Spec Boxster Build

[Greg Holmberg]

Originally Posted by thstone

Great info Greg! Thanks for posting!

Looking through your data set, I'd love to drive a NASA NP-01...

Yep, those look like great race cars!

https://nasaprototype.com

Built in the US by Elan, which builds professional-level formula and prototype cars.

Advantages:

• Top-notch design and construction.
• Toyo RR tires, which you're familiar with.
• Some downforce.
• A very safe, enclosed car.
• Operational costs are very low at $194 per hour: long-lasting reliable engine, uses pump gas, 20 HC tires.
• They have their own class with NASA.

Disadvantages:

• Purchase cost: $73,000 used.
• About the same speed as Formula F.
• Heavy for a purpose-built car (1725 lbs with driver).
• Not competitive in any other organization.
• Relatively few built, so the fields aren't very big.

I think the reason more haven't been bought is that the crowd that has the money for an $86,000 car (new), expect to go a lot faster. For that kind of money, you can buy an SCCA P1 car and go REALLY fast. Too fast for me personally (I've watched their videos, and it's scary!)--I'd be happy with FF or NP01 speed. I just don't have the $86,000!

I'd be curious what an NP01 costs to rent, given that the operational costs are so low.


Greg

[JayG]

Originally Posted by Greg Holmberg

I've seen quite a few different makes of cars run in PCA "Driving Education" events, but I've never seen a purpose-built car (formula or sports racer/prototype). Check with them, but I don't think they would allow such a low, light-weight car on track with the 3000# street cars for safety reasons. Also very different performance: the street cars would hold you up in the corners, then blow by you on the straights.

Maybe you could run an FST or F600 with NASA. Although even their unlimited class for purpose-built cars is all covered-wheel, as far as I've seen.

A place that's a little lower-stress place to race a formula car would be with the vintage organizations. There's been quite a resurgence in vintage Formula Ford lately.

There are lots of fun purpose-built track toys around with covered wheels that you could probably run with PCA, NASA, etc. Radical, Ariel Atom, Diaso, Exocet, etc. You might look on racingjunk.com, race-cars.com, or bringatrailer.com


Greg

No, our TT/DE is fine with just about any car as long as it is safe and meets our safety rules. For FST or F600, it would need roll cage, harnesses and fire system. We have had lots of different cars at our track events from bone stock Miata's to Super 7's, GT-4 clubsports, cup cars, frankenporsche's and everything in between. The run groups are split up based on lap times mainly and driver skill/experience

[Quadcammer]

np01 with a high hp NA 4 cylinder or turbo would be a beast.

My buddies considered building one but the lack of racing competition is a bit of a bummer.

[seningen]

Originally Posted by Greg Holmberg

I've seen quite a few different makes of cars run in PCA "Driving Education" events, but I've never seen a purpose-built car (formula or sports racer/prototype). Check with them, but I don't think they would allow such a low, light-weight car on track with the 3000# street cars for safety reasons. Also very different performance: the street cars would hold you up in the corners, then blow by you on the straights.

Maybe you could run an FST or F600 with NASA. Although even their unlimited class for purpose-built cars is all covered-wheel, as far as I've seen.

A place that's a little lower-stress place to race a formula car would be with the vintage organizations. There's been quite a resurgence in vintage Formula Ford lately.

There are lots of fun purpose-built track toys around with covered wheels that you could probably run with PCA, NASA, etc. Radical, Ariel Atom, Diaso, Exocet, etc. You might look on racingjunk.com, race-cars.com, or bringatrailer.com


Greg

SRF's and Radical's run at COTA in Schnelfest regularly. I think it just has to NOT be open wheel.

[PaulE]

The NNJR VIR HPDE earlier this month had an LMP racer in the Black or Red run group. There was also a NASCAR Monte Carlo running too. Both were very loud. The owner of the LMP car said he had only recently bought it and wanted to get some seat time before racing it. I hope these pictures don't come through upside down, Apple hasn't been playing nice for me on a PC with Google Chrome.



At a NER Watkins Glen HPDE I saw this car which looks similar to what Tom Stone drove.

Originally Posted by Greg Holmberg

I've seen quite a few different makes of cars run in PCA "Driving Education" events, but I've never seen a purpose-built car (formula or sports racer/prototype). Check with them, but I don't think they would allow such a low, light-weight car on track with the 3000# street cars for safety reasons. Also very different performance: the street cars would hold you up in the corners, then blow by you on the straights.

Maybe you could run an FST or F600 with NASA. Although even their unlimited class for purpose-built cars is all covered-wheel, as far as I've seen.

A place that's a little lower-stress place to race a formula car would be with the vintage organizations. There's been quite a resurgence in vintage Formula Ford lately.

There are lots of fun purpose-built track toys around with covered wheels that you could probably run with PCA, NASA, etc. Radical, Ariel Atom, Diaso, Exocet, etc. You might look on racingjunk.com, race-cars.com, or bringatrailer.com


Greg

[Burg Boxster]

Driver of this LMP is in the absolute WRONG vehicle if, as appears as such in photo, the Cayman is keeping up with or caught him.

Got enough $ to buy a LMP? Great, then you have enough $ to do private test and tune days w like caliber vehicles. The performance delta between LMP and Cup cars not to mention street cars (which many are in HPDEs) makes this very dangerous...

Originally Posted by PaulE

[PaulE]

Originally Posted by Burg Boxster

Driver of this LMP is in the absolute WRONG vehicle if, as appears as such in photo, the Cayman is keeping up with or caught him.

Got enough $ to buy a LMP? Great, then you have enough $ to do private test and tune days w like caliber vehicles. The performance delta between LMP and Cup cars not to mention street cars (which many are in HPDEs) makes this very dangerous...

You're probably right about test days and where to bring that car, but trust me the Cayman wasn't keeping up with him. He just passed it on the short straight that leads into turn 3 known as NASCAR bend and he was pulling away even in the corner, that's just the shot I happened to catch of the car. Red drivers said they were being given the blue passing flag when they had nothing in sight in their rear view mirrors and then the LMP came out of nowhere. Our red group usually has everything from 914s, 944s and Boxsters up to GT3 Cup Cars, this was the only time I've ever seen an LMP.

[Greg Holmberg]

Originally Posted by seningen

SRF's and Radical's run at COTA in Schnelfest regularly. I think it just has to NOT be open wheel.

Yes. JayG was asking about open-wheel formula cars, Formula First (FST) and Formula 600 (F6). None of the examples people have cited here are open-wheel cars. I can't imagine running a 700 lb open-wheel car (F6) with the street cars.

Greg

[husker boxster]

Originally Posted by seningen

SRF's and Radical's run at COTA in Schnelfest regularly. I think it just has to NOT be open wheel.

I ran in the Advanced DE / Club Race at COTA a few yrs ago and there were some of these in my run group. There was also one at Indy a few yrs ago. They make a lot of noise but are easy to miss in your mirrors.

We actually had one sign up for a DE we hosted at RPM in 2018. I'm registrar for our region and I contacted our safety chair to see what he thought. I said it should be OK as long as the driver didn't tuck directly behind someone. Very easy to hide that way. But visibility is good if they sit half way to one side and "present themselves". Our safety chair had a discussion with the guy about safety and being seen and after talking to the driver was fine with letting him attend (the guy was from CHI). We also had a discussion in the driver's mtg, as our members weren't used to having to watch for someone like this. It all worked out and everyone had fun. Good experience for our group.

[thstone]

I finally got around to reading the Sept issue of PCA Club Racing magazine and was listed as a Hard Charger in the Laguna Seca race back in July where i picked up 6 spots in Race #1...

[maytag]

Originally Posted by thstone

I finally got around to reading the Sept issue of PCA Club Racing magazine and was listed as a Hard Charger in the Laguna Seca race back in July where i picked up 6 spots in Race #1...

Dood! That's awesome!
That's almost better than being listed leading.... (not that I've experienced either in a car, Hahaha)
And it's certainly more fun fighting for positions than holding a lonely 2nd or 3rd.

Way to go!

Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk

[The Radium King]

right on! i got the hard charger award at our last race of the season in september. it's no miss congeniality 'everybody who participates gets a prize' thing; it's for giving it heck and punching above your weight.

[thstone]

Another test day in an SRF at Buttonwillow. With three days in an SRF now, I am feeling pretty good. Still not up to full race speed (especially while driving a car that I don't own), but definitely making decent lap times.

The weather was clear and sunny but the temps were in the high 40's in the morning, so I was freezing in my super light summer racing suit! I also learned that Hoosier R7 slicks need 2-3 laps to sufficiently warm up in those temps or the car can snap oversteer at corner entry. At least I was able to get back on track without a tow.

You might notice arm restraints next to the lap belts. With no top or window nets, we want to keep all arms and hands in the vehicle at all times. I usually don't wear them in the Boxster because of the roof, roof net, and window net. Its surprising but I don't even notice them when they're on.

In some ways, the SRF is easier to drive than the Spec Boxster - there is a lot more feedback and the chassis does exactly what you expect, but it can be unforgiving if you give the wrong input. On the other hand, the Boxster is easier to handle at the limit and is definitely more forgiving to driver inputs.

The seat in this car fits me a lot better than the seat in the SRF that I drove previously, but that fiberglass seat bottom doesn't absorb much - its a stiff ride.

Overall, a super fun day racing around with some friends.

Did I mention that this car is for sale? Hmm...

[JayG]

Happy New Year, Tom

[thstone]

Originally Posted by JayG

Happy New Year, Tom

Thanks Jay! Same to you and your family!

[thstone]

Its been awhile since I've been to a DE but our local PCA Region recently decided to host a Sunday DE at the relatively nearby Streets of Willow track. My race sponsor, House Automotive, was the event sponsor and House's owner, Greg Hwang, invited about 15 of his best clients to attend the event and wanted me to attend to interact with his clients - many of whom I already knew.

This was the first ever DE event for our region and they did a fantastic job. More so, I had kinda forgotten how much fun going to the track for fun can be!

I was in the Red/Fastest group (still only point-by passing) and there were several cars who wanted to see how fast I really am in the Spec Boxster. Now, I have to say that I cut my teeth on the Streets course back in my DE and Time Trial days - I logged a lot of laps and had a lot of instruction there so I know the nuances of how to get around the track quickly.

In the first session, there were two 991 GT-3's, a couple of G-series 911 hot rods, and a Camaro ZL1 1LE (650 hp) that were clearly pacing me. I kept things under control and focused on re-familiarizing myself with the track to find the optimal turn-in, shift, and throttle points. It all came back pretty quickly.

In the second session, I decided to go hard so I lined up first, the others lined up behind me, and the when the session went green, IT was on.

At the end of the session, I had left the entire field behind, came all the way around, worked my way through traffic to lap them all, and gapped them all again - except for one 964 hot rod. The 964 was about 3/4's of a lap behind but I never overtook him.

The guy in the Camaro ZL1 1LE came over after the session and wanted to know how much power I had. He was positive that I had to be running a 3.8L motor with at least 400hp. He was astounded when I said that I only had 200hp (and still lapped him and his 650hp). This kind of thing is always enjoyable in a Boxster!

But what was most enjoyable was simply spending a day at the track without the pressure of racing and all that comes with it.

If you have never been to a race track in your Porsche or if its been awhile, find a local track and give it a try. I guarantee it will be some of the most fun that you've ever had in your life.

[thstone]

** Spec Racer Ford Gen 3 **

After 5 years of Spec Boxster racing, consulting other racers, talking to some very well known ex-pro drivers, and test driving a number of different race cars, I have made the decision to move to a Spec Racer Ford (SRF) Gen 3 car and race with the SCCA for the 2020 season.

I have purchased the #67 (below) which will be re-numbered to #54 and will be re-painted to my preference (colors TBD). My first SCCA race will be in three weeks at Cal Speedway in Fontana on January 24th.

I will be part of the MBI SRF team that is based at Buttonwillow Raceway in Central California. MBI is the home of four time SRF National Champion Mike Miserendino. MBI will provide full race support for the 2020 season including all car maintenance, repairs, tires, upgrades, transportation, along with full crew and hospitality support at each race. Mike will provide coaching to help get me up to competitive speed in the SRF-3.

This means that the #254 Spec Boxster will be offered for sale. The #254 is a great car and will serve someone else quite well on their Spec Boxster journey.

Racing with the POC and PCA has been one of the highlights of my life and with that foundation, I feel that I am ready to move up a level in terms of car capability and a level of driver competition. You all have heard me preach about not improving the car until your driving is better than the car and I feel that I have reached that point with the Spec Boxster.

I will also have the opportunity to race at a couple of the greatest tracks in the US this year such as Road America and Watkins Glen. Racing at all of the great tracks has always been one of my goals and I still have Lime Rock, Sebring, COTA, Mid-Ohio, and VIR on my wish list.

And yes, this means that I will be Boxster-less for the first time in more than 9 years! I hope that you'll continue to let me hang out here on the 986 Forum as an honorary Boxster enthusiast!

I haven't decided what platform to use for my SCCA adventure (Facebook? Insta? SRF Forum? Blog? YouTube?) but as soon as I do, I'll post a link so anyone interested can follow along.

Longer term, I have definite plans to be back racing in a Porsche in the not too far future. It would be great to campaign a Cayman GT-4 Clubsport or a 911 991 Cup car in a few years when I am ready for the big leagues.

Saying "Thanks" to you all somehow seems far too inadequate. You guys have no idea how much your support has meant to me. I truly and sincerely thank you.

Tom

[steved0x]

Great HPDE story, that sounds like it was a lot of fun! Good luck with your SRF adventures, I'm looking forward to reading all about them.

[thstone]

Originally Posted by steved0x

Great HPDE story, that sounds like it was a lot of fun! Good luck with your SRF adventures, I'm looking forward to reading all about them.

Thanks Steve! Yes, as you can attest its always great fun beating higher power cars on the racetrack!

[husker boxster]

Congrats on the promotion and best of luck. Hope you get to drive COTA, it's a fantastic track.

I wondered if they weren't baiting the hook with all those free sessions.