Henrik

iTrader: (5)

Toying with ideas for a cheap track day car.

I'm *not* expecting to "win any races", I just want something that's RWD and not too expensive.

The Porsche 924 seems quite attractive, especially as you can get them with the same running gear (I'm led to believe) as the 944 (i.e. the 2.5 NA engine)?

Bearing in mind that a tatty 924 can be had for as little as 400-500 notes, would it be a fun track car? As I said, not bothered about going fast, just want something cheap

Being a VW, it can't be too bad reliability wise, can it? Then again, they're pushing 20 years now


Edit: the age thing might speak in its favour too - less electrical gizmos to go wrong?

Jamo

iTrader: (23)

you need to speak to simon (gc8) hes just bought a 924 on the cheap and has a 944 which he is currently converting to a track car.

I also have a 944s, (look in my plus profile)

hth

james

Henrik

iTrader: (5)

Nice one Do you intend on tracking yours as well?

To be honest, I could take the scooby, but I'm a bit pissed off with the running costs of it already, and I don't think tracking will make them any lower

I'll drop gc8 a pm and point him to this thread

Jamo

iTrader: (23)

im not using mine on the track its far to mint, id cry if i broke it.

the porsche is fantastic on fuel, ive been getting high 30's in it. not bad for a 22 year old car!

what would scooby do

stop mucking around, decent porker track car is a 968CS

Cheap fun you are better off with a MK2 MR2 with sorted brakes and suspension..

Henrik

iTrader: (5)

hmm, MR2 seems too hard to work on with the mid engine and weighs 150kg more as well

Although, it probably handles better out of the box.

what would scooby do

thing is you are unlikely to break it, and if you do just pop in the 6 cylinder camry engine.. bored with that then just turbo it aswell

track car fun is all about balance, handling and grip - sure top speed and grunt is fun in a straight line but getting the corners and exit speeds is sweeter..

GC8

A 924S will make a brilliant track car. They’ll make 175BHP quite easily and with very little expenditure: more importantly though, they’re very light. I see that the '968 myth' has been perpetuated here, although I’m not criticising the poster: I’ve been guilty of it myself, I was a Club Sport bore when I owned one (a long time ago). The 968 was bloated, weight-wise as well as price-wise; and the Club Sport was Porsche's attempt to ramp up sales by cutting standard fit equipment and in turn, price (Porsche usually charged more for pared back models). The 924S is 300kgs lighter than the 968 and 200kgs lighter than series two (nothing to do with S2) 944:. Even the first detuned 924S models accelerated more quickly than the series two 944 and the 'Le Mans' and MY88 cars, with full power 163bhp engines, were faster still. The model had a higher top speed too, due to its narrower lower drag body: along with a superior handling balance (as all 924s have, over their bloated heavier wide-tracked successors). By the time you have removed the seats, trim & sound deadening and replaced the glass with polycarbonate, you’ll be weighing-in at somewhere approaching 950kgs, with a reliable 175bhp and handling that a 968 can only dream of...

Henrik

iTrader: (5)

ace

What are the engines like to work on if something goes pop? I see that there's a wealth of spares etc on ebay, so i'm sure spares can be obtained, it's just more a question of working on it

GC8

On the whole; if they fail then theyre f*cked. The 928/944 engines use a non linered aluminium block with a hard borasil coating and whilst its theroetically possible to rebuild them, its always cheaper to source a replacement engine.