If you don't mind, I'd like to posit a quickly formed opinion and just bounce it off you folks. And I'll be unjustly provocative just for tongue somewhat in cheek entertainment, but...

I got a spirited ride in friend's dedicated track car. It was a well prepared 911 w/ upwards of 700hp in a 2200 lb car. Of course, I cannot do justice to this experience here, but to be shot out of a cannon btwn turns, to consider the weight of skull and helmet to be a liability for your neck muscles, to feel the aero downforce generate sideloads I thought impossible all leads me to just chuckle at my feeble little stock 996 and my mod plans. And all while feeling safer than a bug in a rug in the passenger seat because of the smoothness of the driver. No jerks or impulse G's.. His car cost $90K. My car cost $90K. Why the hell bother w/ much in the way of performance mods. What a freakin' mockery!!!

Then said same driver drove my stock 996 in the Red group and was embarrasing some guys ( not all ) w/ cars w/ big numbers and decals and wings all over their cars in some POS stock car now making a mockery in the reverse direction. It all points to driver skill. Of course, the car matters. I dont' speak of competition cars w/ pro level drivers but more about DE amateur cars and drivers and commensurate pragmatism.

I have changed all my plans for my car. I now will do only mods to improve safety. Harness and associated iron, brakes, and maybe a stiffer suspension. I consider the latter to be a safety mod because the "time constant" for the stock suspension is too long to set up a car safely for esses or chicanes at speed. But even that isn't really necessary. Forget the engine. What is a measly 25-125 hp going to do for your learning curve. Jack, that's what. Forget the exhaust, forget the intake box, forget the short shifter, forget the carbon door sills, forget the K&N, forget the big reds, forget the Motons, forget the GT3 sways, forget the supercharger (OK, that would be kinda nice. wait wait, hold steady) , forget the GIAC, forget the aero package, forget the carbon hood, forget the LSD, forget the under car neon lights. Forget it all!!! Just drive the car you have to the limit of what it can do.

And then, when you are ready, take the money you saved and get a dedicated track car, preferably one w/ 700 hp. Your heavily mod'd street car will not even be in the same galactic region as one of these cars.

 

There is great wisdom in your approach. Spend as much $$$ as you can on seat time and learning. Always the best performance investment you can make.

Porsche made very capable cars right out of the box. The stock cars aren't the ones you see breaking at the track all the time either. Funny how that works, huh?

 

Good call, dnitake. My last three track/race cars were all stock engine/trans cars.

Safety first, then suspension (you'll need it as you improve) and then "voila", you will not have ruined your car for stock racing...

 

As you can see from my avatar, I generally agree. Over 100 days in the past 3.5 years, stock except for safety and suspension...and exhaust just for sound.

 

Gadzooks!

Such epiphanies are not new, but are exceedingly rare. Zen purity is not created, or furthered in the least, by spurious outlays of money. Such sweet balance is attained by utilizing what already exists to its fullest measure; beyond what most might venture, let alone achieve.

Decals, carbon fibre, and other such frippery are not the Yin that compliments the Yang of ACHIEVEMENT.

 

Dude.....what he said.....

 

Whoa there, Yoda!! It's going to take me the rest of this era for me to ponder that one :-).
I think I had a 700 HP eee-piff-OH-knee...


e·piph·a·ny Pronunciation (-pf-n)
n. pl. e·piph·a·nies
1. Epiphany
a. A Christian feast celebrating the manifestation of the divine nature of Jesus to the Gentiles as represented by the Magi.
b. January 6, on which this feast is traditionally observed.
2. A revelatory manifestation of a divine being.
3.
a. A sudden manifestation of the essence or meaning of something.
b. A comprehension or perception of reality by means of a sudden intuitive realization: "I experienced an epiphany, a spiritual flash that would change the way I viewed myself" Frank Maier.
[Middle English epiphanie, from Old French, from Late Latin epiphania, from Greek epiphaneia, manifestation, from epiphainesthai, to appear : epi-, forth; see epi- + phainein, phan-, to show; see bh-1 in Indo-European roots.]
epi·phanic (p-fnk) adj.

 

Some folks enjoy tinkering about as much as they do driving. As long as their modifications are safe I don't put them down.

Having said that, if they ask my opinion about modifications I tell them to hold off until they have extracted all they can out of the car as it is.

 

I've never understood spending money on the car to go faster in DE. There are plenty of good reasons for improving the car, but going faster in DE is not one of them. It doesn't make the driver faster or better.

BTW, you don't need 700 bhp to have a fast car on the track. Todd, TD in DC is a great example of this. I'm not anti-hp by any means, but too many people get wrapped up in hp for macho reasons.

 

Geo;

I agree with you on the power. Some drivers hide behind the power; hammer down the straight and pass people, brake early, take it easy in the curves, then repeat on next straight section. They look good on the lap times because nobdy else has the exact same car or set up to challenge their driving ability.

 

Well, I'll take the contrarian view (not that I really believe it, its just I have not had your wisdom, despite being warned!). While I certainly have suffered financially from not taking this approach, there have been some advantages. DE is about having fun, and if you can afford it, building up a car for track is definately fun and educational too. Educational in several dimensions as it combines art, technology, study and research, not to mention that it easily rivals the best degree programs in terms of $$$ per semester.

Having an early 911 with modern power is very very fun. It is pure, visceral and challenging in ways that more modern cars could never be. When I bought the car, I had pictures of Vic Elford dancing through my head. I wanted a car that could duplicate, but with modern reliability, something of what it was like to race back in the late sixties, early 70s when I was growing up and first became addicted to the automobile. In the end I've got a car that many people, including myself, find a compelling experience. A few of my instructors have mentioned to give them a call if ever I sell it, which of course I won't as I intend to get my moneys worth and given all the $$$ that will take quite a while.

So if I had to to do all over again? Well, it wouldn't be either approach. I'd would have DE'd my 996 up to the point that I realized that I was totally hooked. At that point I would buy a track car of some sort, a PCA stock or improved class legal 911 in a class where it had a chance to be competitive. Although, given the cost of racing, I hate to say it, but knowing what little I actually know now, I would seriously consider some form of 325 or M3 for the same purpose.

 

i agree. most of us can't really drive the car the their limits. some improvements help boost our ego (c'mon, we all got some), some are fun to do, but don't go overboard...

personally, every car i take on track will have at least a half cage, properly installed harness and fixed back seats, and in good mechanical order. i have never modded the engine or tranny. i do spend some money on suspension to make the car lean a bit less, then just drive drive drive.

 

Having a safe car as you get faster and press on to find the limits of the car and your skill is what led me to have a dedicated track car. Most of the mods I did to the car where saftey related and over time they made the car very uncomfortable and impracticle to drive extensivley on the street. Car is still street legal. I bought a used standard Boxster this year to use as a touring car and its really a lot more fun to drive on the street then the 911. Now I can stiffen the 911 up as well and not have to worry about shaking my teeth out of my mouth when driving on the street.

 

I think all of the above opinions are valid. There is no right approach IMO. There is no doubt that the best improvement to the car is actually the driver.

There is also a lot to the fact that I truly enjoy adding or replacing goodies in my car on a regular basis. There's something very "therapeutic" in turning wrenches on the weekend. Even if one of those turns ends up with a "busted knuckle" and a few foul words...

 

'Course, then you learn to position "mods" as safety-related in you pitch to the team owner/spouse

Not that I would mislead the woman, mind you...