Best value for money non- GT Porsche's for trackdays

[Phooey]

Interested in peoples opinions...

Excluding 'gt' Porsche's, which would you say are the best for trackdays? Best meaning best value for money - not too expensive to run, service, fix, insure, etc etc. Most fun per £. Must be reliable and road worthy too!

I'd of guessed at an early Cayman on 18"s but happy to be proved wrong

[Porsche911R]

goes without saying

It's light, it has passive shocks, open top, buckets seats, easy for a harness if you want to fit them (unlike Caymans) pretty much perfect.

[lemmingjames]

Or you could save £30k and get a 986 then spend the change on mods

[Porsche911R]

lemmingjames said:

Or you could save £30k and get a 986 then spend the change on mods

and end up wih a car worth £5k in a few years !!, the Spyder holds it's value and is good out the box, it may even go up in value, and at a guess will.

[Fezzaman]

Porsche911R said:

lemmingjames said:

Or you could save £30k and get a 986 then spend the change on mods

and end up wih a car worth £5k in a few years !!, the Spyder holds it's value and is good out the box, it may even go up in value, and at a guess will.

True but wouldn't being unnecessarily 'precious' about the Spyder due to its value/speculative play take away from the fun factor you would get otherwise from driving a cheap 986 like you stole it and still have a chunky slosh fund?

Personally I'd have thought a nice cheap early 996 would be good fun.

[IknowJoseph]

Porsche911R said:

and end up wih a car worth £5k in a few years !!, the Spyder holds it's value and is good out the box, it may even go up in value, and at a guess will.

Sad answer for a "best car for track days" thread. May be time to scrape the PH smiley off my car!

[Escy]

If modified isn't cheating, a 986 Boxster S with a 500+bhp Audi engine.

[9e 28]

Early Boxster S for £6k is just the ticket. Surprisingly capable on track especially tight circuits.

[Phooey]

Good shout re the Spyder - low running costs if it doesn't go down in value. Early Boxster sounds good too - if reliable..

Would a 996 be expensive to run?

[lemmingjames]

Phooey said:

Good shout re the Spyder - low running costs if it doesn't go down in value. Early Boxster sounds good too - if reliable..

Would a 996 be expensive to run?

How long is a piece of string?

Would a spyder be reliable after being constantly thrashed on track? Would you need to modify a spyder to make it better for track?

Glad to see that theres still some not interested in values for a car to be driven

[Sandy59]

How about something a bit older like a 968 Sport ??

[9e 28]

Consumables relatively expensive on all the water cooled cars. I covered 160,000 miles in 2 Boxster S with about 5-6 track days a year and they ran faultlessly. 996 a bit to heavy unless stripped.

986 Boxster S 550 Anniversary in particular is excellent on track straight out the box. Very flat through corners and never feels underpowered which is surprising for a car with only 264bhp. Its suspension and induction system tweaked by the factory.

http://press.porsche.com/news/release.php?id=196

Far more fun to drive than Cayman and 987 Boxster that came after it IMO. Boxster Spyder good shout too.

[Steve H]

Sandy59 said:

How about something a bit older like a 968 Sport ??

This.

I've done some racing (and testing on trackdays) in a mates 924 with 968 engine & running gear in it. It's brilliant fun to drive, decently quick and not daft on running costs. Main limiting factor for racing is grip but in trackday terms it's probably the most fun car I've ever used (and I have some experience in this area ).

There are cheap 4-pot junkers out there that I wouldn't go near to but if we are talking a sensible Porsche budget I think it would be hard to beat on a combination of pace and fun factor.

[griffter]

I am very much an occasional / non-expert track dayer, but I have taken quite a variety of machinery on track. By far the quickest and most confidence inspiring was my Spyder. It devastated everything this side of dedicated track cars and high end road stuff. It was very fast, very well suited to it (out of the box) and very rewarding.

But...my Elise was even more satisfying to get "right" and my old e36 328 was more fun, and guiltlessly thrashable, so I think the 986 argument is strong.

At castle Combe yesterday I counted:

986S
981
Cayman R
GT4
991
997 GT3RS (I followed you back to Stroud!)
2 x impact bumper 911s
and a 930!!

And perhaps that's the appeal of Porsche on track. Each appealing and capable in their way.

[GT Two]

911SC lighten it, good tyres, geo and brake fluid and pads.

A whole lot of fun!

Cheap to maintain too, 4 x Bilstein shocks £550.

Set of tyres under £500

Looks as good as any 911 out there too IMO and has lovely direct steering, no ABS, no servo assisted brakes.

Just pure driving fun.

[watercooled]

Porsche911R said:

...the Spyder holds it's value...it may even go up in value, and at a guess will.

Not if tracked, I don't think so. You will have to have a lot of patience to sell such a car in the future.

[boxsey]

Phooey said:

Would a 996 be expensive to run?

Quite a few have tried this route as a cheap alternative to a GT3. They do go very well. See link below to my mate's track modded 996 at Spa. However, the engines are the weak link and even more prone to going pop when used hard on track days.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmyjFUKEpOo

[Phooey]

Some really interesting replies - please keep them coming!

The reason for my question was just to see what fun could be had at the lower end of the scale. I'm not specifically looking for anything (yet) but GT cars have either gone up or held up their value really well, and if like me your pockets either aren't deep enough or you become to precious about them to track these mostly £100k+ machines then what else does Porsche offer? Porsche track days on a budget....

[Phooey]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

I don't know much about the 987. Is the 2.7 generally considered a stronger unit than the 3.4? Finding one with a bit of Porsche warranty on could be a bonus I'd suspect?

[g7jhp]

Caterham 7. Cheap to run and insure, fantastic on track days and retain their value well.