924Board.org

[cypher_941]

I have never owned a Porsche, but I'm looking to buy a mid to late '80s car. Anything from a stock 924S to a 944S2 with some race gear. (No turbos) My main concern is that my fiance and I are trying to decide if we want to have another child. If we do, I'm broke. If we don't, I've got no worries. As a weekender I'm not worried about the expense of maintaining it.

BUT... (And here's where I need your help) I'm thinking I want to try some amateur autocross. What's going to happen when I put a 20 year old Porsche through it's paces, and what is it going to cost me? A 'street prepared' class car instantly sounds like a better deal, as does the step up to the 3.0l motor. Will I be able to find a car that's been thrashed, upgraded, and better for the efforts? I know modded cars lose market value. Resale isn't a concern.

I want to hear some of your real life experiences, though opinions are always welcome, for those willing to share.

Thanks as always for your time,
JB
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924S (I wish)

[Khal]

Did you see this one? Looks good.
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'80 924 Turbo

[Rasta Monsta]

Where are you? If you have a good PCA chapter nearby, you can get on the track pretty easily. . .
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Toofah King Bad

• WeiBe (1987 924S 2.5t) - 931 S3

[Dagwood928]

Porsches make great auto-x cars! I've autocrossed my 1980 928 completely stock with no worries at all! I've autocrossed my 81 931 and an 86 944. All are fun cars but in stock form the 944 in my opinion was the best...oh yeah I forgot my 01 boxster as my latest autocross fix! It is by far the easiest car I've autocrossed. If you can find a 944 in good condition autocross shouldn't hurt it other than eating tires and brakes. (Mostly tires). 944's are easy to drive and can be very competitive. My humble opinion.

[924guy]

most chapters of the PCA , if not all, have some sort of autocross program, and many even host one or two "newbie" events a year, to teach you how to do it. All you need to enter is to be a member, have a car that will pass a tech inspection (the pca zone 1 site had a great checklist awhile back) and donate a few bucks towards the operational costs of the event (usually $25 to $50 ), and a drivers helmet with a good fairly recent snell rating.
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Eric
78 924
82 931 SE "smokey"
99' VehiCross
Y2K Honda Insight
http://www.cardomain.com/id/924Guy
Performance by Pasha

[cypher_941]

So a stock car will really do the trick? I'm glad to hear that.
Heinz Motorsports in columbus is having a sale, I'm going to pick up a helmet.
...I've got a buddy who can get me tires at cost

I'm leaning toward a 944. (AHH and I'm on the 924 board!) I've seen a few black 944's that really got my blood moving. Damn good looking cars, though I prefer the look of the 924 interior. Feels more like a race car to me. Kinda tight though.

And I've seen Sterling Doc's post. Looks like a heck of a deal. But I need something comfortable when off the track.
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924S (I wish)

[JSilverman]

I just went through the same deicision you are trying to make. I was driving my street car for auto x and track days. After seeing a few people go off at the track I decided it would be best to get a track only car. First of all you have to ask yourself what are your goals. Are you trying to win or just go out and have some fun? For me it was the latter so I told myself early on that Id just wait until I found a good deal. I narrowed my search down to NA 944/924S. They are cheap and plentiful. Its just finding one that hasnt been totally thrashed. The 924S seems to sell in decent shape for around $2000-2500. The 944 will set you back closer to $3000-$4000 in decent shape. I waited about 3 months and finally found a good deal. It was an 88 924S "special edition" with 86k miles for $2000. The car was a bit rough around the edges, but the drivetrain was in very good shape.

As far as what class you want to autocross in, your budget will decide that. Stock is far more restictive than SP so costs are generally less. In stock your big expenses will be 1) Tires 2) shocks 3) front sway bar 4) brake pads since that is about all you can change.

Autocross is not very hard on cars. Runs are typically 60-70 seconds, and you dont see very high speeds. The parts of the car that take the biggest beating are the tires, brakes and suspension. If all of those components are in good shape I wouldnt have any problems taking the car out. I havent autocrossed my new car yet, but I did take her to the track for two days of testing. Only problem was that the brake pads the PO used were total crap and were cooked after two runs so I had to change them at the track.

[Sterling Doc]

I would second the above - I've had a bunch of "dual purpose" cars that always seem to end up not being very streetable, because the natural tendancy is to keep modding it to make it faster.

I have the 924S FS that was referenced. I've just finished peeling all of the ugly tar up from the floor and painting the interior, so it looks much nicer than the pics. While it is street registered and tagged, it is pretty spartan. That said, I still have the windows, and could rig up a way make them go up and down. Better yet, buy the whole set up, with a one year old dual axle, 4 wheel braked open trailer for $5,500. The whole setup weighs less than 4,000 lbs - can tow it with a mid-size SUV

In any case, make sure that the car you get is mechanically sound, or a cheap car can get expensive in a hurry. Also, the 8V cars are cheaper to operate than the 16V cars.
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944 SPEC racer
NASA Midwest 944 Challenge Director