WesM951

Jupe and Zman,
I agree with you guys. I don't want to be "that" guy. I guess my line of thought was, if i'm going to buy this car and later down the line race PCA, which is better lsd or open diff. I suppose, at least getting started in the right direction is better than nothing. (If your going to do it, do it right the first time.) My intentions was not to jump right into PCA racing. After reading last night, it was more in depth than i thought, you are required to get a PCA liscence to have driven in no less than 4 DE's in 2yrs. I plan on doing alot of DE's, i just wasn't comfrotable doing it in the 951 as its my pride 'n joy. I'd rather put the n/a into a wall or blow the engine than the turbo.

Thanks for the good read guys! Like TD said, does anyone know any good car control schools?

WesM951

Well I just scheduled a Car Control Clinc at Mid-Ohio for July 29th.

TD in DC

Wes,

I understand your line of reasoning, which I believe is mine as well. I am not ready to enter racing (by a long shot) BUT, since I am buying a track dedicated car NOW, it makes sense to look ahead and see where I could make the jump into racing if I should choose to do so at a later date. There are a lot of "Frankenstein" track cars out there that have enough mods to kick you up into a higher class but not enough to make you competitive. I tried to buy a track car that has "sensible" modifications that fit within a reasonable class. This led me to a N/A 944 that should be very competitive in the lowest class, which might be a real good place to make the jump if I should choose to do so at a later date. If I were you, I would pay very close attention to modifications and the class you would fit into with any given car . . .

Hell, under that standard, I'm not sure I will ever be ready to race . . . I feel like I can barely walk and chew gum at the same time after some run sessions


I just got back from seeing my car at the shop! Although we need to make some adjustments, the Kirkey seat is going to work for me and it looks like I will actually fit! The accusump is in, as well as the oil cooler, etc . . . I can't wait to actually drive the car.

38D

While I generally agree, every person will be different. Jupe did nearly 175 track days before venturing into Club Racing. There was another rookie (I believe his name is Darrell) who runs a GT3 Cup and is only in the yellow run group at DE. He finished 3rd out of 27 in the Watkins Glen club race and ran a 1:59. Clearly he has tons of talent and learns faster than most. For me, I did ~85 DE days before starting club racing this year. For the last 3 years, I also did some "open passing" events (TracQuest), which are a nice stepping stone to racing as you can pass in the corners.

Only you (and Susan Shire) can decide when you are ready.


You really should look ahead to the club racing rules even if you are just starting. I spent tons on money on my former DE car, and basically built a car that could never be competitive in it's class (it was a 3.2L 914 with ~270 hp that would have run in GT3R against the fire breathing 951s that put out nearly 500hp!) Had I read the club racing rules, I probably would have done things differently and saved myself a ton of money. If you are going to open up the diff now, find a good factory LSD and put it in. It will save you $s in the long run.

WesM951

Colin,
The car comes with LSD as it did from the factory. My option is to have the current owner swap an open diff tranny in to save some money.

38D

Well then the choice is easy...keep the LSD for sure! The 944 factory LSDs seem to be a little hard to find, so I'd leave it in for sure. Make sure you jack up the car and prove to yourself that it has a LSD.