Porsche Enthusiasts Club Forum

Hi - having enjoyed my 1987 2.5 Lux for a year, thought I'd have a bit of fun and make it a bit more "trackday", learning how to do the work myself.
Have been trying for find threads where people have done similar, for inspiration, but drawn a blank - can anyone point me in the right direction?
Cheers, Howard

How far do you want to go? Is it for the occasional track day but mostly road use, or more dedicated track car? This is very important to consider in advance and also your budget.

You can develop it in stages depending how serious you want to get. Here are some starter ideas:-
1. Brakes, serivce the calipers and fit quality discs and pads.
2. Suspension, check all mounts and bushes are in good condition. You could consider replacing with poly or other harder bushes (this will generate more cabin noise on normal roads). Then decided on what shocks, springs, torsion bars and anti roll bars you want.
3. Engine performance, minimum of good serivce and tune up. Might want to consider performance exhaust, panel filter upgrade and Promax or similar chip.
4. Weight reduction, removal all carpets and sound deadening, weight bucket seats in front, remove rears. The car will be extremely noise in cabin after this.
5. Some form of roll cage ansd harnesses
6. Fire extinguisher

There is no simple answer to your question, just more questions

But before any of the above get some track driving tuition, and ask the instructor about potential tweaks he might recommend.

Have fun.

Its expensive. The tinsel of preparation is cheap and frequently seen, but proper work, less so.

New brake hoses, lines, fluid and pads, and rebuilt calipers. You may get away without the lines and calipers but the latter would be a huge mistake.

New bushes all round. Not cheap and not easy.

New strut mounts: not expensive on a series one car, expensive on any series two car.

New struts and dampers: now your commitment will really be tested.

When you've done this you can start thinking about cages, seats and extinguishers, but Id save my money for the mechanical work that itll need. Borthday service, new radiator and hoses etc.

As a treat for my son who was over from the States last year my elder son and I booked a track evening at Knockhill. 3 drivers 2 cars, Lux and S2.
The Lux was bog standard but well maintained, My S2 is tweaked a bit but the wife said if you kill my son I'll never forgive you. So good excuse to tweak it a bit more.
Found a rear bolt in half Heigo cage and some Recaro SPGs ont'bay. Bought a Sabelt 4 point harness for the driver, found some good Cup 2's and a set of trackdays tyres. well it looks a bit more the part.
Replaced the brake lines with Kunifer, new flexies, new discs and Pagid Yellows, Caliper refurbed recently. Already on Konis, front comp wishbones, 968 camber blocks, new arb bushes, short shift kit (only944. brill), Promax chip and MAF fit (Scanvision type). Changed oil to 15/50, belts check. Removed rear seat back and rear wiper.

Weather was great, track great, totally fun, Lux was slowest car out but other drivers very courteous, S2 9 secs a lap faster but problems showed up very quickly mainly difficult to get 2nd at hairpin and a horrible rattle accelerating out of the corner. Gearbox mount was fubar and silencer heat shield was not healthy.
Gearbox mount replaced with Lyndsay racing semi solid one and heat shield cured with a big washer.

A few weeks later I rang my eldest "How do you fancy a novice day at Oulton Park?"
So off we went, just the S2 this time. Absolutely ideal day, track quiet no ijits. Car performed faultlessly this time. We both had a great time. I have been round Oulton many times in the past in cars and on bikes but Richard had only done Forza.
Since then coil overs, lowered stiffened, full rear rebuild and M030 arbs. That'll do for now still my daily, and a delight to drive on the road.
The idea is to have fun safely so brakes and suspension in top condition performance mods can wait.

Thanks for all your replies - that gives me lots to think about, and a place to start!

An open sunroof makes your car actually slower - it acts like an air brake - (see 747s landing YouTube) - and will negate the downforce normally associated with the fixed rear spoiler by unwanted air turbulence thus generated...?

Dave
CT

While new bushes etc. would help I would do the following first if the suspension is "OK".

1) New brake fluid
2) Full Service
3) New tyres if they are older than 6 years old. That does make a staggering difference.
4) Tuition. When I took my Clio around a very wet Cadwell Park I was OK beforehand but even 30 mins of tuition really sped me up alot and made me find speed where I thought I didn't have it and sometimes in strange and rewarding methods of driving (i.e, putting your foot down where you don't expect to!

The best track day mods is your own personal safety - that means a decent racing fire-retardant suit and gloves and shoes and the very best racing helmet that is FIA approved.

Dave
CT

An open sunroof makes your car actually slower - it acts like an air brake - (see 747s landing YouTube) - and will negate the downforce normally associated with the fixed rear spoiler by unwanted air turbulence thus generated...?

Dave

Maybe, but can't say I noticed. Not really relevant in track days. It's not testing, it's not racing and it's Oulton Park not the Mulsanne Straight. Besides which it was hot.
For me it's about getting to know the car, fine tuning the balance. I don't want to break it or stuff it so I don't red-line it or rely on the abs. When I did a bike training day at Oulton we did laps not using brakes and keeping it in 4th. Taught me a lot about positioning and lines, we were not slow. Same with a car especially an old and precious one, you can still be quick without wringing the car's neck. Having said that I'm pretty sure the laminar air flow will be re-established before it hits the boot spoiler and the downforce effect would be minimal when you don't top much more than 100mph.

Quite right. I ran my 2.7 track day car with with the sunroof removed entirely at one particularly hot outing last July. It probably cost me 5mph at the end of the straight (based on other experience at that track) but it was preferable to being boiled alive in the cabin. Track days (at least as far as I am concerned) are about having fun in the car, not setting the fastest possible lap time.

Thanks for all the suggestions - plenty to think about!