mikew968

I have been racing a 968 for 6 years and I am starting to think about the next car. I would like to move up a class (gts-2 now) and the idea of a progressive move to a Cayman is appealing. I also hear a cup car is a real race car and thus desirable. Your thoughts please!!!


Thanks

facelvega

I vote Cup.

I have a gen 1 Cayman S that I love, lots of mods to make it trackable, still blew up the engine. It is now my street car/track car for tracks that have stupid noise restrictions. While you can make gen 1 cars better with lots of mods, possibility of grenading the engine is still significant.

The gen 2 engine seems to have fixed the issues, but look at the prices for these cars.....

I have a 997.1 GT3 for the track now. It was heavily modified to be a track only car by the previous owner, and is great, bulletproof. Much more was spent on this car by the PO to make it a track car than the current price of a 996 cup, close to 997 cup territory. If I had it all to do over again, i would have a 6 cup now, instead of a modified 7 GT3...

...and I am just a DE driver. If you are going to flog your car on the track in a competitive situation, I think that a car purpose built for competition will make you much happier. No compromises.....

Good luck!

winders

Mike,

How many hours a year do you put on a race car?

I would get a good estimate on how much it costs to run a Cup car, including tires, engine rebuilds, and transmission rebuilds. Based on the preliminary research I did, the cost to buy the car is not the major cost.

Buying a Cup car with a fresh engine and transmission certainly helps if you go that route.

Scott

mikew968

I currently run 8-9 weekends a year with an oocassional enduro. So, that is 32 to 40 hrs per year plus warm-up/idle and drive to the paddock/pits. I am thinking about 4 hrs per weekend.


Thanks,

facelvega

An additional thought, since I just saw from your sig that you were in the hunt for the national championship. While I am just a DE driver, in amateur triathlon I do well enough in state and national competition to qualify for and compete in the world championships. I know that when you are competing to win, versus competing for fun, both you AND your equipment matter. A true race car versus a street car will support your efforts to win better. The level of driver in cups is probably also higher, so make sure your ego can handle some hits as you move into a tougher class.....

Ron Cohn

I nearly bought a 996 Cup Car with a fresh engine rebuild at a fair price. I bought a Gen 2 Cayman S instead. I was afraid of the total operational costs of the Cup Car. The cost of tires alone made the decision easier.

mikew968

Ron

How was the transition from your 944 to the Cayman?

GentlemanRacer

This is an interesting read, please keep this tread going...lots of good info

Ron Cohn

Mike, transition? Expensive!

Honestly I drove it from the shop to the trailer. It will not be until April until I really settle in with the car. I won't be traveling south in order to do any events.

The 944 was an excellent car to race and drive. Once you get the setup right, you can do wonderful things with the car. It just takes a little time and tweaking to get it right.

The Cayman S is a fully sorted Grand Am car, set up by a reputable shop with a good development driver. My intention is to leave it alone and drive it as I bought it and then make changes as needed. The only variable is the aero package (ITC wing and splitter) and GT-3 front brakes that I already added. They will be more of a factor in high speed corners. I am also ordering 18" rims for the Hoosiers, since the car came with 17" wheels and Continental per Grand Am spec.

Once I get some laps in the car in the spring, I will be happy to post the experience. I am certainly excited about it.

J richard

It depends on what you are going to be doing, but if you are going to race it and if you have the means, by all means get the cup. Its what they are built for.

The interseries caymans are nice but will run you near the cost of a nice low hours used cup. The motor is just not a dry sump race based motor. If you are going to build one you can easily pass the cost of a cup.

Consumables flat out cost more to run a cup, slicks, racing fuel, etc..that you have a choice if you want to run on a cayman. You have a real choice of running a series like the Pirelli Cup etc...it is a no excuses ***** out race car that is pretty amazing to drive.

Turn3 Autosport

Cup maintenance is not for the faint of heart of light of wallet....

Pads/rotors etc are same as tracking a 997 GT3, so not too bad. Bugger a few downshifts and you can spend 30K on the gearbox. Motors are reliable and can go lots of hours.

If you get a cup, get a coach with cup experience. It can be expensive to teach yourself....

Cheers

utkinpol

i go over same problem for a while now trying to decide what track car to build and what budget to assume as 'managable' in my current situation. i would say, if you have at least $20K annually to spend without hesitation then you may cover 996 cup car if you will not have on track support team and do most/all simple support work yourself (means you have a lift in your garage and know cars well enough) and you will not beat it up too bad. what people say cup motor lasts 150 hours or so if moderately beaten, then it is due to rebuild and its cost differ depending of who does the job which, again, depends of what class/organization you want to compete with, to what specs you want whole car to be set to, etc. and it is obvious to state that if you will run your motor as if you are an alms series champion it will not last nearly as long. but, again, when some people say they do rebuild motor each season - yes, it is possible. still, i think most mid-pack people manage to last at least 3 seasons on same engine, again, from what i asked and was told.

some people say they do run 996 cup cars with somehow managing to spend $10K annually or so but i do not beleive it much or they do not speak whole truth. to see difference between gt3/cayman parts and cup motorsport parts you can look at suncoast or any other shop. labor rates if you use good quality racing pro shop will not differ too much, imho.

if you plan to put 50 hours per season on a car then you have 3-4 years with it running strong, then it is about of $50k or so for complete motor/gearbox rebuild. it sounds like a lot but if you stick to your budget and set those said $20K aside every year you will be covered.
on top of that - probably axles, wheel bearings and whatever else needed, about of $10K or so considering you are able to do most of that minor work yourself. if you want to get a used 996 cup it is imperative to have good mechanic at your posession who works on those cars and knows them by heart so he could inspect it for you and tell you what will need to be done right away and what can wait unless you want to do a full refresh anyway which probably makes sense as you are betting your life driving race car. all what i said above is pretty much what i was told by my mechanic as i do not have a cup. what i have spent on my car so far averages into $10K or so annually in last 3 years, and it is not a race car - it is not stripped, it got no cage.

now if you want to get a croc - you definitely must go with cayman R donor, then budget in how much it will cost to strip it, put in cage, fire suppression, redo suspension with 2/3 way adjustable pro motons/jrz shocks - it is probably about of $25K or so expense at least on top of the donor car price. used 996 cup costs in $65K-$80k area depending of condition then you will need proabbyl at least $10K right away to refresh what needs to be refreshed. so just look at your budget and decide what you can afford.

one thing for sure - do not buy street gt3 car and then start slow process of rebuilding it into a cup car gradually replacing all stock gt3 parts with motorsports parts. it will cost a fortune and will never run as cup car runs.

mooty

^ anyone who runs 20-30 days of track event (not racing) in gt3 platform has to be spending somewhere around $20k. most likely more. anyone disagrees, i can do an audit on your track expense.
this is a $$$ICK hobby

winders

That's about $15K a year in tires, right? Then you have to budget $50K every four years if you push out the rebuilds. That adds $12.5K per year. Now add all your other costs on top of that. If you run a Cup car a lot, I bet your need to have a $40K per year budget minimum. Are going racing? Better add some more money to that yearly budget.

I looked into getting a 996 GT-3 Cup car for racing with PRC out here in CA. The relatively low buy-in made it look real attractive until I crunched the numbers. Scary expensive!!

Scott

mooty

^ you are right.
PRC does maybe 8 weekends?
i would say at least 6 sets of slicks at 2000/set. 12k right there.
you need some pads, roughly 700/set you need three sets (not quite but close). 2000
maintenance routine stuff and timed out parts (not inc amortization or sinking fund for motor/tranny rebuild). $5000.
i am not even counting fuel and transport cost (assuming you trailer'd your own car)....

it's best no to add things up. you will be bleeding everywhere.