Getting into rallying

[AdamD]

I'd very much like to get into rallying. I've watched a fair bit on TV and ripped up more than a few dirt roads, done a few unofficial hillclimbs, and it's something I really enjoy.

I'm thinking I'd like to get a car and have it as a rally car, rather that use my daily once it's repaired. But I'm kind of unsure about it. Say I got a car, where would I start from there? I know getting a car straight away isn't the best idea, just hypothetically this is. I'm wondering about gutting the interior, suspension set ups, tyres, registration, clubs, and so on to give you an idea. So hopefully someone here doesn't mind giving me a bit of info before I go and have another car just sitting in my garage.

Cheers!

 

[trevmcrev]

G'day Adam,

Whether you get a car right away or not is up to you.

You should join a Cams affiliated car club.
Get out and spectate at some local events.
Get involved as an official at rallys. They always need help with road closure officials.
Help out on a service crew. You'll learn alot.
Motorkhanas and autocrosses are a good cheap place to start competing and learning to control a car on gravel. You can do these in just about any old shitbox with minimal mods.

When it comes to real rallys, you will have to complete 5 events in a 2wd before you are allowed to run a turbo 4wd.

You will be far better off buying an existing rallycar than building one.
There are loads of rules to comply with and if your not familiar you could pour alot of time and money into a car you cant use.

Keep an eye on these links for cars.

http://www.rallysportmag.com.au/home/index.php?option=com_classifieds&Itemid=47

http://www.rally.com.au/usefulinfo/forsale

http://www.bmsc.com.au/forums/rally-cars-sale/

And here is an article on getting into rallying.

http://www.rallysportmag.com.au/home/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=62&Itemid=56

I'm happy to help anyway i can, so any questions just ask.
You'll most rally folk will go out of their way to help anyone else trying to get into rallying.

 

[Velocity Racing]

hehe, here is a can of worms!!

There are a few people on here who im sure can help point you in the right direction! (trev, Evo6rally, rob323 to name a few)

Going out a just buying a car is one way, tho its probbally best to go out to a few events and have a look, prehaps join a rally club (trev and brenton (evo6rally) could recomend one in vic) and go along to a few meetings etc...

What you can do however is go along and use your road car in some club events, like dirt motorkahna's and Khanacross's, get a feel for it etc, then decide what you want to do..

If you do that, you can also get some idea of the running cots etc that you would be looking at depending on what level you want compete at, be it club & local, State championship or ARC and above, as well as the car requirements for each etc.

As for car, i strongly suggest if you were get a dedicated rally car, if would be far better to buy a reliable car with a history, rather than build one up, mainly as the time, skils and $$$ required to build one up, in my oppinion would not be worth it..

find some more info on getting into rally at
http://sarally.com.au/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=26&Itemid=40
- ( i know its for SA, but the info is relevant)

thats my 2c worth!

lewis

 

[rob323]

The mistake I feel that I made, was to jump right in (very unlike me :roll: not!) and buy a pre-built gemini rally car and go rallying.

In hindsight, what I should have done was just to use my road car or what ever other car I could find and do some autocrosses and khanacrosses and learn to drive quickly on dirt and learn somewhere where there aren't trees within 2 feet of the edge of a single car wide road to bounce off (no, I haven't hit any big ones yet, maybe a couple of smaller ones though :wink: )

The hardest thing about rallying I found was not just driving fast on dirt roads, but to drive fast on dirt roads that you haven't seen before and also learn to listen to the navigator and learn to trust what your navvy tells you, all at the same time ( I still can only remember two calls ahead at any one time).

But, after one full season of rallying, I wasn't much better than when I started.

I then spent a day at our local autocross track and did about 150 km going around it in all directions and learning to drive fast (although on familiar roads), but the very next rally, we were alot quicker as I didn't have to concentrate so much on my driving and could pay more attention to my navvy and reading the road (don't underestimate just how important and beneficial that is). I benefitted more in one day on an autocross than from one full season of rallies.

But as said before, join a club, meet some really nice and helpful people (as most rally folk are) and have fun. Find someone local to you that rallies and ask to tag along with their service crew (if they are lucky enough to have one). Do some auto and khanacrosses in the mean time to improve your skills while you learn how a rally "works".

 

[rob323]

Oh, and here is a teaser from a Sponsor's day last weekend.

Anyone going to Forster for the Great Lakes rally this weekend? My wife and the team that she navigates for left this morning to go down and compete in the car shown in the above photo.

 

[Velocity Racing]

When it comes to real rallys, you will have to complete 5 events in a 2wd before you are allowed to run a turbo 4wd.

wow is that a Vic rally thing? our first car was the evo? a few people had a few things to say, but we were never told it wasnt allowed.

Saying that, jumping straight into a turbo 4wd doesnt work for everyone, so its probbaly best work out where you are first.

 

[AdamD]

Hmm, 2WD might be a problem. I've only got my VR4 at the moment; and that's off the road. But yeah, one thing at a time. I'd love to help out on a service crew or be an official for starters. Can you guys recommend me a specific club to join first? Which are you guys in?

Rob; I'm probably going to make that same mistake. When I want something I tend to jump straight in the deep end, but I'll see how this one flows. When you say do some auto and khanacrosses, where can I find out more information about doing these? I'd like to get into it asap! Might be able to pinch my old Integra back off mum before she sells it.

Thanks for the info and links too guys. Just a couple of other questions pop into mind. What's the deal with registration? I didn't think you'd be able to get road worthy on a rally car and therefore no registration -- or is it a recreational reg or something? And can you insure the cars at all (fire and theft?)

 

[trevmcrev]

When it comes to real rallys, you will have to complete 5 events in a 2wd before you are allowed to run a turbo 4wd.

wow is that a Vic rally thing? our first car was the evo? a few people had a few things to say, but we were never told it wasnt allowed.

mmm... maybe it is. It certainly is for the Victorian Club Rally Series. Maybe the same for the Victorian Rally Championship.

You cant be a rookie (F grade) in a t4wd.

You could run the vr4 in khanaX and autoX though, i think.

I also never did autocrosses at the begining. Only did 1 and won it though!

But all the upcoming guns like eli evans, will orders, brendon reeves etc were autoXing since they could reach the pedals & by the time they turn 18 they are better drivers than most (all?) of us.

My rallycar has full vic rego. There are rally friendly people out there that can help with the RWC. Tip is though, once its rego'd, keep it rego'd.
However, more and more people are rallying on Unregistered Vehicle Permits just for the day/weekend of the event. You can also get Rally Rego, but its quite restrictive , so unless your car is an unregisterable import then its best to go for full rego.

If you car is already rego'd its probly worth keeping it current while you build, if not, try to get it into a registerable state before you strip n cage it. But you can build a car then rego it if you must, i did with my old escort and when i got the lancer which was already built it was out of reg but got through ok.

I'm a member at Pakenham Auto Club, mainly coz they used to have an autox track.

 

[rob323]

Have some patience and sift through the cams web site. You will find club details etc on there.
www.cams.com.au

 

[AdamD]

Have some patience and sift through the cams web site. You will find club details etc on there.
www.cams.com.au

Okay I will! Given me a lot to think about, but I think it's something I will definitely get in to. Just looks like too much fun and I've woken up twice in the night now thinking about going for hill climb! Maybe I need another hobby?

Let us know if you could next time an autoX or khanaX is on and I'll definitely be in on that. Thanks for the information guys, much appreciated.

 

[rob323]

If you are ever in Brissy, let me know and I'll see what events are happening.

 

[rob323]

Sold my Gemini yesterday, that will help go towards some proflex for the new car.

 

[AdamD]

If you are ever in Brissy, let me know and I'll see what events are happening.

Cheers mate, now I just need a reason to actually in be in Brissy. And what's the new car?


And I'm after some opinions now. I have the chance to get my old '86 Integra back for myself. I'd very much like to rally it, great light little car to drive, and it's gone well on a few of my dirt road thrashings. It's just a little inline 4, DOHC no VTEC or anything, FWD, weighs ~900kg. 0-100 ~8.5s, and 1/4 mile is around 16.5s. But I'm wondering, would there be much open to me driving this? I realise I have to complete 5 events before using a turbo 4WD, so this would be perfect, but are there any other restrictions if I decided just to stay with this instead of moving onto a turbo 4?

I did read that there are FWD and engine classes, but I'm just really wondering if there's many events this car's category would have?

I wouldn't mind building this one myself either, part of the fun which you miss out on buying one that's already done. I'm thinking basically gut the interior, racey seats/harness, cage, spotties, and big mudflaps. Maybe some go fastER bits later on. MAYBE, it's a revvy little thing as is.

Thoughts?

 

[DOUGMO]

the problem with the da3s is the torsion bar front suspension which is shit.

my mrs used to have one the same(great car) and i ran a few motorkhanas and speed events in it and did ok. the last motorkhana i did totalled the front suspension in it though

 

[AdamD]

Yeah I knew it wasn't the best. I'd definitely need to do something about the front left strut before doing anything too dicey in it. It's leaking oil and bottoms out all the time, one rough ride especially for the passenger.

How'd you total it though? Actually hit something or did it just give out from giving it too much?

 

[DOUGMO]

both front shockers colapsed, sway bar bushes too.

there is no spring in the front,just torsion bars,

the shocks cant take the beating on the rough stuff at all.

i know a guy that circuit races one too, he has put extra tension on the torsion rods somehow and runs konis all round, handles ok.

 

[rob323]

And what's the new car?

Ok, I'll tell you but you must promise not to laugh.

Its a...............Toyota Echo :shock:

Really, it is (or rather, it was until we got to it).

You laughed didn't you :twisted:

 

[Velocity Racing]

cool!.. will is it homologated for GpN so u can run at rally oz?

 

[rob323]

Group N - f*ck off
We will be making full use of the privileges offer by the super 1600 rules.
Quad throttles etc.
Who the hell wants to rally a stock standard echo :roll: :twisted:

 

[Velocity Racing]

hehe even better