Cayman_Sense

Not a bad idea to consider an older 911 or Spec Boxster. Both platforms can run with NASA, PCA and POC in california- which is nice because you can run multiple series... or plan events around your free weekends.

Spec Boxsters have "relatively" cheap replacements transmissions/engine. Similar costs to an engine/trans rebuild in an older 911 if i"m not mistaken.

Good luck.

Matt Romanowski

And I've seen a Radical do the One Lap race. Sure, you can drive a Spec Miata to the track, just don't expect to do well.

Through out the Northeast, I've seen the SRF fields race much cleaner than the Miatas.

hacker-pschorr

Well that's not a SRF now is it?

gums

Take a look at BMW Club Racing, too.
And don't waste too much time making a decision.
Your second or third car will be the one that suits you.

winders

Where are you located in CA? Do you care what kind of car you race? Do you care who you race with? What is your budget?

Scott

Astroman

Air-cooled 911s have proven themselves to be very reliable cars. But they are also very expensive to rebuild.

Circuit Motorsports

Spec Racer Ford is the answer with Spec Miata being a close second.

My fully spec rebuild is 5000 dollars and the R&I time is a few short hours and lasts years in spec power range.
I'm not dealing with class/rule changes every year like SM
I know the problem is the driver.
I know that every part for my car short of a chassis is at most every race I'm at.


I like Porsches and BMWs but I'd rather not race one on a budget.

If you want to make the right decision go rent an SM from one of the good shops where you are and do the same with an SRF. You'll figure out which one you like more.

As for towing? An SRF can be pulled behind pretty much any SUV/minivan ever made and many cars as well.

007DT

Grassroots Racing recently did an article on your Thread Subject exactly. Answer BMW E36.
I can't agree more. (Bias of Course)

Fits nicely into NASA, BMWCCA, SCCA. 1/2 cost of running a 996.. Or more.

gums

best advice I've seen here is from Circuit; do a few rentals before you dive in.

93 FireHawk 968

+1 for Circuit and Steve's comments.

hacker-pschorr

Back in my youth we called them Sport Renaults......first trip to Road America was painful. Almost had to get out and push them up the front straight.

9.5 Degrees

Thanks for the ideas, keep them coming. I already have a tow vehicle and open trailer, so that is not a consideration when going to a race car. I live in Los Angeles and my budget is (race as cheaply as possible and have fun). I can't afford to go the cup car route, but could afford to go a step higher than SM or 944.

I had not considered the tire budget and how a spec tire could lower the operating costs. That is somethiing I really need to think about.

I love P cars and would like to get one of those for several reasons other than just the love of the marque. The obvious one is that there are at least 3 clubs in Southern California to race with. BMW E36 is an outside possibility, but I researched their rules and for whatever reason, they have odd requirements and eventhough they race with NASA, everyone else pays $329-$399 dependant on the track and BMWCCA pays $429-$499 for the same track, same track time, etc. They bring in their own national guys or something and pay 25% more for everything. It doesn't make sense to me.

A Boxster or best yet, an air cooled 911 seems like a cool choice. I've heard of a lot of Boxster engine problems on Autoclub speedway banking however, and I'd never heard that an air cooled 911 was expensive for a rebuild. Why is that??? Parts or expertise in the rebuild??

I read up on the forum discussion on spec tires in the POC website and it does seem that a lot of people want that, but for whatever reason there seems to be resistance from above (at least that's the way it looks like from the outside looking in).

As far as clubs, PCA only has one race per year in SC and one in Central California. It appears PCA is more active in Norcal.

NASA seems to have unbelieveably good racers from top to bottom and extremely competitive in all classes. It would be hard and intimidating to start off with them. POC seems to have good racers and perhaps not as hard core as the NASA guys in terms of pure racing. Maybe more like PCA than NASA???

Speaking of Boxsters, i read here that PCA is changing the rules and the NASA folks and POC are not in accordance with what they are doing which could fracture the abilitiy to run the same car in different clubs. Last I heard POC was not going to adopt an open ECU.

Any thoughts on air cooled 911s? Those that run in SC know that we run a lot of tracks in desert or near desert (Willow Springs, Buttonwillow, Fontana in the Summer, Chuckwalla), like temps and wonder if these cars are reliable under hard driving in high temps.

hacker-pschorr

How could we forget the Factory Five Roadster Spec Series??

http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/...specialty-file

One for sale:

http://www.ffcars.com/forums/18-fact...0-florida.html

jrgordonsenior

Lots of missinformation above but let me address this big one first. 911 air cooled motors are more expensive to rebuild than W/C M96 motors be it Spec Box's or 996's. That's a fact. They're older technology as they haven't been produced in 14 years, and most of them out West are early 80's motors.

I've never heard of a SB blowing up on the banking at Cal Speedway. It's certainly possible, but I've race pretty much every POC, NASA, and NASA event in So Cal for the past 8 years and I've never seen on blow on the banking. M96 motors do occasionally blow, but no more than the air cooled motors.

As for comparing racing orgs in So Cal, NASA is tough racing and you'd better have your bleep together. POC has some of the best drivers around and their rules require a little more consideration for your fellow racers on track. POC also has the most comprehensive, multi-tiered driver's education program around. When you get a POC race license you've earned it....

POC did reverse itself at the request of their SB drivers and stayed compliant with PCA's SB rule set. That was a good choice....

Astroman

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