boxster and gravel roads - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

mikefocke · 11-13-2010, 11:28 AM

so that option is out.

From your description, I'd want whatever 4WD was most repairable/maintainable in the area you are moving to. Subaru?

Lobo1186 · 11-13-2010, 12:12 PM

that should do the trick!

Lobo1186 · 11-13-2010, 12:27 PM

OH side note. your boxster will have a tough time off-road without some kind of differential seeing as yours is probably open this is a big no no off-road.

JTP · 11-13-2010, 01:36 PM

When I was living back home on Maui there was a guy who had a 914 with a Chevy 327 in it and it was set up like a rally car. He used to drive it on the beach all the time and never got stuck. A Boxster might be able to be setup like that too. You'll propably have to do alot of custom work though.

Topless · 11-13-2010, 01:46 PM

Anything can be done with enough $$ but do you really want to?? There are a lot of tender spots on the underside that will need protection, the engine bay cooling comes from underneath bringing up all the dust and dirt. You will want to raise the car 6" or so for better clearance. The air intake is behind the front wheels so it should be relocated for clean air. Take a look at some of the Targa Newfoundland builds to get ideas:
http://www.targanewfoundland.com/drivers/cars/

Before you break out the cutting torch and diamond plate:

Drive a Cayenne. Amazing car on and off road.
Drive a Toureg. Down market Cayenne with VW badge.
Drive a Subaru. A lot of car hidden in that vanilla sled exterior.

JTP · 11-14-2010, 04:16 AM

Now this looks like fun! Seems like there's more Boxster/Cayman rally cars than I originally thought. Quite a few GT3 rally cup cars too.

But Topless has a point, do you really want to do this to YOUR car? If I had disposable income I definitely would but I'm that fortunate.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3U_NNnNAJ4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8vX6VHKvxM&feature=related

Here's the guy's car, interestingly the car weights 986 kgs.:
http://homepage.virgin.net/shalco.com/boxster_rally_car.htm

stephen wilson · 11-14-2010, 07:43 AM

How rough is rough? Many "simple" things can be done: stregthened skid plates, large mud-flaps to protect the body, fine wire screens on all inlets, taller profile tires. Be carefull of gravel getting stuck in the brake clipers.If the roads aren't deeply rutted, you don't need to increase the ride height too much. I'm not sure about suspension durability. I'd seek a rally website to look for more information.