Porsche 944 track car

[Will]

I think there may be one or two 944 fans here so i thought I'd share my most recent purchase, A 1989 944 S2.

As you see it's not exactly standard. It has a 1/2 roll cage, bucket seats, 4 point harness and adjustable suspension.

It needs some TLC in places but nothing too major. Once it's all ready it's off for some track day fun

 

[Steven944]

I've had my 944 for nearly 15 years and am a bit of an addict! I had a white S2 for a while as my daily driver. It was a great car, if a little 'antiseptic' in character. Yours looks to have a little more gravitas than mine did...

 

[Aluminium]

944's/968's are great on track, watch for corroded fuel/brake lines behind the rear beam and in the front wheel arch areas.
Keep a spare DME relay in the car and a spare heater control valve too (mine exploded on track, coolant all over the manifold makes for a lotta steam/smoke!).

Where are you based, do you have a decent specialist who can look after it?

Enjoy it

 

[Will]

Thanks's for the tips Aluminium. I'm near Banbury. But I've already been to EMC Motorsport in Birmingham who look to be 944/968 gurus.

Cambelt & tensioner are fairly new, but it needs a service, plus pads and brake fluid.

I've been told Dunlop DZ03G are the tyres to go for but at £180+VAT I'll wear the current ones out be replacing.

So a few jobs then off to a circuit.

 

[Aluminium]

EMC used to service my 968 Sport, I go there for a social whenever I have a free Saturday - they're a great bunch of lads.

The Dunlops are fantastic!
Have you done trackdays before?
Bedford GT is great for learning driving techniques, Donington and Castle Combe are my fave tracks though.

Sadly sold my 968 and I'm running an A2, planning on getting a Cayman S at some point in the near future . . . but lovin the fuel saving at the moment, especially with the current state of affairs with the economy and fuel prices.

 

[humps]

Interesting choice with some VW/Audi association . It certainly looks, erm, purposeful! I'll be interested to learn about the running cost of this. I've been thinking about e36 M3/328, MX5 mk1/2 or even an RX-8 but need to work out what distribution of my finds would be (running cost, track time, smiles per mile).

 

[Will]

The car is a bit wide-boy I admit - though it's more about function than form and you wont see me cruising the high-street on a Friday night

For the Mk1 MX5 I used to have, if the track day cost me £150 then consumables (fuel, brakes, tyres) were another £150. Fuel was the biggest % @ 15mpg, tyres are £50 and brake pads £50 lasting 3/4 track days. A fairly cheap car considering.

I'll keep a log of the 944 costs. I know already the favoured semi-slick Dunlop tyres are £180/each and pads £80, geometry alignment £200.

 

[dan_b]

Is the Chassis strut brace standard kit?
Bedford is a great circuit, pretty high speed too.
I remember when I used to track days in my S2 that people were always on about the Toyo R888s as the Macdaddy of track-day tyres...

 

[FlyingScot]

Nice purchase, that'll be fun.

I've done a fair few trackdays on bikes (got four days on track at Almeria over Easter) but never tried a car one.

Do you keep your track car road legal and drive to the circuit or do you need to trailer it there?
I quite fancy taking my SLK on track but I'm not sure what the attitude of the other drivers is like?

My nearest circuit is Knockhill, it's very hard work on the bike but should be good in the car as it's not as quick.

Enjoy

 

[Will]

Is the Chassis strut brace standard kit?
Bedford is a great circuit, pretty high speed too.
I remember when I used to track days in my S2 that people were always on about the Toyo R888s as the Macdaddy of track-day tyres...

No, I believe the strut brace is after-market.
I've been to Bedford once before -quite liked it, though a little characterless. I'd go again though as it's often good value.
From what I've read the R888 are more suited to light-weight cars due to their lower stiffness sidewall. But I'm just repeating what I've read as I've no personal experience of those nor the Dunlops. I'll try at see

Nice purchase, that'll be fun.

I've done a fair few trackdays on bikes (got four days on track at Almeria over Easter) but never tried a car one.

Do you keep your track car road legal and drive to the circuit or do you need to trailer it there?
I quite fancy taking my SLK on track but I'm not sure what the attitude of the other drivers is like?

My nearest circuit is Knockhill, it's very hard work on the bike but should be good in the car as it's not as quick.

Enjoy

Thanks.
The car is road legal and it's my intention to drive to the circuit and back (fingers crossed).
I've been on only half a dozen track days and rarely is there any trouble on the circuit. Mostly it's well behaved and a friends bunch of car enthusiasts.
The single marque focused days tend to be better for the social side of things.

 

[humps]

...
I quite fancy taking my SLK on track but I'm not sure what the attitude of the other drivers is like?
..

I'd say go with reputable Track Day Organisers (TDO). MSV, Book-a-track, GoldTrack. They may be more expensive but well run and it is safer than driving on motorways. People willing to pay more are usually more careful with their own car too. Usual rules of over taking is strictly by consent and on straights observed on all the days I've been. I've shared tracks with banger class 205s, to factory Aston Martin GT4 on slicks and never had an issue. Very safe. I've seen videos of cheap track days and they look horrible, like a busy nurburgring TF day horrible.

 

[humps]

...were always on about the Toyo R888s as the Macdaddy of track-day tyres...

R888 very common on Elises, Avon 048 also. Friend runs a 111s and is happy with a Hankook RS2s as well. But the higher end Porsche crowd don't like the 888. All the GT3 owners I know will only run Michelin, PS2s for road, MPSC for track, even if they have to drive very slow in the Belgium rain on way to Spa/Nurburg. The new ultimate tyre seems to be Michelin Pilot Super Sport. The MPSS is meant to be as good as the PS3 in the rain and almost as good as MPSC in the dry while lasting twice as long on track! Sounds like an awesome road tack tyre. Shame they don't make it for my 996 factory size.

 

[Adrian888]

That looks like fun! I do miss my 944T, just sublime to drive and 28-30 mpg day-in day-out. Would I own another? IF I had a garage then yes but parking the car outside through the winter was starting to takes it toll and combined with 12 months unemployment it had to go.

 

[Will]

That looks like fun! I do miss my 944T, just sublime to drive and 28-30 mpg day-in day-out. Would I own another? IF I had a garage then yes but parking the car outside through the winter was starting to takes it toll and combined with 12 months unemployment it had to go.

This w/e job is to rust treat the sills and arches with Dinitrol. The past 23 years are showing their signs for sure. But once it's all done it'll be parked back in the garage.