Beginner Racing

[Jittsl]

As everybody said work through the ranks.

Racing Specbox for two years and doing 6-8 weekends per year has cost me about $2-3k per weekend including all expenses, travel costs, maintenance, tires and brakes.

5 speed Gearboxes are weak. Every Specbox event at a least one person (and often 2 or 3 people) looses their gearbox. The rest of the car seems pretty much unbreakable (presuming you've done the IMS).

Have fun.

[jb92563]

Lots of good, input here and that rounds out my thoughts on what to expect and a plan to get there.

Sounds like the Boxster is quite a durable racing machine even in its stock fitment.

I've been thinking of a scissor lift for the garage and it would sure come in handy to keep an eye on things and make adjustments, tire changes, brakes , maintenance etc.

Another set of rims for the race tires might also be nice to have.

[Jittsl]

If your budget is in any way limited think twice about a scissor lift. I can get my car up on four stands in about 3 minutes (quicker than you can sort out your lift) and once up I can do all the routine maintenance (engine/transmission oil, brakes, suspension) without any issues. When I do need a lift is when it's time to drop motor or gearbox and a scissor lift is little (or no) use in those circumstances. For this job you need a 2 or 4 post lift. I prefer a 4 post because I can use it for doing the most common maintenance of all - wheel alignment.

My post track schedule is up on stands for a hour or two while I do most of the maintenance and then on to my friend's 4-poster for alignment, underbody check and replacing the gearbox again.

If however you have an unlimited budget get both a 2 and a 4 - they both have their purposes.

Worry about safety gear and seat time long before your second set of tires. You can go along way into the process with one set of wheels.

[shadrach74]

Jittsl,

Can you expand on your 3 minute lift procedure? For me, the biggest hassle in working on this car is access. AFAIK there are 4 jack points. Ho do you jack all 4 corners of a box in 3 minutes and place jack stands in the areas where you are using a Jack?

Originally Posted by Jittsl

If your budget is in any way limited think twice about a scissor lift. I can get my car up on four stands in about 3 minutes (quicker than you can sort out your lift) and once up I can do all the routine maintenance (engine/transmission oil, brakes, suspension) without any issues. When I do need a lift is when it's time to drop motor or gearbox and a scissor lift is little (or no) use in those circumstances. For this job you need a 2 or 4 post lift. I prefer a 4 post because I can use it for doing the most common maintenance of all - wheel alignment.

My post track schedule is up on stands for a hour or two while I do most of the maintenance and then on to my friend's 4-poster for alignment, underbody check and replacing the gearbox again.

If however you have an unlimited budget get both a 2 and a 4 - they both have their purposes.

Worry about safety gear and seat time long before your second set of tires. You can go along way into the process with one set of wheels.

[j.fro]

For the quick lift procedure, start by lifting at the right rear lift point and get a stand under the right front. Repeat on the left side and the front is in the air. Then I lift at the center rear and place both rear stands either under the lift points in front of the wheels oR under the diagonal crossmembers, depending on where I need to work.

And for the OP, last year I did 20 AX events. Here's the rough budget:
20 entry fees @ $35= $700
20 140 mile round trips = $560
2 sets of tires @ $1000= $2000
2 oil changes @ $100= $200
Incidentals= $250
Total= $3710

Pretty cheap for a solid year of auto racing. Boat racers spend that much on Advil!

[Jittsl]

I do almost the same as jfro but my process only requires 2 raises of the jack. Either will be fine. You need I jack and 4 stands.

1) Lift centre rear (i go straight under the aluminum section that supports the rear of the skid plate) and place stand under each rear jack point.
2) Raise left or right side at jack point and place jack stands under front cross members on both sides just inside the rear of the front wheels.

RE $3710 for 20 AXs. The other way of looking at that is costing $3710 for 2 hours of track time (assuming 6 x 1 minute runs per AX). That works out expensive compared to my $2-3k weekends which give as much as 4hrs track time each.


And before you all start I'm joking!!!!!!

Laurie

[thstone]

Originally Posted by jb92563

Sounds like the Boxster is quite a durable racing machine even in its stock fitment.

The stock Boxster is not only quite durable, it has an amazing amount of performance in stock form. For the first year, the best place to invest your money is in seat time.

As your driving skills progress, you'll know when you need something more from the car and can upgrade it as you go.

The time to go to racing tires is when your car control skills will allow you to: routinely drive at the limit; overdrive the limit and intentionally slide the car; recover the slide and drive away. Slapping on r-compound race tires too early will waste money and might even make learning these skills harder.

Same thing for brake pads; initially the stock pads will be fine. Then you'll start using the brakes harder. Eventually you'll be going fast enough and braking hard enough that you'll cook the stock pads. Then its time for an upgrade. To do the upgrade earlier just costs more money.