mmuller

DE will be cheaper. No reason a set of tires couldn't last 12 DE days. When racing you need the fastest tires you can put on the car which means more sets. Brakes will last a bit longer also as your not thresh hold braking every corner. You could skip some fluid changes as your not running the car as hard also. My racing costs are more like $1500 a weekend personally myself, not a day. I imagine you could be close to half that cost per weekend if only DE'ing the car.

If you have contact with a SPB racer, you might be able to make that number even lower by buying/getting his take off tires which typically could still be run in a DE for several days and could be bought for pennies on the dollar.

Gary R.

Is $1500 a day for a DE including an $700 dinner?
DE costs $300 per day, fuel $100 max, I would do 6 DE's on one set of NT01's (don't need RR's for DE, but even those I would do a max of 3 sets per year), so that equates to $200 per DE tire wear figuring $2400 for two sets. Add $100 for Motel room if necessary and another $100 for incidentals..

A "race winning" SPB for $20k?

BostonDMD

Race winning or "DE winning"? Big difference........

audipwr1

Upcoming festival of speed

Entrance fees - 700
Garage - 175
Set of tires 1,000 (not including toyo Bucks offset)
Fuel - 400 (including towing)
Hotel - 300
Brake pads - 300
Alignment check - 300
Tow car consumables at 50 cents / mile - 500
Oil - 100
Half a gearbox oil change - 100
1/4 a brake fluid change - 25
1/5 winter maintenance (Bearings / control arms that are timed out, other misc) - 600

4,100

Three days long

1,366 per day

That's before an off / a tranny problem / general stuff which at least always happens to me

HoBoJoe

$1500 a weekend maybe for a race weekend where you're only using the tires for one weekend. That's a majority of the cost right there, the RR will last longer than a single weekend.

For $20k I'd jump on that SPB and not look back. I drove mine for the first time this past weekend and I know without a doubt I made the right choice.

audipwr1

For comparison my friend running a 996 cup is running around 4x that rate - he used 5k of just TIRES last trip out I only DIY 50% of my stuff so alignment and winter Maint you could get cheaper if you DIY everything

This is what it takes at least for me - would love to hear how to cut costs

I'm actually considering adding light track side support which will add 500/day more to costs in order to not be sweaty distracted everytime getting into car

Dave DE

A potential big expense is an engine failure and to a lesser degree the gearbox. These are not uncommon in the SPB world. Consider the engine history of the car you are looking at. At that price I imagine the engine is original (not rebuilt) so it is a crap shoot how long it will last. Does the car you are looking at have a deep sump or accusump? How about an IMS bearing upgrade? These are ways to improve your chances, but add to the cost.

It would be worth considering engine reliability and replacement/rebuild cost in your comparison with the bmw.

Greg Holmberg

I drive my Spec Boxster to the track for DE days. It's the same cost per weekend as any other car for DE. Hotel, food, gas, entry fee--these are the biggest part of the expense, and the same regardless of what car you bring.

Audipwr1 is talking about racing--that's a completely different story. He has an enclosed trailer and a pickup truck. He uses a set of tires per weekend. He changes all the fluid before each race. He carries a spare transmission.

I wouldn't worry about driving a Spec Boxster to a DE weekend. If you can afford to do it in your previous car, you can afford to do it in a Boxster.

In the PCA, you'll be about the slowest DE car out there, waving all the 911's by. But it's fun, and you'll learn a lot trying to keep up. With some nice tires like the RA1's, you can probably carry more speed through the corners than most street cars. Then they pull away from you... Watch your mirrors.

audipwr1

Greg, first off you need to join us for a race!!

Second - I dont have a truck or spare tranny (yet!) but yes its a slippery slope.

I thought OP was talking about racing, DE is much cheaper

gums

Guys, don't do this, please.
Just stop.

audipwr1

Lol hear u

hf1

Nothing that's worth worth doing is cheap, when you really do the math.