Hi everyone,

I'm new here, I used to post when I was working at a former vendor here, and noticed this was a good hub for Porsche owners.

Anyways, I'm building a 70 Camaro that I've been working on forever, and miss doing track days and autocross. I'm considering picking up a 1st gen Boxster S to use on the weekends and at the track some, just wanted to gather some first hand data and see if this was a good or bad idea.

Looking forward to some input, thanks!

 

Bueller?

 

No, its not really a good idea. Porsche really doesnt make any legitimate track cars. Maybe a Kia Amante? My .02 anyway

 

That is some incredibly valuable input! It looks like you were certainly having a great time with your many real life friends Saturday evening.

In my actual experience tracking things other than my fingers across keyboards, I've learned that a lot of cars have small oiling issues, certain bushings need to be replaced with metal/delrin, wheel bearing issues, cooling issues, and other types of very small quirks that someone with actual experience tracking and beating on a vehicle would know, and be able to share something unique to look out for on a certain platform, and a way to stay ahead of a known problem ( e46 rear subframes, gm front wheel bearings and LS oiling systems, , lots of cars in dire need of rear differential coolers, etc).

Again I appreciate your invaluable feedback from a few months of forum membership and am incredibly thankful for immeasurably valuable members of the community like yourself.

 

I had one as a track car for a while, I guess you could call it reliable for being a track car only major issue I had was with the differential which probably could have been solved with an upgraded dif (I just swapped out the entire gear box when ever it would go out, cheaper, faster). There is a lot of weight to pull out of one of those, and you have to pull it all out if you want to keep up with other boxsters. finding a hard top could be hard, and pricy, but everything else on these cars is fairly cheap and easy to find.
I payed $3500 for mine cost me about $8000 to make it track ready

 

Do you run yours in any specific class or just for fun?

I was just going to put seats/harnesses in it and use it for HPDE instructing and run solo and to tool around on a nice day since I haven't done that in a while and I miss it.

 

initially I built it for spec boxster, but ran it in all sorts of track days, and sold it before the season began last year.

 

Any real issues worth mentioning on stuff that direly needs to be upgraded?

Any silly bushing/cooling/oiling problems that need to be resolved before flogging?

I'd really like to get a track proven car like a Kia as indicated by interweb 3xp4r7 Socal Sporty but it seems like you're as clueless as I am since you've actually tracked and raced cars it sounds like, but if I can be lazy with the boxster it's an intriguing idea.

 

I've owned a gen 1 Boxster for quite some time, but no hard track experience. I regularly autocrossed my '99 for several years with nothing more than a set of Kumhos. No issues to speak of until my engine gave up the ghost while driving down the street. Likely an IMS bearing failure.

The 9x6 in general are subject to oil starvation while cornering due to high Gs with sticky tires.

Some clubs require a rollbar extension or hardtop to protect in case of rollover.

You might find some more info here: http://986forum.com/forums/boxster-racing-forum/

- Rob

 

Thanks for the link Rob. I was planning on a roll bar and I know the higher mileage cars or low mileage cars with ims bearing that has been replaced are the ones I want.

I'll have to check out that link.

I do truly appreciate the helpful responses from Rob in KC and Canonball 996. Nice to see this forum isn't full of total morons like the one that posted earlier today.

So put an accusump on it and proceed to party?

 

Funny. The original question was so preposterous I couldnt help myself. You would think if you had been to a few track days you would have undoubtedly noticed a few Porsches there? Or maybe the Camaro club isnt friendly with the Porsche club????? Anyhooo, not only Porsches, but likely Boxtsers and maybe a Cayman here and there but def some boxsters. At least the VERY FEW track days I have enjoyed, without fail, Porsche was well represented. But what do I know.

You are on a predominantly Porsche site, most of us, including myself have Porsches and many of us have had more than one, myself included. Most of us know the very extensive racing history of Porsche and many of us purchase this specific brand knowing they either will take it to the track or will flog the daylights out of it and expect it to show up for work the next day, myself included. My 911 is the only Pcar I have had that has gotten the kid glove treatment, the 3 Boxsters and 1 Cayman were ridden hard and often.

Your initial post was vague at best. Sorry you are so worked up, I think you mentioned me or took a shot a me in every post. That is sticking to it. Clearly my response was sarcastic, maybe next time you will either be a lot more specific, or at least have a sense of humor, I know most people here do. Good luck.

The Boxster is a great weekend track car straight out of the box IMO

 

these cars are 15 years old now, so all the wear out stuff would need to be replaced, clutch, brake pads, brake lines, bushings. These cars feel very nice with the PSS9s but you will need rear adjustable toe links if you mess with the height at all. I always ran a performance oil cooler, thats about it, I was very hard on that engine and it did not pop as long as I had it. the only real issue I had was the differential.

 

Aftermarket oil pan to deal with starvation issues would be the first modification if it was my car.
Coilovers transform the 996C2, I imagine they do the same for the 986.

For the price of a 986S you can get a C5 and the running costs are going to be much lower.

 

I would tend to agree with this, I tracked a C5 and it was a notably faster car than the Boxster or "S". However, Boxster are so much fun and IMO are a much more rewarding car to drive. They are so predictable and you feel like you can pinpoint an apex and put the car EXACTLY where you want it. If you are competitive and want to run people down and do so on somewhat of a budget, a Vette is a great tool for the job no doubt about it.

 

C5's require wheel bearings with every oil change and the LS's have horrible oil starvation issues if you're actually tracking them, and are not classed very well in a lot of things, and C5/C6 cooling systems are very easy to overwhelm. They're also still a good bit more than a Boxster that you'd buy for a track car. I don't have a C5 because I know enough people who track Corvettes to see all the issues, and I posted here to see if the Boxsters were hassle free or I was just ignorant to their issues. Plus I don't fit well in them with a helmet on, too tall, and I just don't like the room of the interior for sitting in it. I feel super cramped in a C5.

The Boxster is cheaper, has 20% more horsepower on a Boxster, which isn't much, considering the 15% weight savings on the Boxster. I already have a 70 Camaro that I've gone nuts on, a C5 will just be another money pit. A Boxster would be something I don't have much interest in modifying, nor would I really need to. It just fits the bill a lot better for a disposable track car, if I don't have to re engineer the whole car, which is why I posted.

That was quite a long response trying to justify your stupid post earlier there SocalSporty, lol. And yes I'll continue to make fun of it, although I do feel sorry that was the only thing you had going on a weekend evening, lol. Most of the time I'm at the track I'm either instructing, or I'm running support/on crew for a Trans-Am team, in non Boxster rich environments. Most the people with Caymans are older people with some shop that upkeeps their car and they don't know much about them. I've seen me run people down in Enterprise rental cars at track days for laughs, I just want something I can drive off the trailer, and the only body panel I open for the weekend is the door to get in and out of it. C5's are simply not that user friendly without dumping another 5-6 grand in parts into.