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Looking for a budget track ride? There are plenty of options out there for you, but in terms of sheer performance for value the Porsche 911 in 996/997 guise is still quite hard to beat. Especially when talking about the 997, the refinement Porsche had managed to build into the chassis is simply remarkable; 911s have a reputation as widow-makers, but the reality is that the 996 and 997 are very well balanced, easy to drive fast cars. They’re also long-lived when properly maintained and offer a driving experience that few sports cars match. They’re just good cars for the track – and quite fast. But are you really going to drop $90,000 plus modifications to alter a brand new 991 to be a track car? Not likely – a much better bet would be to check out some used examples, such as this perfectly liveried 997 from the 2006 Koni Challenge:
After failing to sell back in June when I originally wrote it up, the semi-mystery “Dinan-built” 318i racer is back up for sale. There is no more information offered this time around and the car is once again a reserve auction; I’d guess that the seller hasn’t changed their $28,000 expectation and this car will continue to be a hard sell – but it’s pretty cool to check out! What would you pay?
The below post originally appeared on our site June 30, 2014:
Obviously we write up a lot of cars at this site, and we see our fair share of cars from dealers with a real gap in information provided that we’d like to see. Often times, there seems to be no rhyme or reason to which cars get no description or why; they can be a 300SL Gullwing for multiple millions of dollars right to a first generation GTi. Despite the range of value, one thing unites these cars; there are enthusiasts who love to see them, and buyers who would really like to know more about the car. Today’s car is no exception; a 1993 BMW 318i, this would generally be a forgotten charm right now. The E36, while a great car in its own right, isn’t in favor the way the E30 is and consequently larger engined variants are plentiful, and more importantly cheap. So what is interesting about this economy car turned racer? Well, it’s a claimed Dinan built car, and for a time in the 1990s BMW handed Dinan the keys to build some pretty wild semi-factory backed racers – so they’re well versed. But the mystery isn’t solved there:
Going to the track is like any other addiction; it has its highs and lows. You may start going with a stock car, but soon you’ll feel the need to modify the suspension, beef up with wheels and tires, throw on some racing brakes, strip the interior and all of that heavy stuff that slows you down like air conditioning, sound deadening, and seats. Then you drop a cage in and hit the track; all smiles, no doubt, but it’s been an expensive journey and your track weapon is really only good at fast laps for a small percentage of its existence; the rest of the time, it just sits or is exceptionally uncomfortable and inconvenient as a daily driver. Plus, modern cars have gotten so expensive and complicated, with enough computer aids that they can nearly lap themselves. What is an enthusiast to do, then? Well, you can look towards some perennial favorites that helped to establish the reputation of BMW; the M3. In this case, I have two examples that are set up to hit the track – a racer E30 and a street-drivable but track-biased E46. Which is your flavor?
While last week’s Corrado SLC track car sure checked the right boxes for me, for some it was not extreme enough to be considered a “race car”. Fair enough, it was a track car at heart for high performance driver’s eduction or perhaps some solo/time trial events, but it was mostly just a stripped Corrado. Well, for the Volkswagen faithful today I have a much more extreme example – a GTi ready to tackle just about anything you’re ready to toss at it. Stripped down, beefed up and widened, this GTi sure looks the racer part – check out that cage! But to make it go like it promises outside, the heart has been replaced by a turned up 1.8T motor. Having been in a similar package on track, you’re mind can’t fathom what a light car like this with that much power will do compared to the original:
The fall from grace of the 996 has resulted in some stunning deals on pretty incredible cars. They’re not without their problems; the 996 isn’t the most attractive Porsche produced and there are known engine issues to combat. But if you’re looking for an inexpensive track weapon with and impressive amount of speed, it’s pretty hard to best the 996 package. While you can get a very nice example of a GT3 – Porsche’s then pinnacle of dual-purpose street and track package – for around $50,000 and drive it to the track, if you’re willing to spend just a bit more you can look at leaping into another level of performance with the “Cup” car. Stripped down and stiffened up, these factory racers are simply stunning with their speed and were cutting edge less than a decade ago, yet today you can find an excellent example like this 2005 model for less than $80,000 – only a third of what a new one would cost you.
