944 S2 track car

[sy247]

I am thinking about customising my S2 for track use. Racing seats, removing the rear seats and anything else to reduce weight, a cage and possibly the Promax upgrade kit.

The only thing is she has done 180K. I have replaced the front oil seals and oil filter housing seals but apart from regular servicing / belt changes etc no other engine work has been done to my knowledge.

Would it be a bad idea to hammer it round the track and if I blew the engine what should I budget for a rebuid? Or should I be looking to get a relpacement engine and if so, at what cost?

Thanks

 

[appletonn]

Peter (PJS917 on here - try a search) is the man to speak to as he is campaigning his S2 this year in hillclimbs and sprints.

I think Peter's car has done one or two miles too...[]

 

[Peter Empson]

Great idea Simon! []

You will probably find that the headgasket will go sooner or later, I've always found that to be the case when you start using older cars on track. As long as you keep an eye on it there should be no major risk of causing any real harm, but if money was no object then it might be worth getting it done first. I'd also suggest considering a top end rebuild whilst it's apart, the S2 really seems to benefit from being freshened up.

I'd start with a couple of track evenings first, they're a good way to begin and if you have something silly like a rad hose go or an arb drop link then you've not lost a load of money and time. After 3-4 track days you should have ironed out any small bugs.

Other than that if you keep the oil topped up, changed regularly and use good stuff (I use Silkolene Pro S) then the chances of killing the engine should be pretty small. Used S2 engines used to be £1-1.2k ish when I was looking but I bet that you could get one for £800 or so now, a top end rebuild will only be a few hundred.

One important issue is to get some proper brake pads and fluids in, there's nothing worse than brake fade and this will happen unless you get the right stuff, I'd use carbon mettalic pads and Castrol SRF. I would do this before any engine performance mods such as chips, in fact I'd make sure tyres, brakes, suspension and weight loss are the your main priorities as they will make the biggest difference.

 

[Guest]

ORIGINAL: Peter Empson

One important issue is to get some proper brake pads and fluids in, there's nothing worse than brake fade and this will happen unless you get the right stuff, I'd use carbon mettalic pads and Castrol SRF. I would do this before any engine performance mods such as chips, in fact I'd make sure tyres, brakes, suspension and weight loss are the your main priorities as they will make the biggest difference.

I'll second that Peter... As a passenger at Mondello park I know how "concerning" it is to lose the brakes [8D]

spic01 (Steve) on here has a very tasty track focused S2 and has found it very reliable despite the miles []

 

[Peter Empson]

I should have added that my engine has something like 180-190k on it at the moment, I've tracked it fairly regularly for the last 30k miles I guess, and the HG has been the only issue that I can remember. Will be interesting to see how long it last when running some boost []

 

[Diver944]

I tracked my S2 fairly extensively when it was at the 140k mark and before I had the Turbo, and it stands up to it with no sweat. Keep the oil religiously topped up and changed frequently and always do warm up and cool down laps. The engines are pretty bullet proof when looked after.

I wouldn't bother with any performance mods as the returns will not really be worth the outlay but save the money in case of a head rebuild or HG as already mentioned - these will make much more difference than adding a chip to an older engine.

Removing the rear seatback, heavy electric fronts, spare wheel and boot carpet will save you nearly 80kilos (but you need to put a light seat back in as a milk crate is frowned upon[])

 

[stevespic]

Me and the s2 do a few laps a year round the ring and have done for the last 3 years...first two years were trouble free, this year in may i had a drive shaft boot split me on my secound lap of the year but i still managed to complete another 18 laps that weekend, drive back to england and then go to a porsche meeting at poole before i fixed it and it was fine ! my vist in june was trouble free until the sunday and i had a n/s/f drop link break on me, luckly RSR managed to weld it up for me to cary on for the rest of the day.... and thats been it realy, like what as been said before, i always check my oil and coolant and keep them topped up if needed, my advice to you would be get the car on a ramp and have a good look around, anything which looks rusty and weak replace it, and the same with any worn bushes of any type, i stripped out everything from the back seats back along with the electric leather seats and that made differnce,

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee119/spicster1974/P1010020.jpg http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee119/spicster1974/P1010017.jpg


I also changed all the fluids, pads as the standard pads were over heating a few miles into the track....the only other things i done were for me realy and didnt make any real difference to the car ....These cars are strong and as long as there looked after then theres no reason why you shouldnt have plenty of track fun left in it , i look at it this way when i was speaking to one of the ring taxi drivers last year he said BMW say 600 laps of the ring in a new car and then it should be scraped ....now my s2 has around 146k on it and its done around 120ish laps so far and its still going as strong as the day it first went there....they love being nailed so enjoy it []

 

[sawood12]

It seems to me that the majority of the weight in our cars is in the actual body/chassis. From all the threads i've read you can't seem to reduce the weight of the car significantly by simply stripping out the interior because by the time you nett it off against the extra weight added with a roll cage and other safety related equipment you seem to end up roughly where you started. It might be better just to simply concentrate on making sure your car is safe and reliable and simply enjoy it. I've read something that tries to relate that for every KG of weight lost is equivalent to x BHP increase. However it seems to me that you get far more gain from learning how to drive the car better, so save your money to fund as much track time as possible.

 

[wjk_glynn]

Track 944 S2 project http://forums.rennlist.com/rennforums/showthread.php?t=442854

 

[Tam Lin]

ORIGINAL: sawood12

From all the threads i've read you can't seem to reduce the weight of the car significantly by simply stripping out the interior because by the time you nett it off against the extra weight added with a roll cage and other safety related equipment you seem to end up roughly where you started.

Agreed, but you can alter the Cof G reasonably easily. Glassfibre bonnet (mine's the "street" version to avoid bonnet pins, as that's a bit naff in daily use in London), plastic hatch & glassfibre sunroof take out about 50kg from the top half of the car. Made a lot of difference as to how much ARB I needed. That & lightest wheels one can afford make it all much more tactile & fun. And catchable from silly overteer angles []

 

[Peter Empson]

ORIGINAL: sawood12

It seems to me that the majority of the weight in our cars is in the actual body/chassis. From all the threads i've read you can't seem to reduce the weight of the car significantly by simply stripping out the interior because by the time you nett it off against the extra weight added with a roll cage and other safety related equipment you seem to end up roughly where you started.

I agree to some extent, they do have a heavy (strong) body, but there's still a huge amount of weight that can come out of them easily. Removing the spare tyre will counteract the weight of a half cage on its own (both weigh about 16kg from memory) and as has been said elsewhere even simple things like the seats weigh far too much in these cars. If you're willing to remove some of the luxury from these sports car then it can make a big difference to performance, after all it will show gains in acceleration, braking and handling whilst reducing stress on various pieces at the same time (tyres, brakes etc).

 

[lali]

A stunning idea....

I had my S2 converted exclusivly for track work... ditto what most people have said here about keeping an eye on things and changing brake fluid and pads. OPC Exeter still have some 968CS ARB's
The only failure i had was the heater hose located at the back of the engine... I noticed too late! cost me a fortune having the engine rebuilt but until that went wrong it was faultless.

I had the whole of the interior out aprt from carpets. The weight of the front seats is almost beyond belief! the motorised base is the main culprit. The boot carpet isnt a light weight item either.... I kept the electric windows and the stereo for 'comfort' and had a full SD bolt in cage with Carbon Fibre seats and door cards.

I'd have someone have a "proper" look over the car BEFORE you thrashing the nuts of it on track just in case.

 

[Hilux]

I've read something that tries to relate that for every KG of weight lost is equivalent to x BHP increase.

In my Westfield days a nominal 50 kg weight loss was reckoned to equate to approx 10 bhp. Sounds about right too.

 

[pauljmcnulty]

In my Westfield days a nominal 50 kg weight loss was reckoned to equate to approx 10 bhp.

Interesting, So if I lose 50 kg, not far off what I need to lose...[&o], and the karts we race are about 11bhp, there should be a very dramatic increase in my performance! []

 

[stevespic]

ORIGINAL: pauljmcnulty

In my Westfield days a nominal 50 kg weight loss was reckoned to equate to approx 10 bhp.

Interesting, So if I lose 50 kg, not far off what I need to lose...[&o], and the karts we race are about 11bhp, there should be a very dramatic increase in my performance! []

Paul if you lossed 50k(7.8stone) there wouldnt be anything left of you to race a kart.....[]

 

[pauljmcnulty]

Paul if you lossed 50k(7.8stone) there wouldnt be anything left of you to race a kart.....

Sadly there would probably still be a Lewis Hamilton left...[]

Bought a cross-trainer off flea-bay last week, so expect a new, trim Paul to emerge soon! [&:]

 

[sy247]

Thanks for all the advice given in this thread. There is a track day at Snetterton in November so I will do that before considering any changes to the car. Apart from perhaps brake fluid.

I have been valeting the interior of the car this weekend and it has come up really well. I am torn between having some trimming work done to repair a couple of areas of damage on the seats and having the cracked dashboard repaired and keeping it original or going down the lightweight route! Decisons decisions...

 

[Tam Lin]

ORIGINAL: sy247

Apart from perhaps brake fluid.

A good cheap mod if you're keeping road pads is to put in the 968 brake cooling scoops inside next to the front wheels. These are basically shovel-like pieces of tin, which give you some chance of doing more than a couple of laps of Snetterton before cooking the pads.