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Tipper

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Just popping a line or two on to say Hi to all.
My 'toy' is curently an Elise S1 which I've had for four years and slowly modded to a lovely road/track car.
Unfortunately redundancy earlier this year and a decision to start my own business means the Elise now needs to go and I'm looking to use some of the cash to help a little business I've just started along and buy another 'toy'.
The idea of a 944 appeals and I'm hoping to have about £4-5k for a decent car. Im thinking of either an S or a Series 2.
Something I'd love to know is how usable are the 944s on track. I'm not doubting their ability (wouldn't dare[;)]) but not sure how well 20 year old 150k mile cars stand up to track use. I know I'm probably asking how long a piece of string is but am happy to hear of anybody's track exploits.
So I'm window shopping for a 944 whilst trying to sell the Elise (put her on PH yesterday) ( if you know anyone looking for a good one I'm happy to hear!!).
I'll probably drive you all up the wall with questions - first one. What is MO30 suspension?
Cheers,
Tim.

 
Hi Tim,

i'm sure one of the track boys will be along soon to tell you all about their exploits on the track, My car has 152,000 on the clock i'll be honest i drive it really hard alot of the time on B roads its amazing in corners (even on the cheap budget tires i run)

5 grand could get you a turbo if you are lucky ( i want a turbo[:eek:])


Dann
 
Hi, and welcome.

The 944 makes a very good track car, good balance, reliable and very good brakes. Obviously its far heavier than your Elise and on tired suspension it will lean heavily in the corners and bob about alarmingly under braking and acceleration. Quite a few of us have been bitten by the track bug and lightening can be the best way to improve a heavy coupe. You can get a good S2 for your budget, but we always say to leave a spare thousand in your budget to rectify any problems as soon as you've bought it. You may need to allow a bit more if you want to make sure the brakes and suspension are new.

M030 suspension was an option on the Turbos and consisted of Height and rebound adjustable coilover Konis up front and rebound only adjustable Konis at the rear
 
Hi and welcome

This the right site!

944s are ok on the track for some fun, a well looked after one will still be ok at 200k (there are some turbos with more than that on here).

8v (2.5 or 2.7) are basically bullet proof and the 16v (S and S2) almost so. The cambelts are the must do things, some people change them every 2 years - 4 or 40k is the book .

M030 is the factory option code for the sports suspension pack.

You should get a nice S2 for your money, keep an eye out on here.

Hope you get one sorted soon

Mike
 
Hi Tim and welcome.
944's are great on track [:D], lots of us use our 944's as they were intended and they cope wonderfully.

I'd suggest an S2 if you can find a good one, it makes a great trackcar and daily driver.

M030 is a sportier option that's pretty rare, it's much firmer than standard but it's still a bit too soft for serious track work IMO (flame suit on), but a step up from standard. Most suspension will need a rebuild by now, but even on tired dampers they can be fun.

There are lots of reasonably priced tweaks you can buy (better pads, 968 M030 arb's and so on) which will help massively. They're very hardy cars and can be thrashed regularly. Which reminds me, I really must book another trackday [:D]

<Edited to add> I am so slooow at typing, I agree with wot they said ^^^ [:)]
 
Peter is probably to shy to explain but he has a 944 that started as a 2.5 (8v) has been fully stripped - fully stripped - and has a 3.0 S2 engine which has recently aquired a supercharger. It also has a fully sorted track suspension - hard - I can testify.
It also has been extensivly lightened!

I have also been driven around a track in a 968 which has modified suspension but is still a usable regularroad car.

And you get a big boot!

Mike
 
Thanks guys. Firmer suspension doesn't worry me too much as long as the damping is good too. My Nitron set-up on the Elise is very firm but the quality of the dampers means it never feels harsh. I've got my eye on a couple of cars but I've got to get shot of the Elise first.
If you know of anyone looking for a very well sorted S1 Elise let me know.
 
It depends how much you are asking. A friend of mine who has 3 '44s (well, a 924 in mint condition, a tatty 200k S2 and a 2.5 (he planned to make something similar to a 931 Carrera GTS)) considered an Elise for quite a while.

I can say the S2 is a great daily driver. So far it's been great. However, I do have a few VW fanboys eying up my calipers! (Just get some Wilwoods or a Porsche (I pay less on insurance than my mate does on his modded Golf V6 4Motion and less on fuel....).
 
Controversial opinion maybe, but the sort of money required to make a really good reliable 944 track car is IMHO up in Elise territory. The Elise is a fantastic drivers car, friends of ours had to sell theirs and bought an old MR2 to replace it, however I believe in a stock or near stock 944 you will be very disapointed coming from the Elise. In something like my race car or Peters car or one of the many nicely tweaked 968's around I am sure you will fall in love with it but these cars are all far more then a few grand to either buy or make.

Personally at that budget level I wouldn't do it, if you couldn't afford to keep and run an S1 Elise then there is no way you will be able to afford and regularly track a decent 944. An early golf or clio would be a much more sensible option.

Something I would recommend considering though is a 924 race car, they come up for sale fairly regularly, are cheap to buy and make a lot of sense to me. If I didn't have the funds to build my S2 race car this is definitely the way I would have gone. Sorry to upset anyone but I wouldn't waste my time and money fiddling about with mild tweaks on a 4 grand S2 or turbo.
 
Thanks Neil. I've spent a fair bit of money getting my Elise into good track spec and realise that a stock car will need work.
 
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