38D

I've kept detailed records for my build and I'm at $27k with an $8k donor car. I still have more things to do (like paint the top & cage, which have been rattle can primer only), but it gives you an idea. I've done everything myself except the cage. Most donor cars in the northeast are in the $11k range.

jaholmes

These are some pretty crazy build number$$$$ for a donor Boxster that costs $8k - $10k. Putting another $30k + in mods doesn't compute.

Gary R.

$30K would be close to $15K in labor, including building the cage as the list of all allowed bolt on parts is about $15K. As Colin stated, he spent $19K on top of the base car purchase. I also doubt he is including the reduction in cost by spare stock parts sale (if any).

Werkstatt

It all depends on what you want in your car and how far into detail you go. I have a solid Spec Boxster for sale for $31,500 and my car available for $45,000. Every little thing adds up, accusump and which type, cutting out seat pan and putting in a lower pan, fire system or extinguisher, new windshield, roof, extra sets of wheels/new toyos, wheel bearings, ect.... And if you are paying a shop to do the work even at a discounted rate it's still 2 weeks worth of work. Did I forget the Aim system with sensors! The list is really just the beginning, it ends up being well beyond that. But you can get by with the $15,000 to $17,000 list if that is your budget. It's not the spending or lack of spending that is the draw. These cars are fun, almost everyone who drives one gets out of it the first time with a huge ear to ear smile. For quite a few owners it has put the fun back in driving! If anyone is on the fence, do it. No matter what you race out there it will cost a few dollars. Nothing is cheap anymore, be glad your not in a Cup car hemorrhaging cash.

thusly

Just to set a new (likely high) watermark in build price (as compared to the minimum that could be spent building a Spec Boxster), I started with a Spec Boxster build, and decided to de-spec it, adding: 3.4 liter motor, Motons, carbon fiber hoods, GT-3 Cup car electric steering, accu-sump, 996 RSR suspension bits, aux oil cooler, floating hat rotors, larger brakes, etc., etc., etc.

The car did 2.26s at Sebring (at least 8 seconds a lap faster than a SPBOX), and 3.13s at full Miller (at least 13 seconds a lap faster than a SPBOX). Both times were posted with an open differential, stock (very heavy) 18” wheels, and Hoosiers, so faster times possible with a locker and lighter wheels.

Suffice to say, it is easy to spend many multiples of the base car price on racing upgrades, aside from the normal Spec Boxster stuff, and the build on this car was no exception (i.e. 996 Cup Car price territory). All that said, a fun platform to have fun with and do something different, and even more fun having these little Barbie cars keep up with the other more traditional platforms.

Whoever said that building and running a race car should "make economic sense???"

Charles A. Toupin

^^^WOW!^^^

Very nice car! I want one! You should come to Mosport, we'll be in the same class!

c.

171mph

Awesome car. How much does it weigh (i heard the 3.4 and 6 speed are significantly heavier). A BSR is around 2475lbs. dry. Also do u think the electric steering is necessary or a precaution. And do u find the lack of aero to be an issue at those higher speeds?
thanks

thusly

We removed some other items in the car to further lower the weight, besides the carbon fiber hood and engine cover; that said, we added the Accusump and oil cooler and a few other things, so the car ended up being another 75 pounds heavier than Spec. Engine was also chipped. We also were using the 5 speed tranny instead of the 6 speed. Some additional weight might be gained with a locker (now installed), with some weight loss thru the use of lighter wheels (the stock 18s are VERY HEAVY). We originally had a goal to make the car look only marginally different than a stock spec boxster.

The electric steering could be consider a bit over-kill (particularly since it is the same out of a cup car); that said, we have had power steering pump issues/failures as there is considerable heat build at high revs.

As far as aero - without the benefit of wind tunnel testing and only by seat of the pants - we were actually considering how to reduce the amount of wing in the car, as some believe that the wing provides "too much downforce", slowing the car down. Same with not going with wider wheels and tires - too much grip in a relatively low hp car. The car seems to have excellent grip without aero (we did do a GT3 cup bumper with cutouts, but don't think that did much). Somone indicated that like mid-engine Ferraris, you don't see real wide tires and rims, or big spoilers on the car.

Another poster had put RSR front fenders, wider wheels and a large wing on his Boxster - while he was also testing other mods to the car and was running a bigger engine, his times were noticeably slower than what would have been expected, paritcularly given the "upgrades" made. Just a data point - I am sure others will have contrary opinions.

DrJupeman

I haven not added it all up, but I'd guess I'm closer to $35k all-in on my Spec Boxster and for the most part I did all but the cage and painting. My donor was $12-13k (I don't even remember the price!).

As for the heat cycle question, I haven't paid enough attention, to be honest. I've only done three races with the car so I don't have a lot of experience to run on. I've tried numerous different setups, too, which further limits my experience to offer a repeatable HC number.

kgorman

In terms of R888's here is our data FWIW:

- sweet spot from about 4HC to 18HC +/-
- typically run 38 hot
- purchase them shaved or you waste HC removing tread
- wear fronts about 1.2x the rear
- >25 HC before I see cord

Some others run in the low 40's hot, there is another spot there that seems nice.

Yeah, I suspect our region will go up in costs to podium as the platform develops over the coming seasons. For now though, it's so nice. Now is a great time to build a car and be competitive for low cost!

Paul 996

Of course it doesn't compute. It is racing after all. Take any car, any car you want and add anywhere from 25-40 for build costs to turn it into a full blown race car.

You can save tremendously on that figure if you do a lot of the work yourself or get help. The parts list alone for a full build is around 15K in gear that you need to be fast. Need a motor? want a fancy paint job? want data logging? keep adding.

Now the beauty of the Spec Boxster series is that it is in it's infancy of development and you can get away with a lower cost build and be competitive (even a front runner) if you have the talent.

M758

Look if you can't afford a 25-35k spec boxster you get a 944 spec for quarter to half that cost. Sure it is 10+ years older and not quite as fast, but it is still a Porsche and the spec rules limit build and operating costs. For a 944 you can get a "donor" for $500-2000. Do think it crazy to have 12k 944? Yes it is, but race parts cost money.

If you can afford the boxster build tab then have at. If you can't look at a 944. If even that is too much then probably you will just have to either do ALOT of work yourself or just not race. The spec boxster class is fine class, and good value for the money, but I would not call it cheap. Even 944 spec is hard to call "cheap".

Greg Smith

No one races spec 944 down here.

M758

We are looking change that. We have 4-5 guys saying the same thing. In fact -2-3 are on rennlist.

Build it and they will come.

However to be fair this tread is about spec boxster and we have 1 spec boxster in Arizona right now. In fact we have more builders here than local racing cars. I can't understand why. So if somebody want to race a boxster in NASA Az let me know. I will get you going.

onefastviking

One is already racing with NASA Texas and I have one built that I just need to paint, upgrade seat,window nets, etc and then bring out to race. If I didn't have so many other customer pay car builds going on it would be out there already !