sad reality

i just realized that, as a track car, my '99 996 will probably never see cleared headlights and tail lights, clear sidemarkers, or a facelift. it will get washed but only occasionally waxed. the cheap plastic interior will stay, no brushed aluminum or CF replacements. no aluminum door sills, no smoked 3rd brake light. no painted parts from bumperplugs. no white gauge dials or suede interior. the basketball pimpled dash stays. no upgraded stereo, no nav system. this is the opportunity cost of tracking my car. is anyone else in this position?

Hey, there's a choice in everything.

i realized if i could stave off tracking for one full season i could probably get 90% of those mods done. but i'd have to not track my car for a year.

Sure, it is called being broke like me, sometimes I think I shouldnt be in a 996 but in a bug.

That's what a Porsche were original made for, race on the weekends and drive them to work on Mondays. But unfortunately no more warranty if you track....

That's assuming "they" know.

That's why we (my wife and I) are buying a GT3 this winter. One for the street/track (996CAB) and one for the track (GT3) with no interior bling other than track mods (seats, cage, etc.). Having 2 is the only way to go to fuel your love for both street mods and track mods Damn this has been an expensive slippery slope.

let me know how it goes with the GT3. i am on the same boat, looking for another p-car.

There is always something beautiful about any Porsche at the track. If you look closely you can almost see the car smiling....

Expensive and tough to tame toy for no warranty. Wish I had that issue though!!

You know what; who cares!! Last time I was at the track, there was this guy with a bone stock (visual aspect) 996 coupe. The car had all amber lights and no interior options. His money was on suspension, fikse wheels and exhaust. The guy had a blast and we had a blast watching him rip by. It had no bling but it was real nice and low with shiny profil 13. Have fun and don't worry about superficial stuff!!

you know it! but i've been kidding myself over the years that i have a nice dual purpose car - only lately have i come to admit that my car just isn't made for the street anymore. Dell - i already have my track car and the tow vehicle. i'm already pushing it with 2 cars

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spent my first season in DE this year with my 996 cab. After my first spin and now that i am totally hooked i decided to get a track car so i aquired an 88 911 with the intention of converting it. So i take it to my mechanic and he tells me it is TOO NICE to turn it into a track car. Will the wife go for a third ? does this madness ever end ?

Not without a very expensive Psychiatrist bill!!!!!!

I'm in the same boat but it doesn't bother me. Bling doesn't make you go any faster, that's why my $$ goes to mods and consumables for the track. k

. There is no cure, brother. Here's another story of stark raving madness. The C4S got me hooked to DE. So, why not get a track car, I thought. Got the 987S to be the track car. Found out I enjoyed it so much cruising with the top down and PASM set to soft on the street that I went back to tracking the C4S. Put the X73 suspension on it, plus have the tequipment roll bar and six point harness in the garage waiting on the GT3 seats to put it all together. Then, I thought, why try to make the C4S into a GT3 wannabee? Why not just get a GT3? So, now I'm on the list for a 997 GT3. We are all certifiably insane .

LOL yes, i hear you. First we had a 996 cab, one time out, hooked on track. Now we sold the cab and bought a coupe, and modding it to death for the track(though still under warranty so im waiting till it expires... ) But it is just going to be track so now wife is made i sold her cab!

Before you guys spend the big bucks on track mods or GT3s, you might want to consider just buying my race car. It's for sale although not yet advertised. I'm hoping to make the hop to a Cup Car. It's a pretty cool car. It doesn't have Nav or full leather but it does hold track records at Daytona, Road America and Mid-America. Jim

Jim, I'll trade you, straight up my car is still lightly modded enough that it can be converted back to a nice street car in no time. now you can have an early 996 "beater" and i get my race car

Jim, what year is your racecar and what have you done to it ? i noticed it said " stock c "

A friend with a 996 is on his second engine. The first one had RMS issues. He drives it on the track all the time (then and now), in the advanced groups, and is an instructor at our DE events as well. The dealer knew very well that he was tracking the car. The service dept. is pretty good, we are all chummy. Even they and I talk about this guy on track. The RMS problems were unrelated. Porsche replaced the engine under warranty, no cost. The car is an '01 with 70+ track days on it, and the RMS engine has been the only thing ever replaced other than normal wear items. Another guy I met this weekend has a new Cayman S with 4500 or so miles on it. He drives very hard on track. His power steering system has siezed up twice, the second time only after 20 miles on track. He thinks the car isn't able to deal with the lateral G's well enough. Not really sure what is going on with that, and not trying to get into that debate, but suffice it to say the dealer told him not to drive it that hard, and then they replaced the power steering again. No charge. He is still driving it hard, and talking about the lemon law... Your mileage may vary, but some people here in Calif. are definitely seeing warranty work done on cars that the owners track. As a newbie I had my dealer tech inspect my 996 before my first DE. They even comped it. I asked them if this would affect my warranty, and basically they said it should be fine as long as I don't miss 3rd on the upshift and land in 1st...

The chassis is a 99 but it's been updated to 2004 specs for club racing. As for what has been done, I'm pretty sure it's the most developed track 996 in the country. The list is pretty long including everything from a 3.6L X51 engine to triple adjustable Moton race shocks to rate adjustable 1800 lbs springs. If you are interested, send me a PM. I'm looking for around $70k but I'm willing to deal a little bit. I want a cup car. Jim