"Because they don't break"

[VFR750]

I was at Shenandoah Circuit Friday. During a lunch time discussion we talked about the value and the "high cost" of a Porsche 997 RSR. The general consensus was it was justified by the simple fact "Because they don't break" I.e. DNF's are very expensive, pay more to have less of them.

I chimed in: My 26 year old car. Track car since 1998 with more than 40 track days. Original engine and tranny. 115,600 miles. The poor car saw a full-throttle pull in 2nd gear to 7,000+ rpm in session 2 80 minutes of flat-out, merciless flogging. Finished the day, drove 1.5 hours from the track to my friends house in MD. No hiccups.

Your experience is probably similar.

And as if to drive the point home. Poor, new guy, Mike. His 2004 Nissan 350Z is on his THIRD engine. Seems they burn 1qt of oil in less than 1000 miles. No biggy on a old, air cooled car with 11 qt capacity. But not so good in a wet sump car with 4+ qts capacity. This engine replacement deal is not uncommon.

So when you think maintaining your 911 is expensive, add up all the times the car brought you home, probably after it shouldn't have. The car is amazingly solid.

If you are thinking about a buying a used 911, and it's a track car. It's proven it's strength. Don't be afraid of it.

Porsche really does know how to do it right.

[BK911]

I always tell people Porsches are designed to drive to the track, race, win, drive home and pick up bread and milk on the way.

[glewis80SC]

+1...175,000 mile 80SC drives better on the way home from the track. When i don't drive her for a while i swear she holds a grudge, until i open her up and she forgives me. Yes Porsche did do it right!

[GH85Carrera]

I was telling a customer of mine here at work last summer that I planned to drive to Charlotte NC and participate in the DE at Charlotte Motorspeedway. My 1986 Carrera would turn 128,000 miles on the trip home. He was aghast that I would take "that old of a car" on the track and expect to drive it home.

I made the trip and enjoyed myself immensely. The car did not have any problem at all. I drove the Dragon's tail and spent 6 hours on back roads. My customer drives a 1998 Corvette and would never dream of a trip like mine. His car only has 50,000 miles on it. Porsche, there is no substitute!

[IROC]

I just got back from a weekend at Road Atlanta that marked my 15th year anniversary of doing track events in my '76 911 and have never had a issue at the track that disabled the car.