A day at the track - aussie style
 

Went to a P club supersprint today. My RS rep is still engine-less and I don't track my 930 so I went along with a mate who had never driven the track and instructed instead.

In hindsight I should have entered - was offered laps in a couple of great cars: a very sorted 2.7 916 and a beautifal 911R replica. Had a good day.

Here's a few pics.

The (real) 914/6 I was helping out:
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1111300118.jpg

The R rep:
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1111300224.jpg

RS rep with supercharged 3.0:
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1111300284.jpg

997S - straight from showroom to track:
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1111300374.jpg

74 RS rep with 3.2 MFI:
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1111300437.jpg

3 of the 15 or so GT3's:
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1111300597.jpg

One more of the R to finish:
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1111300503.jpg

I thought you blokes drove on the wrong side of the car. Seems to be a lot of LHD PORSCHES in the land down under.

Ryan,

How did the 997S fare?

matt, the 997 went pretty good - class win:

http://www.natsoft.com.au/cgi-bin/results.cgi?20/03/2005.WAKE.S1

What did the R sound like on full song.

I thought shacklady was going to sell that car

Michael

mike,

looks like its a keeper - it has a brand spankin' new twin plug motor in the back and new suspension in the front

it looks like its finally getting sorted - paul has horror story after horror story on the build...

Who built Pauls car.

I know Tony was invovled in it at the beginning but then havne't heard much since.

Michael

mike - not a discussion for a public forum...

Ryan,

I will send you an email

Michael

ryan - i would not hold it against you if you posted about a dozen more pics of the R rep ;).

which track?
 

Is that ORAN PARK?

bob - i'll have a look tonight. its a pretty amazing car. (its the ONLY yellow car i like in fact)

chekov - nope, wakefield park near goulburn

The time that seems to stand out at me is Mark Lamberton's in the 914.
He must really have that car sorted and drive it like a demon.

Robert

Rob, I would say yes and yes. Light car, lots of rubber, great setup and well driven to boot. He mentioned that he runs something like 400 lb rear sprimgs (I think Howard's are more like 150...)

Bob, Couldn't find any other pics of the R rep. I'll make sure to take a bunch next time out. The period detail is pretty amazing - even to the extent of building it LHD as there were no RHD R's.

Ryan,

I have interests in getting my LHD porsches into Australia (have Aussie wife who wants us to retire back there). What do you know about the law permitting imports of LHD cars without being forced to convert to RHD? Any info or links would be helpful.

Thanks,
Tom

Tom,

If it is 30 years or older ie pre 75 noi worries you can register it and drive it LHD

Michael

Christ, I guess I'll have to wait till 2023 to get my 1993 RSA into down under and 2028 for a newer car. Perfect timing for my retirement though.

The RSA would make a fun track car - but you will need a trailer to get it there in LHD form.

There are some states that you can register a newer car on LHD.

I think it is ACT and the Northern Territory.

You would need to check

Michael

I've heard theres any excellent Porsche mechanic in Melbourne who does relatively inexpensive conversions (L-R). Also,I think cars older than 15 years can be brought in by low volume importers-about $2K from US/JAPAN.

"relatively inexpensive conversions (L-R)."

you often hear about au$10k quoted for a good quality conversion

"cars older than 15 years can be brought in"

by anyone!

Thanks-I was just giving advice-but since"you often hear"-well I'll just shut up then. Using a low-volume importer saves the average person from a lot of red tape and mind-numbing logistics (customs,shipping etc)-but you already knew that.

no offense intended chekov - i only said "you often hear" because i have not done a conversion myself but have spoken to others who have.

Thanks all for the info,

I assume these low volume importers are registered agents that source and imports cars for you from LHD countries. You pay them a fee to handle the paper work and logistics, then pay for the shipping.

So which is the correct time 15 or 30 years for exemption of LHD conversion. I wouldn't want to convert these cars since I'm use to shifting with my right hand and the feel of LHD.

i'm pretty sure the rules are:

you can buy and import cars that are older than 15 years.

cars older than 30 years can be reg'd in LHD form (whether imported or local)

you can also bring in any car that you have owned overseas for more than 12 months (but if its LHD and newer than 30 years you will need to convert to it RHD to register it)

clear as mud, the official website for all this is:

http://www.dotars.gov.au/transreg/str_imp-cert.htm

Ryan,
thanks for the link. I checked it out and curiously even though the 911 is mentioned as a qualified candidate for import under the hobbyist and recreational import law change which supercedes the 15 year rule, I couldn't find it on the approved lists of the dot in the link. Ferrari and Lotus as well as Lamborghini are on the approved list. Just no Porsche!!

Also,

What are the duties like and any taxes for importation? How much is annual registration costs and MOT? What is the best brand of gasoline (octane ) and costs of running for a typical 911?

With the free- trade agreement with you (US) import duties will probably fall, but at the moment the import duty is 15%. This is then added to the value of the car and a Goods and Services Tax (GST) is then applied.(10%). The reason for the omission of Porsche in the hobbyist and recreational category is that Porsche Australia has the sole right to import(cars less than 15 years old),whereas Ferrari and Lotus,Lamborgini are imported by small independant dealers and so are not 'protected'Annual registration costs are(New South Wales): Registration Fee $47,Motor Vehicle Tax $200 Compulsory Third Party Personal Injury Insurance (called a "Green Slip") it lessens the older you get until a point. I'm 41 and its $313. Porsche recommend that cars should use Shell "Optimax" which is 98 Octane.

I found my car ran like a pos on optimax - spitting, hesitating and carrying on. Runs like a charm on BP ultimate. Don't know if it's the same for younger vehicles.

Gavinlit,

What about roofracks?-Seriously though thats what the service manager told me at Parramatta Porsche(use Optimax). I have a 996 coupe,but now that you say that my idle does jump around a bit-maybe I should try some ultimate or vortex?

P.S. Who is Jack Norris? Chucks father?

Chekov,

If my math is correct my RSA will be valued at say $40K US then I'm looking at 15% of 40 =$600 + 10% of 46000=4600 or $5200 in duty and GST for a $40000 car? Of course it may be taxed in aussie dollars which may or may not be equivalent to US$ by that time!

Actually it is incorrect , total should be $600+$4060 (10% of 40600)=$4660 in duty +GST total.

Thanks mate for the info.

My understanding is that American cars import duty is 5%, but if the car is made other than the states (ie Porsche), and even if it is exported from there, the 10% applies.

Gavin,

Thought I should chime in here as we have had this discussion (you and I) before...

Shell technical department themselves advised us against using Optimax in earlier Porsches several years ago. We have found it works well in 3.2 Carrera models onwards, but fouls plugs etc in anything earlier. It all comes down to ignition system design. Optimax is a very dense fuel (a lot of detergent in it too) and the ignition systems of pre 3.2 models just can't burn it. By far the best results we have had across the board have been with BP Ultimate, followed by Synergy 8000. Some cars are behaving very well using Vortex, but not all. Optimax has caused the same problems in motorbike engines; this was widely publicised a couple of years ago.

Cheers,
Lisa

TSIH,

My math: Vehicle value= $40,000+15%= 40,000+6,000=46,000
+10% of 46,000=46,000+4,600=$50,600 (remember the GST is applied on the total after the import duty is applied)

This represents a cost of $10,600 not including shipping.This would be less with the currency exchange, but still, as we say here "Big Bikkies".

Regards-Jason

Wrong - customs duty on cars is now 10% - has been since 1st January.

Australian Customs booklet link

You can also get the car valued in Australia sight unseen by a recongized valuer. He will value the car according to Aust valuations and normally an imported car is less than a locally delivered one in Aust the value may be less than you paid for it over seas

Thanks for the math lesson, yes I misplaced a zero. About $10600 is the correct number if it's not less according to Fred999. I was more concerned that new Porsches in Australia are going for about double that in the US (dollar for dollar regardless of exchange rates) so that when one does try to get a bargain in purchase price by going abroad the duty will even it out to make it prohibitive to import. I didn't know till now that it was prohibited anyway by Porsche being a protected brand.

Just did my first trackday in 23 years and my first time to Wakefield - was a guest of the MX-5 Club.

Interesting to see the photo's of the 911R earlier in the post - Paul Shacklady had it there on Sunday and it looks and sounds fabulous.

And what a nice guy - he was assigned to me as instructor for the first timers session and his suggestions and tips all day made it such a memorable day for me. I don't know if he lurks on this board but I hope he does.

Here are some shots of his car from yesterday - few small changes from the earlier ones.

Tim

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1173069429.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1173069634.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1173069693.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1173071091.jpg

what can you tell us about the supercharged 3.0 looks like a nice setup