upgrading in the winter...preparing for the new track season

Things to do: new tires get driving gloves (no more cheap-o mechanix gloves =P) M030 suspension upgrade... Oil change get an alignment! er....how often do track junkies change transmission fluid? another question: looking for bargain wheels for track use. where to go looking? i see OEM knock-offs on ebay all the time, but i dunno if they're track worthy or not. and i'm not about to drop 4k on a set of BBS rims either. car should be getting a huge makeover. if any of you have seen my car you'll know how beat up it is...especially the key marks from when my car got vandalized. can't wait for the spring!!!

4KUS is a lot of dough for bbs. u should be able 2 snag a set for about 2500 + rubber .

Good plan on the M030. If you are really serious for more track, though, go for the X74. Two thoughts on track wheels. Either drop some serious dough on bling-bling wheels for the street and use the OEM for the track. Or, just get the OEM take-offs on Ebay for an excellent bargain and shod them with R-compounds. I got "like-new" '03 turbo hollows with tires for $800!!!

i would jump on a deal like that on ebay, but there's so many oem-knock offs being sold, or knock offs that people try to pass off as the real oem wheels. so i'm a bit skeptical of purchasing stock wheels on ebay. any tips for filtering through the mess? sidenote: just bought some gloves and a new pair of driving shoes! should be at the house in a few

The knockoffs on ebay are from highline wheels, forged, tuv approved, but very f'ing heavy. I ended up just using them for my snows, you also need spacers to clear the brakes with the knockoffs. Waaay tooo heavy for track use, my car was all over the place with them. I picked up some used oem hollows on 6spd, much better. If you're in the market for a tequip roll bar let me know. Palting, did you end up doing the X73 too? I love mine, transformed the car, actually cancelled my 997C4S order due to the massive handling increase, it would have cost 110k to duplicate my car without a X73 equivelant in the 997, so f' it, I'll keep mine and geta beamer or lincoln ls for DD.

if you have a 996C2, the best track wheels are the 5 spoke carerra wheels. (think spokes, not the turbo look). these oem wheels are very very light and very strong. i woudn't cheap out on track wheels. wheel enhancement has these at pretty decent pricies. to better these oem wheels, you are looking at $4k/set of fikses, bbs motorsport (not bbs), kinessis. or you can call CCW to see if they make anything for 996. they are very high quality, very strong and $2500/set.

I have black powder coated OEM turbo looks for sale, mounted with Michelin Pilot Sport Cups..... PM me or email for pics: [email removed] $1400+shipping if interested best, t

Chris, I'm still waiting for the X73 to go on sale again . Penguinking, I don't really know of any tips in filtering through the mess other than arming yourself with knowledge, asking the vendor a lot of questions, and asking for pictures. I just got lucky with my wheels. I put a bid down on a lark several days before the end of bidding and was dumbfounded when I got notified I won the bid. Before I paid, though, I bent the guys ear. He accepts wheels on consignment from Porsche dealerships in the area tha have sold cars where the owners want or have another set of wheels. He gave me a Porsche dealer as a reference. I checked the dealer out, then checked the guy out, and he was legit. I got a "used" set of hollow spokes with barely a few miles on them. I can't remember who the guy was now, though. Hope this helps.

thanks for the advice. is there a serial number or porsche part number on the wheel i can ask for a picture of? also, what happens if i discover the wheels have hairline cracks or minor dents in them? is there any recourse for that? sorry, i've only purchased small items on ebay, no big ticket sales like wheels

Palting - x73 is a seriously non trivial upgrade...you owe it to yourself to indulge.

For a dual use car, I'd recommend the Bilstein PSS9 kit. 969 Motorworks and CDOC, both site sponsors, had sales. I've got a set on my 996 and have been very happy with the adjustability, ride and handling improvements over the stock sport suspension.

x2

If your car is pre '02, RoW 030, if later than '02, X74. Porsche engineers know what they're doing, you won't be sorry. Plus it's OEM and won't kill your resale value on the car.

PSS9s will not "kill" the resale of the car either. Moreover, you can just keep the stock suspension and reinstall it before sale.

True enough Todd,if you keep the stock stuff, but given two similar cars on the used car market, the one with pss9's will be a harder sell than a car without 'aftermaket' parts.

thanks for the advice guys. i think i'll stick to the row 030 as an upgrade, hopefully i can get it in before christmas. when i'm ready for coilovers, i'm thinking motons

Penguinking, Not sure what year your car is but I have a brand new ROW M030 kit for 99-01 C2 available in the classifieds. Thanks.

Don't forget some safety items before you jump on the track. They are more important than a second set of tires for R-compounds.