I am the previous owner of a e36 m3. It was heavily modded and, I attended numerous DE's with it. I love track driving and, eventually want to get into amature racing. I'm no spring chicken, in my "early fourties." I've been lucky enough to drive quite a few high perf. brands but none, none give me the feeling of a Porsche. I drive a lowley honda right now, saveing every penny, positioning myself for my ultimate vehicle purchase, a Porsche! Lately, I've been thinking of a track only option. I've gone the jack of all trades, master of non route with my M3. Since I really just want a track car that has a potential for competition applications what would you guys recomend? Forgive my ignorace but, does Porsche only sell it's GT3 cup cars to series participants? Thanks in advance.

 

Lots of used Cup cars out there for sale. For starters, look in Autoweek or http://www.theracersgroup.com/cars/cars.htm

 

New Cup cars are very hard to come by. The lists fill up fast. They will sell to anyone, but people get on the list like 4 years in advance. the used market is a great place for these cars. Best of luck in your search.

 

The party is over....new cups will be rather "pricy" AND more limited in availability....better start hunting a good "vintage" one...AND be mighty, pretty careful on purchase...Almost all these so called "racersetc" are thiefs. So many horror stories...How do you think they are able to buy (lease) those transporters! Remember, sombody (YOU) paid for them when you gaze at these behemoths in the paddock....havefuntakechancesdriveporschecup-Mark

 

thieves, scallawags, rievers, hucksters...ahh..bull**** artists par excellance! anyway...don't think I'm standing alone in that opinion. AND.."I" was being kind Mark

 

if you amortized all the refreshening costs, tire, pads, engine rebuild etc etc, the general consensus from all reputable cup car drivers is thta it takes $1000/hour to run the car... and unless you are racing, you may want to consider the GT3. it's much cheaper to run.

 

The Cup car is a great way to go. The only downside is you have to tow it everywhere, but then you will have all your stuff when you get there!

The main operating cost items on the 996 Cup are slicks and front brake rotors and pads. Mooty's estimate of $1,000 per hour is not far off, when you take into consideration engine and tranmission rebuilds at approximately 60-80 hours (figure $25,000 divided by the hours). Slicks range from $1,200 to $1,600 per set (with Michelin and Dunlops being the best and the most expensive). Front rotors are 540 per set, with pads at 295 per set. Figure new pads and rotors no less than every third weekend. You will need at least 2 sets of wheels, one for practice and one for qualifying and your race.

At the end of the day the Cup car is a lot of bang for the buck. Their are cheaper race cars with similar speed, but if you want a Porsche, this is probably the best value. 997 Cups will be $165K +/- and will only be available in 06 to pro teams (most likely). Plus the 996 Cup PCA class is huge. By way of example the PCA race April 1-3 at Road Atlanta has "33" 996 Cup cars entered. This is not unusual for the bigger PCA track events. Great racing!

As far as who to buy from I would recommend you do your homework on any car you can buy. You can determine the history and ask around and find out if what you are told is on the up and up. There are a number of nice cars in private hands, so just keep looking until you find one that suits your budget and has the right history.

I started with a 993 Cup, have had a 2001, 2003 and now a 2005 and loved all of them. Go for it you won't regret it.

JCM