So I've had some free time lately and have been thinking about my racing career. I've really enjoyed the golf but FWD is not as fun to drive as RWD. I've also become so good in the golf that there's only 3-4 people who are competitive with me. The rest of the field has become dull. I'm in the lead for yearly total points in 2WD and want that trophy. I plan on driving the golf until I have the season wrapped up and no one can catch me. I've decided to get back into the boxster as my official race car starting next year. RWD is technically the slower than FWD or AWD and I think I need the handicap to keep it interesting. In preperation of bringing the boxster back, I've been working on some improvements.
The first was the overheating issues I would get when racing in 90+ degree weather. I upgraded the coooling tubes going to the radiator. I put in larger tubes that double the amount of coolant going to the radiator. The previous lines were embarrassingly small and probably contributed to the engine going out. I also cut more holes in the front so more air can flow to the radiator.
I've also been experimenting with adding aero to the front. With rallycross and autocross, you can't have too much down force. Drag really doesn't matter because you rarely get over 70mph. Seeing that I don't have side radiators, I decided to take advantage of the air going through the openings and try to create some down force. I built this front spoiler/splitter out of some scrap aluminum I had laying around. To help relieve air pressure built up inside the fenders, I lifted the rear of the fenders so air could escape out the rear of the wheel well.
My next improvement will be the rear struts. I've blown through two low mile sets and I think the factory struts are the next week link. I was thinking of using struts from a MK6 golf because I've been beating the crap out of that golf and the struts haven't showed any signs of wear. I think the golf struts might be more durable and give me more cheap options for future fine tuning of the suspension. I have a 2014 golf with only 35K sitting in my yard so I grabbed the struts out of it to see what it would take. They look like they might fit with little modifications. The bolt pattern on top is wider and the shock tube is 1-2mm larger. They look like they will also give me about 2 inches of ride height and more suspension travel.
