The Race Car - Porsche 968

THIS PAGE WAS LAST UPDATED ON JUN 1ST, 2008

Today is

1994 Porsche 968

The 968 was the final iteration of the 924/944 production line. It features a 3.0 liter four cylinder engine with 4 valves per cylinder and Variocam variable valve timing, producing 236 horsepower and 225 ft/lbs of torque. The car has a 6 speed rear mounted transaxle which helps provide a perfect 50/50 weight distribution. Porsche built 12,776 968 between 1992 and 1995. Of which, only 4,665 where imported to the USA. In addition, Porsche built fourteen 968 TurboS and four 968 TurboRS for the European market.

For 1992, Porsche introduced the 968 Turbo RS racecar which was developed to compete in the ADAC GT racing series in Germany. The 4 cars built were also raced in the 1994 24 Hour of LeMans, 1995 12 Hours of Sebring, 1994 BPR Series & 1998 Petit LeMans.
The 968 TurboRS is the inspiration for my car.

History

Spring 2008

With the goal of adding more adjustability to the car, Moton Clubsport 2-way adjustable shocks were added with yet stiffer springs. A Tilton adjustable brake proportioning valve was also added and once again the front bodywork was refreshed.

Fall 2007

This season was all about running with what I had, as there were few significant changes to the car during the season. The car was very reliable, again finishing 2nd overall at the Cascade 8 Hour and 2nd in class at the Pacific 4 Hour Enduro. The car covered 2,111 race miles during the season.
See the Cascade Enduro, pictures and results pages.

Spring 2007

In preparation for the season a lot of suspension work was done. The Bilstein shocks were rebuilt/revalved, spring rates increased, camber plates rebuilt and all suspension bushings were cleaned and inspected. In addition, damage to the hood, fender, and bumper cover were repaired.

Fall 2006

I ran a limited schedule in 2006. I did the IRDC 4 Hour, Cascade 8 Hour, three conference weekends and the two USTCC rounds in Portland. I won the Apex-i Rookie award at the Champ Car and ALMS support races. Those races were a lot of fun. The car covered 1,624 race miles during the season. The car was very reliable and completed every race, including finishing 2nd overall at the Cascade 8 Hour Enduro.
See the Cascade Enduro, pictures and results pages.

Spring 2006

In addition to running selected Conference races and enduros this year, I'm going to run the Northwest rounds of the United States Touring Car Championship (USTCC). The first being a support race for the Portland Champ car weekend. Some minor changes where needed to meet USTCC specifications, but since the drive train is mostly stock, nothing too drastic was needed.
The USTCC specific prep includes:
-17x7.5 and 17x8 CupII wheels w/Hankook Z211 235/40-17 spec tires (17x8 is the max. wheel allowed)
-Reverted to stock M030 front calipers & rotors (in order to retain ABS)
-Re-installed standard battery, torsion bars & stock headlights (to meet spec & bring the car up to minimum weight)

Summer 2005

Overall, the 2005 season was a success. There was a definite improvement in lap times as I lowered my best time at Pacific Raceways by 2 seconds. The car was faster and (I hope) the driving was better. I did a couple more races this year but it wasn't enough to win any championships. Better luck next year, I guess. The car covered 2,461 miles during the season and completed every race including another clean run to 5th overall in the Cascade 8 hour.
See the Cascade Enduro, pictures and results pages.

During the summer the upgrades & maintenance were:

-RSBarn 4 into 1 header & test pipe
-Converted to a manual steering rack (lighter & simpler)
-Refreshed the rod bearings & engine mounts. The old bearings looked fine, but better safe than sorry.
-Replaced the clutch master/slave cylinders & line, brake master cylinder
-944Racing.com short shift kit
-Elephant Racing PolyBronze Spring Plate Bearings
-Hella 90mm fixed headlights. Two brights were mounted on each side for night racing.

Winter 2004

I had acquired a 944 TurboS parts car with the intention of rebuilding/upgrading the engine and putting it in the race car. This project has been slow to get rolling. You can see the progress so far on the turbo engine page.

The other objective was to get some more weight out of the car and take care of maintenance issues.

This winter's projects included:

-Lexan Rear Hatch (-25 lbs.) from GT-Racing.
-Removed Popup Headlights & Motors (-30 lbs.)
-Power Steering Delete (-10 lbs.)
-Light Weight Odyssey Battery (-25lbs.)
-Remove Radiator Fans (-11 lbs.)
-Removed misc. emissions plumbing, charcoal canister (-5 lbs.)
-Cover for new fuel filler
-New bushings and control arm mounts for the Tarett front sway bar
-New front tow hook
-Relocated Halon fire bottle to a lower position
-Replaced Variocam tensioner pads, cam chain, intake cam(ugly), timing belt, balance shaft, alternator belt
-New ignition wires, distributor cap, rotor & plugs
-And last but not least, a 28ft. Featherlite Enclosed Aluminum Trailer.

Summer 2004

This was my first full year of racing. The car proved to be reliable and steady with both the car & driver improving though out the year. The car logged 1,850 racing miles during the year and I ended up winning the Conference ITE Championship. The season culminated with the 8 Hour Cascade enduro in which the car was perfect and we finished 6th overall. You can find a video scrapbook of the year on the videos page. Hopefully we will do even better next year!
See the Cascade Enduro, pictures and results pages.

During the summer, I added:

-Kokeln/Tarett Adjustable Front Sway bar
-FuelSafe Dry Break Fuel Filler & Discriminator valve
-Kenwood 2-way Radio

Winter 2003/Spring 2004

During the winter the car was prepped for the next racing season. The car was painted, cleaned up, upgraded, and made as safe as possible. At this point the car took on the 968 TurboRS look but the engine remained mostly stock. The new look transformed the car. No more track rat.

This round of upgrades includes:

-New Paint Job and Body Work by Mark Cockle at MC Autobody (206) 579-1113
-Factory Original 968 TurboS Rear Wing & Front Splitter
-Carbon fiber hood with NACA Ducts from Speed-6
-New Fiberglass Sunroof from GT-Racing Permantently Installed. The last one blew off - oops.
-Front Bumper cover with large intercooler duct (Fitzgerald Racing)
-Recaro SPG Pro Racer Seat from a 996GT3 (Autometrics)
-Quick Release Steering Wheel Hub
-Fresh Harness Belts (M&R)
-New AMB Transponder
-Fresh Interior Paint Job
-KLA Strut Brace
-KLA Rear Sway Drop Links
-Brey-Krause Seat Back Brace
-Stiffer Springs - 550# Front, 700# Rear, Delrin Bushings (Paragon-Products)
-Original 968 TurboS Coolant Tank
-Euro Turn Signals
-New Windshield
-New Vinyl Graphics
-Brake Ducts (GT-Racing)
-17" Kinesis Supercup Wheels (8.5, 10)
-18" RH 3.6 Turbo Wheels (8, 10)

Summer/Fall 2003

In the interest of safety, the first thing I did was have a custom built welded-in roll cage installed by CascadeAutosport. The old cage was just 'okay' and it was built on a bolt-in AutoPower roll bar and had varying sizes of tubing which is not legal in some classes. Next I changed the suspension, added larger brakes, a lightweight flywheel, changed the wheels, installed a full width dash and more. I ran my first few races with the car in this configuration, starting in the Conference (ICSCC) novice program. After sorting some ABS and wheel bearing issues the car ran well and performed decently. It was a good introduction to the car and to wheel to wheel racing. However, I was a little disappointed that the car (or is it me) was not turning faster laptimes then I had been doing in my street 968.

This round of upgrades included:

-Custom Welded-in 1.75" Dia. 8pt. Roll Cage (Cascade Autosport)
-Bilstein Turbo Cup Coilovers (450# Front, 600# rear)
-Torsion Bars deleted
-New Camber Plates
-"Big Red" 993 Twin Turbo Brakes & Pagid Pads
-Fidanza Aluminum Flywheel (Paragon-Products)
-Sachs Sport Clutch (Paragon-Products)
-Superchip Chip
-New Window Net (M&R)
-7.5x17 & 9X17 Wheels
-996 Shift Knob
-Full width dash, I couldn't stand looking at the bare firewall
-Installed extra fire extinguisher
-Rear Tow Hook
-2650lbs. Race Ready (w/o driver)

Spring 2003

I purchased the car in May 2003 and had it shipped across country. It was originally converted to a track/drivers ed. car by Rennwerke Porsche in New York. The car had the rare M030 sport suspension package, a rebuilt transmission and relatively low miles. For the most part the car was in good working condition, but there were things that I wanted changed and cleaned up.

I had been doing Porsche Club driver's education events in my 968 for the last five years and I wanted to do something more competitive. My street 968 was too nice to turn into a race car so my plan was to use the 'new' car for racing and the basis for a 968 TurboRS replica.

The engine is still the stock 3.0 Liter 4 cylinder with 16 valves & Variocam variable valve timing.

The car came with:

-M030 Koni Suspension
-Camber Plates
-Billet Charlie A-Arms & Spherical Bearings
-"S4" Brakes
-6 Speed Transmission with Quaife Differential
-No Cat Converter
-B&B Stainless Exhaust
-Fiberglass Hood, Sunroof, Splitter & Rear Bumper Cover
-Lexan Door & Quarter Windows
-Roll Cage
-Stripped Interior
-Window Net
-Recaro Seat & Simpson Harness Belts
-Dash & Airbags Removed, Momo steering wheel
-A/C Deleted
-Halon Fire Supression System
-17" ATP Wheels
-Hot Lap Timer
-HANS Device
-Kill Switch

Previous Life, 1994 - 2003

The car was built in Stuttgart/Zuffenhausen Germany in January 1994 and spent it's first 30,000 or so miles as a street car. Between 2000 and 2003 it was converted to a track car and used in Driver's Education events around the Northeast.

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