to be $1200-2500 opportunities + intall costs.

jnicol

I have been using some articles in Excellence on the Boxster Spec to get an idea of what is being done to those cars. Haven't seen the specific boards though: can you direct me?

Basically I am thinking of stripping out everything I can for weight. Limiting mods for starters to safety items and then to biggest bang for buck performance items. We'll start small, easy and on the cheap and go from there.

What I am doing is looking at getting a car for the http://www.targacanadawest.com/
Neither I nor my co/driver wish to use our 'good cars' and don't want to jump in with too much of a financial investment. Compete one year and re-evaluate. I think at least if we partly modify a Boxster we'd likely get our money out if we had to sell it. And it would be very fun to drive, and given that we'll be driving unknown roads, you need a car that handles well and can run well at that optimal highway speed. My co-driver is a little more keen on an Impreza WRX. So we have been pricing out both options (as well as some other cars that have been eliminated already).


Yes, I noticed that after. This is the only place I have found a Boxster cage for sale. But when looking for cars I shopped cages for Imprezas and 350Zs and both were in the $800 range.

harryrcb

Not sure if this will work for you but take a look
http://www.pegasusautoracing.com/pro...p?Product=2407
luck

C4 Pazzo

If you build it to BSR specs, the resale market will be much larger. Plus, it would give you the option to go Spec racing. Rules are available here:
http://www.nasaforums.com/viewforum.php?f=76

You would need to be careful about not doing any disallowed mods (e.g., no carbon fiber, no engine mods). Allowable mods are intended to keep costs down.

jnicol

THANKS FOR THE LINK That will come in very handy!

Unfortunately, I live in Canada and as far as I know there are no Spec races here... at least nowhere near me. But the 'spec boxster' is what the target build would be. Help to have a baseline target that I don't have to reinvent and also thinking of resale. I might not get all the way there but at least ensure I don't go in a different direction.

eric523

You'll likely want to have a top and cage built together. Then the cage can contour to, and mount the roof. This way you can maximize the space in a small car and get those bars away from your head.

I just finished building my boxster spec and went through all this.
Had a custom cage built and installed a painted top.






the gap below is fixed, i didn't have all the hardware in...

amondc

GT Racing has a fiberglass top for the boxster. weighs 12ish lbs. Will keep most of the water out of the car when it rains. :-)

check out www.texasspec.com we lost a great site but working on getting the info back online.