PLNewman

According to Winding Road, expect to pay $40K+ to build a basic car. Great article.

https://www.windingroad.com/articles...-spec-boxster/

ace37

Greg Holmberg

I also came up with about $40,000. Here's my spreadsheet of parts. This does not include labor.

And then there are the operating costs. For spec Boxster, I calculated that tires + engine + gearbox + fuel + brake pads + rotors is about $1,133 per weekend ($142 per session, or $340 per hour). Here's my operational costs spreadsheet for a variety of racing classes.

himself

Thanks for the link!

FWIW, I think $40K is good estimate for a full build with a cheap donor car. Just the parts for my SPB cost right at $20K. This includes all the mechanical stuff (suspension, IMS, clutch, etc), exhaust, seats, fire, 2 extra sets of wheels, quick release/steering wheel, a top and the other usually goodies. My cage was over 6500, but it included all the install of fire, electrical, cool suit, window nets, etc etc. So, without the actual car cost and without any labor (other than the cage labor) my build was over $26K. If you had a 5K donor car, you'd probably still be under $40K after labor costs are added in. My car was a street car convert, so the car cost was a little more.

One thing to note is that the article says that SPBs [edit] are 1-3 seconds slower are only 1-3 seconds faster than a Miata. But this is only true when the SPB runs Toyo RRs (those pesky Miatas run much faster Hoosiers). When you put Hoosiers on the SPB, it's a few more seconds faster than the Miata.

-td

ace37

Greg Holmberg

At the tracks I'm familiar with, Laguna Seca, Sonoma, and Thunderhill, the track records for Spec Boxster are all faster than those for Spec Miata. For example, the SCCA just finished running their "Runoffs" national championships at Sonoma, where the fastest Spec Miata race lap was 1:55.278. The fastest Spec Boxsters run about 1:52 at Sonoma on Toyo RR's.


Spec Boxsters can run in SCCA class T3, in which case they can use the stickier Hoosiers. At the Runoffs, the fastest T3 race lap was 1:49.610, or 5.668 seconds a lap faster then Spec Miata. No Boxsters ran T3 in the Runoffs this year, but Todd Lamb competed last year, and qualified in P2, so the Boxster is very competitive in T3. So the Hoosiers would probably be worth at least 2 seconds at Sonoma compared to the Toyos, and the Spec Boxster would be over five seconds faster then Spec Miata at Sonoma on the same tires. That's a lot.

On the Toyo's, Spec Boxster is also cheaper to run, since the tires last longer than the Hoosiers on the Miatas, and the Boxster engine also lasts longer. $1,133 per weekend versus $1,329.

So, bottom line, Spec Boxster goes faster for less money than a Spec Miata.

himself

hf1

Don't have the exact data but from memory it's the same thing on many east coast tracks. SPB on (slower) Toyos are faster than SM on Hoosiers, at least 1s per minute of lap-time.
BTW, good thread, links, and data!

toddlamb

Having driven both SM and SPB extensively (as well as built top level cars for both), the SPB is faster on every track even with Toyos.

I suspect WRR was referring to a NC or ND MX-5 where the times are more similar.

We build customer SPB's for $45k, including a full AIM data system and all the important bits for reliability and performance. This is a car that can compete at the front of the SPB field. You need to start with a low mile donor (under 60k miles ideally) so you can skip the engine internals. If you have a 90k+ mile motor add $10k to get into the bottom end of the motor and replace a lot more parts.

You can have a car built for less if you start to compromise the build quality (perhaps a starter car). Or you can do all the work yourself and save about $15k in labor.

sbelles

The article actually said that Boxsters were 3 sec faster then Miatas not slower.

Does NASA still have a Spec Boxster class?

himself

Doh! Yeah, that's a typo. Should have said, only 1-3 seconds faster. But the rest is true. The SPB is only 1-3 seconds faster with RR's but much faster with Hoosiers.

-td

Nine1won

I can attest as I recently bought your prior personal SPB and it is fast!! Thx!

ace37

tahoelife

As previously mentioned you can build them yourself and sub out just the important parts like the cage. Depending on how resourceful you want to get you can have data and a fast car that is reliable for less than $25k. I have just finished my 3rd season of racing with my garage built car, self maintained and campaigned. Out of 42 races over the 3 years the garage built car has a 93% podium rate and a 60% win rate. West coast champion last two years and P2 in nation just behind Drake. So for those still willing to be in the spirit of budget racing it can be done. Just want to insure we do not scare people off thinking they need to buy a $45K car to race SPB and win. With that said Todd's cars are beautiful and reliable as I now race one that is very quick with a driver that is only getting faster. It really comes down to the old saying of "Spend time save $ or Save time spend $" the spirit of SPB racing is that a pro built car and a garage car can still go head to head and they do which makes this class special.

J Mills