I have been kicking the idea around of selling my GT3 and buying an F-Stock 911 for PCA club racing and then a 993 for street use. I love the GT3 so its hard to even consider it, but for me I always go 8-8.5/10th on the track with it because its so nice and expensive so I would feel terrible hitting something in it. If I do not sell it I will run it in Bstock this year, but it is somewhat my daily driver too so wrecking her or breaking something would put me in a tough situation. So I am considering selling the car and buying a F-Stock race car and a 993 for DD/HPDE use. Thoughts?

 

NO. NO. NO.
Pick up a cheap pick up truck or something for the daily routine.

 

PM me. I have the perfect car for sale. 1997 993 TT setup for the track for only $50,000.

 

Its not even the need for something to drive daily...I live in downtown Chicago so I use public transportation 85% of the time anyways. I put very little street miles on the car anymore, but for me its a matter of taking a car that nice and pushing it how I have pushed everything else I have raced. I wanted to go with a smaller expense race car and then a P-car for the street. Also I do not want to be married to the PCA clubrace scene only. If i wanted to go to NASA for example I would have to put a full cage in the car which would mean I have to take my DAS sport bar out and rip apart the interior of a gorgeous GT3. I guess it comes down to the fact that I get bored as hell in HPDEs after a while and when you have done wheel to wheel for a while you really want to race the car. I think at this point its either go with a cupcar and a cheapo street car but after looking at cupcars I realized that the cost of upkeep is more than I can afford at this point, or I could sell the GT3 and buy something I can race wheel to wheel and not worry so much about not being able to stomach wrecking it. blah blah I keep on putting thoughts in my head on the computer . I am just considering this route

 

Ya, get a 993 or 996 and buy a clubracer.

 

For some reason I can't post a picture but my car has an exact copy of the Porsche factory roll cage and comes with a NASA and PCA log book.

 

Keep it and but a 944T F class car.

 

Sell the 996 GT3, and buy a 997 GT3!!!! You'll love the difference.

 

Just be content with your street car, the GT3. When you can afford it in the future buy a real race setup (cup) and be done with it. The GT3 is a great STREET CAR, it is not a cup car by any stretch. It will take a ton of cash to turn it into a race car, and you will ball it up at some point, no doubt if you start pushing it 9-10/10ths in a race.
If that is too boring then go with your plan to sell it and pick up a track rat. As you know most, if not all insurance companies are no longer writing coverage for DE mishaps. Do you really want to ball up a 100k car?
Not meaning to come down on you, but I've been there and done that.GL

 

A few things to consider when you are considering a race car, track car or going racing.

#1. Ask yourself the following
a. Do you want to learn race craft and improve your driving skills?
b. What is your current skill level on a track. This does not include Xbox or Nintendo.
c How important is safety to you?
d. If you wreck the car can you afford to fix it?

Take the following into account when considering a track car.
Owning and purchasing a race car is the easy and inexpensive part.
Maintaining and running it, is the expensive part.


Bottom line is.. Dont waste your time with an older P car if you have driven the 996GT3 on the track .. Regardless of what anyone may tell you older P cars are just that, old cars. Older technology, they dont handle or brake as well either.

If you want to practise race craft and improve your driving consider another car.. Especially if you are on a budget. A good candidate is a BMW E36 which can be had from 15-30k with a trailer or even a miata for the miata cup spec class... Talk about fun racing, 30 other cars exactly like yours door to door. You may not being going 150mph .. But you will be fighting for position with cars that are evenly matched and you will improve as a driver.
If you ball up a Miata you can get another one for 15k..

If on the other hand no of this applies to you and you are ready for real racing, have a budget in place and time reserved. Then a Cup car is a great way to go they can be had for anywhere from 100k to 130k for a 2002 and later 996 based car. If you are considering a 2001 and earlier car. I would say pass because the engine parts are expensive and more costly to repair.

Another good option is doing a rental program with a team or shop that rents cars for track days...

Just some food for thought... Been there done it!!

 

Shifter kart - wheel to wheel and loads of fun! All at reasonable prices too! Lots of racing in the midwest area including Blackhawk Farms and some other tracks near Chicago. Anyone know of the other, dedicated kart tracks?

Do the kart thing to get your kicks then occasionally show up for DE events with your GT3 to appreciate the greatness. Then you might not get bored with your car at those events and your skills will keep getting better and better.

I am hoping to do some kart racing as well, just need to figure out where, when, how, etc... as I share the same concerns about wrecking the car at DE's. You have more options in your area for this than I do, but I think it'll be viable here as well.

 

Used to do the whole shifter kart thing here in the Midwest. Raced at a track outside of Chicago called Norway. Shifters will give you the performance of a DSR for a fraction of the cost...however, we ran a 3-5 kart team, and you would be surprised how $$$ it gets the more competitive you get. Now we have a couple of spec miatas, and looking into DSR's. Most of our street cars will never see anything more agressive than a HPDE..including the GT3 and Lotus..some might think thats a waste, but they are not dedicated race cars.

 

What coast you clubracing on...if its the east and you are racing Bstock, Ill be seeing ya on the track!



I say...keep the GT3, nuthin' better for the track!


Whats your suspension setup?

 

I think Boyracer's lack of posting lately has made many of you unfamiliar with him. He used to have a 944 Turbo that was pretty much a dedicated race car and I believe he's even taught at DE's, so he knows what he's doing.

B-Racer, for about 90% of the people, I'd say they're crazy to "downgrade" from the GT3, however, knowing you from your previous posts, I'd say, get yourself a nice daily like a G35 and go and get yourself an RS America or a used M3 that you can gut out and turn into a proper track car. The 964's (particularly the RS America) make really good track cars from everything I've read and will help keep you in the Porsche family while allowing you to still be competitive on the track.

 

Scott thanks for clearing up. I have been pretty busy lately so it has been hard to post much, most of everything I have been doing is surfing the site.....
Just to expand on what Scott said, I have raced for a while now. I started off in karts and autocrossing, but am an active PCA member and have instructed for most of the local clubs. I instruct with the pca, bmwcca, audiclub, and a local track as an instructor for them. I also have a little endurance karting experience overseas so at times I get bored in HPDEs.

I think my problem with the GT3 is that I bought a car that was really all I could afford and therefore racing it makes me a little nervouss. This is the reason that I was saying i hate pushing it too hard because if i ball it up, it will really hurt. In 3 years or so I will be much better off financially and will probably buy a cupcar and really go racing. I drove two cupcars this past season in open track days and just can not get it out of my head. I really want one, but at this point going dead broke is not something I want to do.

I refuse to sit back for the next 3 years or so and not race wheel to wheel so that is why I was hoping to maybe buy a race car that would run in something like F class. The reason I picked F class is because I have 5 very close PCA friends racing in that class and we all want to race against one another. I am thinking of a 911 SC or a 944S2. I had a full race prepped 944 turbo S, so I have experience in both 911s and 944s, but know that a 944 is going to be more affordable in the end. With the money I save I could buy a nice daily driver and neither will probably lose much value in the next 3 or so years when I am more financially stable where i would end up buying a cupcar or running another spec series...

I have just been throwing this idea around. I might run B stock this year, who knows. If I run B stock I will do some east coast/midwest region track events. My other issue with B stock is that there are never really that many cars showing up. I want to have a race where I am not only dicing with one or two cars....I guess i am just blabbing and putting thoughts on the screen. I will keep you all posted