Looking at 07 to 10 gt3’s. How do you find a car that doesn’t have a bunch of track time? A lot of these cars now have passed thru multiple hands. What is the consensus on on wear and tear of a track car? How many track days equals street miles? Example 10 track day =10000 miles?

 

Hard question to answer...my GT3 is an 05 and I have owned it since new. It only has19000 miles and most of those are track miles + driving to and from...and my car looks and drives a lot better than daily drivers or gt3’s with a lot more miles that show their age and lack of maintenance. While it does depend greatly on driving style, by doing some endurance racing I have learned how to drive quick and save the equipment at the same time. Most guys that track their cars take much better care of them and practice a higher level of maintenance than non tracking owners. I know I do. I have never understood the fear people have of a tracked car. It’s almost akin to the fear they have of a car that has been in an accident. Just my 2 cents.

 

I have s decent amount of track time and so did the prior owner. The most important thing on these cars is how the vehicle was maintained and cared for....

 

Let me ask the question a different way. Would you be OK with a car that had say 30 hrs of track time? How many hrs does Porsche Motorsports recommend for motor rebuild?

 

Here again it seems to me you are talking about two different things. A pure race car, like a GT3 cup car, has very different gearing that puts a lot more stress on the drivetrain and engine and Porsche Motorsports recommends a very high level of maintenance and frequent rebuilds. Also to be considered is how those 30 hours are accumulated. Sessions for DE or club racing are usually 20-30 minutes long, much longer and driver conditioning becomes an issue. A normal track day might have four or five sessions, or a couple hours. A weekend event will double that. I can speak for my 996 GT3 that has a Metzger engine that 30 hours of track time makes little difference with only a necessity to increase the number of oil & filter changes if you are **** about your car like me. I fully inspect my car before every event and after if I notice anything during the event. A normal track day is not as hard on these cars as driving the same length of time in stop and go traffic. 30 hours of track time on a GT3 is just a good breakin. Just like 30 hours of highway driving is easier on your car than 30 hours of stop and go city driving. The biggest expenses are tires and brakes. Here again you can run Pilot Sports that will last longer and not be as hard on the car (also read not as fast) or race tires that you could heat cycle out in a weekend, will be a few seconds faster but will also put a lot more stress on the running gear.

What you do want to watch out for is a GT3 that has been modified with different gearing and tracked. Then the drivetrain is subject to the same rigors as a pure race car and the engine and running gear should be torn down and rebuilt frequently. Also, if a car has only been tracked with Michelin tires it follows that it hasn’t been run as hard as a car running on slicks. It is always a good idea to get a DME readout of over revs since they are potentially harmful to an engine. I have seen a lot more “never tracked” GT3s with harmful over revs than tracked cars where the driver is more acutely aware of engine RPM or missing shifts than typical street only drivers. A leak down test is a good way to determine if anything in the motor has been stressed or bent.

i guess I could have saved us both some time and just said don’t buy a used GT3 without a DME report and a leak down test. Actually, I would ask a dealer for a DME readout for a new car, especially one that has been in inventory and may have been used for demo purposes. The cars are very durable and can suffer fools behind the wheel.