Hey everyone

I was hoping to autocross my 914 in the stock class in SCCA. My question is are stock 914s still keeping up with the new cars or is best to modifly it and race in other classes. Where you can pump up the motor ect. Maybe I can update the car it is a 71 1.7 with a newer 2.0 motor and parts and still race in the stock class.
I am new to this 914 thing.
Thanks
Tony

Thing One is to read the SOLO-II handbook which gives very clear definitions of what is and what is not permitted in the various classes, and what cars are classified in what classes.

by there letter of the rules, you'll probably be running in E-Modified (engine change) since there were no 2,0's in '71. probably, no one will care in the least. you can update and backdate some - the progression is in the rules. (but you can't make a car that never existed - as you've done - by the strict letter of the rules...)

SCCA has always hated Porsches in general, 914's in particular, and it's very, very hard to make one competitive. it's been done - i know there's an F-Prepared 914.6 that's been National Champion several years but i know the drivers are extremely accomplished and the car is flawlessly prepared.

so - if you think it'll be easier in a non-stock class, think again. OTOH - you'll probably be very competitive in the stock class against other 30 years old cars. technology has come a long way. Miatas, for instance, are ridiculously fast in the right hands, as are any number of contemporary front-drive water cars. it's hard to give up 100 HP and still be competitive although the 914's extremely good handling help a lot on energy-management courses (it gives up a little on very tight courses due to the wheel base, which is longer than it looks ...)

IMO - go drive what you have and have a ball. learn to drive what you've got. if you want to go faster, the cheapest bottom line is to buy a car that's already done the way you want.

I run my '74 2.0 in C Stock. My car has no mods that would take it out of stock class.

As far as being competitive, it's very tough. I go there on a Sunday and look around at the other cars in my class and just shake my head. I'm lumped in with 2.0 litre Miatas that are using technology that is 30 years newer than what I've got.

Occasionally, I can get the better of them if the course layout is favorable to 914s. Most of the time, I get my ass kicked.

BTW, all the four-cylinder 914s are on the same "line" as of a couple of years ago. So you can do the 71 2.0 and run in Street-Prepared.

I know someone who claimed to be serious about making a competitive CSP 914. Never really happened. It will take a serious amount of cash to even come close.

--DD

I ran my car in CSP ( C street prepared), you can run a few mods (wider wheels, carbs, etc) but I was mid pack at best.

It is fun but don't expect to go to the Divisionals or Nationals and come home wth anything.

Paul

If your just starting out in autocross, drive for long enough to know what you like and don't like about car. Start changing things when you feel like you're driving the car at its limits.

This is from the guy who bought heavier springs after his first race.

A separate question that has been bothering me. The rules for street mod class allow for swaps within a manufacturer. The 914's still outhandle most of the cars out there. Why aren't the 6 conversions wiping up in this class?

Maybe they are, but we don't have any in our area.

Street Mod (and last time i looked, although it's been a while) Open Street Prepared were Regional classes with considerable local discretion as to what is and is not allowed.

but it was my recollection that Street Mod was for -sedans- (i.e. 4-seaters) with full interior and Open Street Prepared was for 'sports cars' - 2-seaters - like the 914...

We won the SF region SCCA AutX year end points with a 2.0 fuel injected 914 a little over a year ago. It can be done.. you just wont win in Topeka. 30 cars in our class... most of them Rx7's and Miata's.

It takes a fully prepped 914 and a very good driver. The car placed 2/3 rd all year until we put some Hoosier AutoX tires on it and dropped in a limited slip tranny... then he finished the season with 3 wins and passed all the Miata guy's in points. All this in a 914 prepared for road racing.

Let me know when you want to start.

Oh FYI: the car looks like hell ..but has at least 30k in it.


B

Has Mike visited here yet? I have not heard from him in ages.....

You got to like a guy that shows up with his full caged 914 to events with his 3 year old (?) daughter strapped in the passanger seat

Mike is signed up here and posted 2-3 times. Both of his girls are in school now and its sucking up 90% of his time. He is also a head honcho at Filemaker (Apple database division).. he almost single handedly built their Linux version of Filemaker.

He sent me an email a few weeks ago.. wants to fire the car back up.


B

My very first autocross I ran in stock class against 12 Miatas. I took second. I was so excited I started piling on the mods. Now I run in prepared class and have a much harder time being competitive.
-Ben M.

A tough road to hoe.
By "stock", they mean stock. Tire sizes, springs, motor...yada. One "can" get away with a lot of....er...stuff, right untill someone protests you.
Shocks are free, tho.

No mo bettter in CSP....tricked out Miatas are FAST...by any standard.

ASP limits the 914 to 2.0L sixers....against a tricked out
Z06?....hah!

In FP, you have a shot. Greg Fordahl and his wife win at the finals on a regular basis. That's a full out race car, 2100 lb minimum weight....cept for the motor which has limits....no twin plugs, 2.8L tops. The ONLY Porsche win at Topeka last year. Only top 10 , as I recall.

Next stop is E mod.... 1500 minimun weight, over 2.0L
and a production serise body...use your imagination.

In SCCA stock class:
Tires are free--anything DOT-legal that fits on the rims and under the stock fenders is allowed.
Wheels have to be the same size as at least one of the OEM offerings that year. A very small change in offset is allowed, I believe.
Shocks are free.
Front (and only front!) sway bars are free.
The exhaust from the catalytic converter on back is free. For us that means the muffler.
Any and all stock adjustments (timing, alignment, etc.) can be changed to any setting in their normal range. The front ride height on our car may be an exception--they may require some specific ride height. (There was some flap about torsion-bar-equipped cars a few yeas back and one of the proposed rulings was that the cars had to remain at stock height.)
I think you can put in five-point belts, but I'm not sure.

And that's all you can change.

--DD