norcoastal

My brother in law has been racing for years. Started out with vintage Ferarri's, then Lola's and now he's got a van dezzen or something like that and races SCCA.

I think it would be fun and I'm thinking about getting a car and give it a try. Maybe a 951 or something like that. I'm good with mechanics and I love to drive fast.

What do you think? Any advice? I live in NJ and we have a few tracks here. I've been to NJ motosports and it looks like a lot of fun.

...or should I run for the hills and forget it???

dave morris

Heck no! Go for it!!

norcoastal

Any thoughts on what's a good car to start with? Maybe a 951 or should I hold out for an old 911?

teamking

Just say no.

I'd advise heroin instead: it's less addictive, less expensive, a far more socially acceptable.

Chris M.

Cue VeloceRaptor with that picture of a huge pile of money.

Gary R.

1. You will NEED to be a good mechanic if you buy a 944 Turbo!

2. What experience do you have driving on a racetrack? "Love to drive fast" is a little vague..

norcoastal

Never been on a racetrack in my life. Been around cars my whole life.

dave morris

Somebody's already typing this but you'll need to get some track experience before you'll be able to start racing. PCA Regions in your area have lots of Drivers Ed events at NJMP. No reason not to take your 996 to a few of those and see how it goes. Contact one of your local PCA guys. I wouldn't recommend a "race" car till you get a better idea what's involved.

I had a friend who started doing DEs and told his wife he was going racing. He was trying to just keep it simple for her I think. Didn't want to go into a long explanation of DEs etc I guess. Anyway, DEs ain't racing. So she was talking to their insurance provider and he was asking about how each car they own was used, annual mileage etc and they got to his 911 and she said "oh yeah, that's the one he races". That took some splainin'.

Have fun.

dp35

My $0.02:

- Expand your horizons, don't require a race car to be a Porsche or something expensive. Regardless of what you race, it'll cost more than you or anyone else anticipates. If your ego can handle it, start with something cheap, which will allow you to drive more, which is very important at your level.
- Rent. I rented from a top team to get my SCCA license and for my first few races. Besides the obvious benefit of having a good car to drive & someone to work on it, the biggest benefit was the knowledge gained from the team. This was priceless. Although the cost of renting seemed steep at first, afterward it was obviously a bargain.
- Buy used. If/when you decide to buy a race car, buy a used one rather than building a new one. As long as you do your homework, you'll get way more bang for your buck.

mclaudio

Attend a race school - Skip Barber, Jim Russell, etc. I wouldn't buy a track/race car or even mod your Porsche for track, until you think this is something you would do more than a couple of times.

+1 on comment that racing is not tracking/DE.

Kurt R

1. Build a fire in your back yard.
2. Sit down and start throwing twenties in the fire. If you're going to race a Porsche or something similar - throw Benjamins.

When you stop flinching, you're ready to go racing.

norcoastal

All great advice. I was talking to my brother in law about this and he recommended a race class also and said that a good first race car would be something like a formula ford. He said a car that was build for racing as opposed to a car that is nodded for the track is easier to work on and better to learn to race in.

Sounds like I pcs got some thinking to do. Maybe a few PCA driver days at NJMSP is the first step.

Tons of great advice here. Thanks a lot!

norcoastal

Modded...damn auto correct...

Coochas

As others have said, certainly the first step is to attend a DE with your 996. You will no doubt have a blast and quickly realize that even 'natural' drivers have a lot to learn to get them to the requisite intermediate or advanced levels before considering actual wheel to wheel racing.

MagnusB

Do a few DE days with your local PCA guys.

Then Spec Boxster perhaps?