Boxsters the new 914?

Here is a full spec car in beginning stages

You should have picked a more visible color.

...and another

In reply to MitchellC:

Those two Spec Boxsters arent mine. I'm building a street going car that utilizes all the things they do with the Spec race cars with exception of full cage.

Mid-engine cars are miles different. I own a '03 Boxster S, my dad owns a 924S. There is nothing remotely similar about the cars... well other than the badge on the hood.

boxsterbuddy wrote: In reply to joepaluch: LOL! You haven't owned a 914 for a while! 944 is a glorified 2wd Audi coupe. Great car but doesnt handle like the Boxster or 914.

incorrect, and a bit of a snooty assumption. drive a correctly set up 944 in autocross...doubts will arise, guaranteed...

In order for the Boxster to be the new 914, you would need to add a significant amount of rust.

A stock 914 2.0 is about as fast as a Neon, Celica GTS, or similar at an autocross (judging by seeing a good driver in a 914, and a good driverin a celica, and from what my dad said having owned a 914 2.0 and a neon ACR). Does anyone know what causes so many boxter engines to blow up and if there is any way to prevent it? It seems like there are quite alot of them for sale with blown engines.

boxsterbuddy wrote: In reply to joepaluch: LOL! You haven't owned a 914 for a while! 944 is a glorified 2wd Audi coupe. Great car but doesnt handle like the Boxster or 914.

Maybe you miss understood me.

The 914 was the enty level car of the early 70's. By the late 70s/early 80s they had fallen out of favor with the Porsche crowd since they have VW motors. However by the early 90's many Porsche faithful learned what joys the cars were to drive and being cheap many got turned into autocross, track or race cars. However by the end of the 90's cheap 914's were getting scarce. The boxster came along new at that time and was really a new version of the 914. However serious track time was limited for these cars due to cost. Now the 944 in early 2000's start to get recognized as the new value track car for Porsche people. Like the 914 years earlier you could get one for practically nothing and with a few mods really have fun with it. The 914 at the time we no less fun, but becomining more and more expensive as the 944 got cheaper.

So the 944 has replace the 914 as cheap track beater. Some day the boxster will fall right into that mold too. Right now I still see prices for used boxsters as too expensive for wide spread use, but in the west coast many have decided to garage their GT3 cups and run boxsters instead to cut down on costs.

BTW...
A typically spec boxster build runs about 25k. A similar build for a 944 spec car costs 12k. As for speed the boxster is faster due to 40 more hp, but only just. 1-2 seconds at most tracks. That may increas a bit with more boxster development, but 40 hp and wider tires with a more modern chassis should count for alot.

Even so the 944 is still cheaper to run and no less fun to race in packs of 10-20 cars.

Here might be a motor for you. 2002 Boxster Motor

And if you run a 944 Turbo, which can be had for around the same price as a Boxster, you can do a few mods and be one of the fastest car at most PCA events. Buddy and GRM pro driver Alan McCrispin's much modified '89 944 Turbo would run off and embarress most cars on track, including late model 911's, Vipers, etc. And he has about $6k in it total. They're still the best Porsche bang for the buck, but I love Boxsters!

Wasn't the 914 just a VW in any other guise? I saw a picture of one of those things with VW badges in a mag somewhere.

Those things are light, once my relative ran over my foot accidently and it didn't ever hurt. I like the little meats 914.

Travis_K said: It seems like there are quite alot of them for sale with blown engines

There is another active thread with a subaru engine being swapped into an old 911 --> I am suddenly having a slightly different idea...

Jeez...that's a surprise. I've been longing after a C4 for a while, and thinking about a C5. This drops a bomb on THAT decision, since it pretty much fits right in between the two pricewise, and well...it's hard to believe that a car that nice costs way less than a similar year C5. What am I missing?

benzbaron wrote: Wasn't the 914 just a VW in any other guise? I saw a picture of one of those things with VW badges in a mag somewhere. Those things are light, once my relative ran over my foot accidently and it didn't ever hurt. I like the little meats 914.

It was joint effort between Porsche and VW. In Europe the 4 cylinder version was badged as a "VW Porsche." I don't know if they were sold through VW dealers, Porsche dealers or both in Europe. The 6 cylinder was strictly a Porsche. In the US, all 914's were marketed and sold as Porsches.

Given its mixed parentage, I have ofter wondered if you could put high output late model VW/Audi engine in one and run it SCCA Street Mod 2 autocross.

Thanks for the info.

Type Q wrote:

benzbaron wrote: Wasn't the 914 just a VW in any other guise? I saw a picture of one of those things with VW badges in a mag somewhere. Those things are light, once my relative ran over my foot accidently and it didn't ever hurt. I like the little meats 914.

It was joint effort between Porsche and VW. In Europe the 4 cylinder version was badged as a "VW Porsche." I don't know if they were sold through VW dealers, Porsche dealers or both in Europe. The 6 cylinder was strictly a Porsche. In the US, all 914's were marketed and sold as Porsches. Given its mixed parentage, I have ofter wondered if you could put high output late model VW/Audi engine in one and run it SCCA Street Mod 2 autocross.

I've thought about the same thing, and I've seen a really bad ass 914 with a hopped up 20v 1.8t. How about a 914 with a 500hp 4.5l turbo v8 from a Cayenne for SM2?

The 5V audi engines sound pretty cool especially if you can get one cheap. Isn't that what the S2 had in it? The 914 looks like you could pick it up and tip it over by itself. Too bad you don't see many on the road.

I don't see what the point of putting a V8 in such a tiny car would be. Wouldn't a large engine disrupt the balance so much as to make the thing undrivable?

benzbaron wrote: The 5V audi engines sound pretty cool especially if you can get one cheap. Isn't that what the S2 had in it? The 914 looks like you could pick it up and tip it over by itself. Too bad you don't see many on the road. I don't see what the point of putting a V8 in such a tiny car would be. Wouldn't a large engine disrupt the balance so much as to make the thing undrivable?

The engine litterally sits in the center of the of the car. Thats how people can put full cast iron SBC's in them with disrupting the weight balance.

As far it tipping over, have you seen one up close or ever ridden in one? Stock you sit as low as I do my lowered Miata and my impression (I don't have meassurements) is that the track is wider. Its a wonderful chassis begging for more engine.

Cool. My cousin had a little 914 so I have been in one. It was what 10 years ago though and I can't remember too much about it. The smallest car I've been in lately was a del sol and that thing is low also.

I didn't know you could plop a beast of an engine in there. Wow. So the little guy would still handle even with a big old engine. The only reason I asked is I always hear about people only concerned with straight line performance and not balance. Thanks for the info, hopefully I don't aggrivate someone with all my questions.

I really belong over at the classics sight, but I like your guys projects and the info I can garner. Thank you for your patience!

This is my old 914 on Laguna Seca. Fun car. I just wanted to try someting new! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSaL5XpVTt8

Here is a spec Boxster on Buttonwillow and Willowsprings

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNQBeN9FrWM&NR=1

This one is fun! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfuofUwF_vA&feature=channel_page

These old 2.5 liter Boxster spec cars are very impressive to me. Motors are 100% stock only with modifid mufflers!

Cool video! Little meats 914 was haulin ass!

In reply to benzbaron:

Yeah it was fun car and it beat up on some pretty fast and expensive Porsches. It was just a pain to maintain and I have nbeen driving 914's for 30 years. Just want something new and different. Boxsters are just starting to make track appearence in larger numbers now. So figured this would be a fun project. There motors are potential weak link - they do fail occasionally. But I have found good used sources so it should be fairly cost effective.

Just to make things clear, the 944 has a Porsche designed and built aluminum block, 2.5 liter with balance belts. the engine design was a variant of the 928 8 cylinder 5.0 liter engine. early were 8 valve, late were 16 valve heads. the only major audi component in the 944 was the transaxle (which was modified to Porsche specs.)

Nice. I guess I'm just dumb, but I never made the connection until now that someone at Porsche probably designed the Boxster as the spiritual successor to the 914. Sweet.

Having driven a Boxster S, I can say that I like them, especially in a straight line with a 6-speed