996 as a track car

Since I've been having engine troubles with my 1997 Carrera 3.4 I've been thinking more about what I use it for. I've owned the car over 4 years now, I bought it with 100k on the clock, full porsche dealer service history. I then put about 30k on the car over 3 years and I had begun to use the car more on track days, including an annual trip to the nurburgring. Unfortunately I suffered an IMS failure, but i spotted the metal flakes during an oil change and caught the issue before it did any damage to the rest of the engine. I had the engine rebuilt, refitted it and began to run the engine in. Unfortunately after 100 miles I started to notice contamination in the coolant. By 250 miles the expansion tank was full of milkshake. The engine was pulled again and after investigation it was confirmed I had a cracked cylinder head. So I've finally repaired this and the engine is waiting to for the ancillaries to be fitted so it can go back into the car. While I was having the engine rebuilt, I borrowed a friends e46 bmw 325ti track car for the trip to the nurburgring. Stripped out, on coilovers with bucket seats and harnesses it was a bit slow but actually great fun. Knowing that it cost £1200 meant I had a lot more confidence to push the limits without worrying about the costs of an damage incurred. My original plan was to turn my 996 into more of a track car, it's currently on coilovers all round, it's got a lightweight flywheel and it's been set up by CofG. (I'd really love a gt3 but they're way above my budget). The thought was to fit the carbon seats, harnesses, momo wheel and strip the rear seats out, maybe a half cage. Sort of an homage to a gt3. I love the way the 911 drives on track, the power is a perfect amount but, with my recent experience of the engines fragility costing more than I paid for the car in the first place, I'm wondering whether it's a wise idea to ask that much from the car. I'm torn whether to A. Keep the porsche as a road car and buy a cheap as chips track car that wouldnt bother me so much if I binned it, but I think I'd have to settle for something slower B. Sell the porsche and buy something similarly powerful but more reliable C. Stick with the original plan, fit an x51 sump baffle and justify any future costs as worth it for the pleasure of driving a porsche on track. I'm sure it's not helped by the car being st in bits or the last 18 months, once it's back up and running it will persuade me to carry on. Interested to hear peoples thoughts on reliability of the 996 Carrera with track use

I've driven my 996 on track and it's all very nice, but I really felt the mass compared to single seaters I used to drive. There's obviously going to be a difference but it was so massive, plus the wariness of engine damage means I may never take it on a track again. I think I would spend £5k on a turbocharged Mx5 instead. They're a hoot, with excellent low weight and high power and parts are pocket money compared to a Porsche. And they are very reliable- I drove one to the Nurburgring, spent several days lapping, then drove home on the Rev limiter in top gear because we were going to miss the ferry. It didn't even need the oil topping up. -and this wasn't a car in good condition to start with, in fact it was a total sh1tbox.

Since you have now rebuilt the engine with presumably stock parts, I'd keep it on the road, and use it for weekends and perhaps the odd track day with your club. And if you feel the need for another project/track car, then pick up something else.... option A.

With the caveat of never having owned a trackday car (I don't do it often enough to justify the cost and I choose to simply hire the track owned cars) Martin makes a very good point. Any trackday car will have the expected costs associated with tyres, brakes, clutch and other consumables. The key to getting real value for money is if and when any major component (engine, gearbox, etc) fails and yes, Porsche repairs will not compare favourably. Hence trackdays are populated with Renaultsport cars, MX5's and other marques cheaper to fund compared to a Porsche. A Boxster is likely to be a lower Porsche option just because of production volumes and second hand parts availability, but will still be higher than the others mentioned. Single seaters are in a different league and although much better on track, they present all of the issues with having to use a trailer, etc. Give that a try and you will be blown away with the difference. It's all down to money and personal choice. Great fun, enjoy the decision making as part of the experience. Good shout to raise this thread. Cheers, Keith.

You would definitely need to improve the oil pick-up from the sump. Hoovie (probably deliberately) oil-starved his 996 on track....ended up replacing the resulting dead flat-six with an LS3, I think. Martin's turbo-MX-5 idea is a great one. :thumb:

Single seaters are awesome and are proper race cars rather than converted road cars, but having to own and store a trailer is a tremendous ball ache. You also can't drive it on the road, I tried this and whilst it was tremendous fun, I shudder to think what would happen if I'd ever been caught. You can buy an MX5 race car with all the right bits for about three grand I think. You would then hand it over to someone like Skuzzle who will do the turbo conversion for you.

If you have the space then it to me a dedicated track car sounds like a better idea.

Only you know what you actually want, but (A) is the route I've taken after years of compromising good roadcars to try and also be good trackday cars and never being happy. I went the Clio Cup route - they're plentiful and cheap as chips. Spares hilariously more so - OEM cup shocks? £40-60 a corner new. Tyres are cheap (215 profile, 17"). If/when the engine goes bang it's £400 to drop a known, good s/h unit in. If you want lots more power the megane turbo engine drops in for a couple of £k. Best of all because it's just a trackcar and not used for anything else it has solid bushes, hard discs/pads and spring rates, no insulation, etc. All impossible to deal with everyday on the road. Downsides are the logistics of another car - storage, insurance , tax, MOT etc

My neighbour has an MX5 with a Jag engine, apparently there is a kit available for the conversion? May be an option :dont know:

I have a turbo mx5 alongside my 996. Buckets harnesses etc. It's worth £2500. Tyres are £50 each, brake discs £30, track pads £60. Gearbox £200. Engine £250. No abs, traction control, stability control etc. And at 220 bhp in a 1000kg car, it goes ok. Im gonna get rid tho as i think my track days are behind me. I'm just cruising now. But personally I'd never track my stock 996 in any case.

996 does not strike me as a track car that can be run on a budget. I'd look for a GT86 or MX-5 as it will be miles cheaper to run. 996 is almost a GT car for me...

Armrageddon - I think you'd be dissappointed with your 996 as you describe your planned track prep. I think to get it good on track you would need to take out much more weight. Think Lithium battery, non-sunroof roof panel prefereably carbon, some sound deadening removal, no carpets, front impact bar removal, remove fan from one rad, remove all aircon bits, etc. My road car has most of these mods and is still heavier than I'd like. Also, I find the driving satifaction on track to come from the nimbleness of what I'm driving rather than the outright pace. At Bedford my 996 was probably the third fastest car in terms of lap time, and it was a hoot putting in four wheel drifts at 90 mph, but I was a pretty strong driver at the time and I'm sure my skills have diminished as I haven't been on a track for some years. The fastest cars were Lotus Seven replicas though. They ran rings around everyone and did it lap after lap, bearly wearing out tyres and pads that cost a fraction of what mine did. Although I had a lot of fun, I really felt like I was making a sow's ear look like a silk purse. The 996 was a boat compared to anything else I'd driven on a track. I think it was Colin McRae who said "It's not how fast you drive, it's how you drive fast.", and I think this applies to the machinery you choose to drive fast in - i.e. it needn't be a Porsche 911 to give you a sense of achievement when you nail the perfect lap.

I have purchased a car for track use. A 2008 Megane r26. I cannot reccomed it enough, puts a lot of cars to shame. To note i am not a racing driver I have to admit it now sits on BC coilovers, new brakes, RS250 turbo, bigger injectors, r26r clutch and flywheel, cf bonnet plus a sensible reliable and safe remap to 280 BHP Done 2 full track days and its been fautless If it gets binned then its not my Porsche!

I track a 996 regularly, very capable, not particularly heavy on consumables and even at 20 years old quicker than the majority of cars I encounter. It's been extremely reliable, while I have seen many broken MX5's, Clio's and BMW's being patched up or towed away. You would not be disappointed from a performance perspective, it's whether you have the appetite for it, as whatever you drive trackdays are not cheap and if bitten you will want to 'upgrade' the car. PM me if you want more info.

To be fair, it's a rare trackday without some sort of event: my first time with the local BMW club, two cars went off at the first corner in the first session. That was sobering. When we go back to the tracks, we often see recently wrecked cars waiting to be towed away... of all and any brand. Porsche, Maserati, BMW... Last time out, we had one guy embedded in the gravel and a 'money shift' (from an ex Porsche racer no less). Ouch. And in fact we joke that if you haven't left on a flatbed at least once, you're not trying hard enough. Mine was an aux belt failure.