ITR Boxster

[benspeed]

Sorry - didn't call - bought a new ITR Boxster. This '98 car went for $15.7K and has 65K miles - basically the same features as the old car but cleaner - looks new and has new Hankook tires, new brakes and the top is perfect. Came with a hardtop also. At the end of the day I got a better car and still put about $3K in my pocket. Paid $4.2K more - that shows how much $$ some careful research can save you. The market turned and spring pricing has now taken effect. Always buy your sports cars in Dec/Jan.

Cheers,

bigspeed

[Z3_GoCar]

Good to see you've found a replacement.

I've found the same problem when looking at replacing my racer with a new one. I can't believe that I can't find a decent 2.8 for less than 10k, and that like an 8-11 year old car too. I've seen wrecked ones go for 7-8K, and replacement panels only seem to be avalible from the dealer.

James

[dj10]

Sorry - didn't call - bought a new ITR Boxster. This '98 car went for $15.7K and has 65K miles - basically the same features as the old car but cleaner - looks new and has new Hankook tires, new brakes and the top is perfect. Came with a hardtop also. At the end of the day I got a better car and still put about $3K in my pocket. Paid $4.2K more - that shows how much $$ some careful research can save you. The market turned and spring pricing has now taken effect. Always buy your sports cars in Dec/Jan.

Cheers,

bigspeed

Ben, couln't you buy your wrecked car back from the insurance co.? There had to be some good parts still left or was it not worth it? Still wanted to see the picture of the wreck.

I hope you have better luck with this one.

[benspeed]

Hey Dan,

They offered to sell it back to me for $5500. It was pounded pretty bad - bent chassis, ruined front end, motor knocked off the mounts, the whole rear was pancaked and who knows what happened to the trans.

I got such a good settlement on the cash I didn't want to mess with it. Going to take the new Boxster to Pocono for DE event to see how the car behaves and warm up the skills for the upcoming season. We'll be sure to take it easy - no double deal on wreckage.

What I have determined is that a Boxster is not going to respond all that great to IT trim improvements. The intake and exhaust are about as good as I'll get from the factory. No legitimate after market parts makers will make any claim over 5 hp and I'm not spending $3K on an exhaust for 5 hp. Nobody is making any real claims on intake improvements either.

If anybody has feedback on what they think a Boxster will make in IT trim at the crank I'd be very curious to hear that info. I've been told by Farnbacher Lowles that they find the motor difficult to work on and not easy to optimize much beyond factory. This car will be a ITR version of the ITA Miata - all momentum and handling I figure.

You going to Summit for 4/26? I might be there with the GT1/SPO car.

Cheers,

Ben

[dj10]

Hey Dan,

They offered to sell it back to me for $5500. It was pounded pretty bad - bent chassis, ruined front end, motor knocked off the mounts, the whole rear was pancaked and who knows what happened to the trans.

I got such a good settlement on the cash I didn't want to mess with it. Going to take the new Boxster to Pocono for DE event to see how the car behaves and warm up the skills for the upcoming season. We'll be sure to take it easy - no double deal on wreckage.

What I have determined is that a Boxster is not going to respond all that great to IT trim improvements. The intake and exhaust are about as good as I'll get from the factory. No legitimate after market parts makers will make any claim over 5 hp and I'm not spending $3K on an exhaust for 5 hp. Nobody is making any real claims on intake improvements either.

If anybody has feedback on what they think a Boxster will make in IT trim at the crank I'd be very curious to hear that info. I've been told by Farnbacher Lowles that they find the motor difficult to work on and not easy to optimize much beyond factory. This car will be a ITR version of the ITA Miata - all momentum and handling I figure.

You going to Summit for 4/26? I might be there with the GT1/SPO car.

Cheers,

Ben

Ben, remember every Porsche is a race car. All you need to do is get it down to weight and put wheels, tires or tyres and a suspension on it to be competitive. That's why Prosche's are so much more. You almost have a IT car without doing anything to it.
Best of luck

[benspeed]

I like it - will let you know how it behaves on the track in stock form after next weekend at Pocono.

[benspeed]

Pocono North Course was very fun this weekend but a DE event just doesn't stack up to a race weekend or test weekend when you are running against the clock and measuring the results.

The determination on the car - outstanding brakes. I ran KFP purlple in front and gold in the back and these were some of the grabbiest pads I've used. (But they squeak terribly on the street which sucks.)

The handling was excellent. Coming off the straight into the right hander I was able to just tap brakes and clip the apex at extreme speed. The car would get unsettled only for a moment but recover without much input needed. This will be one of the easiest cars to drive at speed - it was a little wet and I had fun dirt tracking the car around in full drift until they started pointing a furled black at me to calm it down.

Power was way down. I was running with 944 cars with track tires - pretty close to full race cars without cages. No intake or exhaust but great coil over kits. These guys were just as fast on the straights as I was. Granted they had a much better out corner than I did due to tires, but I was disappointed on the power. The car RPM'd up slow which is a sign of low HP. The car's motor is fine and pulls great for a Boxster. My concern is that in IT trim these cars do not get the 20hp or so that many other cars can achieve. The Boxster is pretty maxed from the factory.

Looks like a slow build while enjoying the car on the street. It has potential - I want to see if anybody who has done a full motor build is satisfied with the power. I think the trick to win will be outstanding handling and winning on the short, twisty tracks, while dogging it a little on the fast tracks.

[lateapex911]

.........., but I was disappointed on the power. ...........

Spoken like a true SPO guy!