YMMV, but I usually burn a gallon in 4 runs- for a car that otherwise averages 21mpg and others report better than 30mpg. I'll go through half a tank at a cone clinic or test & tune.

For future reference, there's a gas station on base I usually hit after an autocross, as I like to race with a minimal fuel load, and I'm always running on fumes afterwards. When leaving base, turn left at Amphibious drive instead of going straight. Go past the closed gate; it will be on your left right before hitting the next open gate. Or if your car takes regular, I think you can use the little self-serve station right outside of ACU4. Mazda3 is FWD, isn't it? Full tank is more for front-engine/RWD, and would probably hurt you way more than help.

 

how good of a car is a 944 for autox? a guy at work has an 86 he is trying to sell. said it was turboed. i am skeptical since its a front engine.

 

I think Rob Davis' black car is a 944, it was well prepared and he usually ran near the top. But then he jumped over to the Miata camp! Wasn't it two red 944's out there yesterday? Too bad we didn't have the timers set up.

FWIW I just did some research on front/rear Bias, I was correct at 56/44. Side to Side it's almost Neutral with a 190 lb driver sitting in it.

I scored a set of Long Tube headers for it, but I can't get the car high enough off the ground in the Beach Cruiser Racing Facility, uh... driveway to get them in!

 

i am sure my father in law would rent a lift for a couple of hours. or you could check out a hobby shop on base.

 

'88 924S. And he was ODR-SCCA open class champion last year with it. I think Robb still intends to race his 924S, he just needs to fix it first.
It's an excellent autocross car. It's underpowered compared to modern Porsches, but still a Porsche with Porsche suspension and all. A lot of people track them. The Turbo 944 is SCCA BS, btw. non-turbo is ES.

Be aware that although the purchase cost may be cheap, there is no such thing as a cheap 944. Maintenance is expensive; in general, everything seems to cost about 3x what it would in a typical domestic or Japanese car, both in parts and labor. Just gets worse as they get older and require more and more frequent repair. Old Boxsters are falling under $10k now, too, if you're leaning that way.

 

i am not worried about labor as i have access to a fully functional shop and worked in a shop that loved imports in high school. the parts, i guess i would have to get the dealers set up so i could get parts at a decent price. i dont know what he even wants for the car yet. i was just thinking as a track/autox only car. what is so expensive about keeping them on the track? i really dont want to spend 10k on a car right now. i have way too much in the stang as it is.

 

whoops, not up on my Porshe body styles...

My buddy and I are going to try and get on to Oceana with it to use the hobby shop, he's in the Navy, but I'm not. Not sure if they'll let us on.

Where's your father in law's shop?

Sjfher, where were you yesterday? Your wife not let you drive your car in the rain

 

you need decals or you will need to trailer it on. his shop is in south mills.

 

Military and DoD civilians are allowed to escort people onto base, so you shouldn't have a problem. Visitors don't need parking decals, and shouldn't need a temp pass either if escorted; I've escorted people onto base before and not had an issue. (Now, expired base stickers, inspection or tags *could* be an issue if they notice.) Those base hobby shops and their $4/hr lifts are awesome, I use the one at NNSY all the time.

And we were there yesterday! We had some baby-sitting issues, so when they called the race, we went home.

 

Agreed about the Hobby shop, I always wanted to start the same sort of deal in the Civilian world, but there must be some reason no one has ever done it.

Couple more years I'm thinking of renting space to wrench on my cars, perhaps with several guys to share the space and tools, right now my ex wife is still getting all my money...