RWD????????

Topi Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Bimmer is the best RWD rally car right now in the
> world.
> Here's a little bit taste of what one can do:
>
> - Go and check out EK3 in-car to begin with and
> you'll agree - nothing comes close!
> - Toni built this to have FUN. WRC cars are
> toooooo boring for him. He also won the rally
> in-cars are from by out classing the field.
> - This is a MODERN car, not an old, out-dated junk
> you need to re-engineer everything.

Topi-poiki, sure looks like upgraded 'PRAKES' and 'Galiibers' and 'Sösbentöörs'

The same as anybody would do on any car.
>
> Member of Swedish "Fart Förening"

---

John Vanlandingham
Sleezattle, WA, USA

Vive le Prole-le-ralliat

www.rallyrace.net/jvab
CALL +1 206 431-9696
Remember! Pacific Standard Time
is 3 hours behind Eastern Standard Time.

john vanlandingham Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Topi Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
>
> > - This is a MODERN car, not an old, out-dated
> junk
> > you need to re-engineer everything.
>
> Topi-poiki, sure looks like upgraded 'PRAKES' and
> 'Galiibers' and 'Sösbentöörs'
>
> The same as anybody would do on any car.
> >
> > Member of Swedish "Fart Förening"

And Topi that sure sounds like awfully close ratio box which shift VERY fast, sounds like a Dog-boks if you ask me, more re-engineering.
Just like anything else which goes good.
>
>
>
>
> John Vanlandingham
> Sleezattle, WA, USA
>
> Vive le Prole-le-ralliat
>
> www.jvab.f4.ca

---

John Vanlandingham
Sleezattle, WA, USA

Vive le Prole-le-ralliat

www.rallyrace.net/jvab
CALL +1 206 431-9696
Remember! Pacific Standard Time
is 3 hours behind Eastern Standard Time.

ive already got blets and seats, thanks to my de/dd/track car.... (just need to check up and see if they comply with the rules), and hoping to fab my own skid plate.

im wanting to spend no more than $4,000 on the car, and then ill go from there on parts and misc. stuff.

ill have to check out the subie, thats one more thing to add to the list.
so the list now stands at....

-Xr4ti
-Sentra se-r
-subie

oh, and that xr4ti looks nice, but a lil high on the miles

Hi Pieter,

IMO, with that budget, you need to:
- Look for built cars and shop VEEEERY carefully with that budget level.
- If building on that budget, then you need to find someone who can help you build the cage with free welding and bending labor, and be ready to help a lot yourself. That's the only way to get the cage under $1000. Have you downloaded the cage rules? NASA Rallysport is most common for rallies in your neck of the woods, so start there.
- If building on that budget, you need to stick to basic suspension parts/cheap shocks and live with the performance. Concentrate on the cage, the safety stuff, buying a car with a good drivetrain, replacing stuff like fluids belts, hoses, water pumps, alternators, half-shafts, and so on to get the reliability up, keep the stock fuel system, put on skid plates and a couple of rally lights, a good set of tires, odometer, etc. That's all you have the $$ for.
- With that budget, don't go for a car that will need any sort of parts like trannies or engine mods. Forget rally shocks to start. You need a car that will do OK in pretty much stock configuration with the budget that you state. Nissan SE-R or the basic Subie would be my choices, or a Golf with some of the basic fixes implemented.
- Feel free to to email me on what you have for the seats and belts to see if they are OK.

And, Rally WV is running out of Elkins, WV, on Aug 3-4. For you, shoot up I-85 to Charlotte, take I-77 all the way to Beckley WV, north on US19 to Sutton WV, up I-79 a bit, and then 30 miles east on US33 to Elkins. About 8-9 hours drive for you. It's a NASA Rallsport event; most SCCA events became Rally-America events. (Does it matter?!? All rally is good rally!)

Regards,
Mark B.

Topi Wrote:
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> oh and TOPI, will an e36 325 work??
> ---------------

> - XR4Ti was a failure when new and hasen't gotten
> any better in 20 years... No brakes, the worst
> rear suspension aligment, boat anchor engine, bad
> tranny and list goes on. You CAN change all that
> but if it was easy we'd see many at the rallies
> but we don't. There must be more X-ratties "under
> construction" than any other make in the US?
> - The only car I ever saw was the ugliest of all -
> Mr Green's in WA. To his credit he did rally it,
> at least. There's a reason for it - too expensive
> and too complicated for most of us.
> - JVL has done a great job at promoting this car
> but it's just too much money and work to make
> happen, specially for the beginners.

Topi- have you ever driven one? I think that would change your mind just a little.

depape - I would vote for Volvo, maybe the toyota celica and of course the XR. But I'm bias, as I already have one. Oh and I'm one of those guys who has been buying a house, getting married, now has a child, etc. So I'm not sure how one car would be quicker to assemble,more reliable, yada-yada then another in the same set of circumstances.

---

Scott Manley
Spokane, WA
86' XR4Ti
37

what i meant by $4000 was just on the initial cost on the car.... then + mods. so my total budget would probly run around $$10-12k.

o and ill check out the rally WV, it seems like quite a drive

o and can someone answer my question on how reliable and readily avalible the xr4i is???

thanks,
Pieter

What year subie impreza would i be looking for (2wd)?? anymore detials on it, supporte, reliability???


and could someone inform me on the xr4ti's ( from my previous post )


im getting close ......
thanks

I wouldn't spend 4K just for the car. I've owned 5 or 6 XR4Ti's. The motors are bullit proof, IMHO. There's got to be a reason there are 10,000 of them run around circle tracks every weekend, all across America. Probably one of the simplist motors you'll ever work on. Drivetrain is pretty straigh forward. The rear suspension is simple for an IRS. If you rebuild all of the suspension, i.e. replace all the bushings and use John's suspension, it will be bomb proof; though that's not something exclusive to the XR. Ford used the same basic floor pan/body and suspension layout until 97' for rally in the WRC. So compared to the Subie it's still relatively modern. I mean consider up until last year, all VWs used the same non IRS rear end that dates back to the mid 70's. So what is modern?

---

Scott Manley
Spokane, WA
86' XR4Ti
37

ok... well im in search of a XR,

how about the "project car" on specialstage.com?? it already has a cage....



Oh and how did you guys get started?? (im about to go start searching for good rally schools on the east coast)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/27/2007 01:59PM by depape.

Rally school is a good investment, a years worth of seat time for less then the cost of one rally. Hell of a lot of fun. Right now as I do not have a rally car if I ever get the need I will just go do school again, cheap fun and makes you better... made me like 5 or 10 seconds a mile faster. It also made driving so much more fun as I felt comfy going sideways and sideways driving is why I do this sport rather than go karts or something much cheaper.

To be clear, I would never recomend a BMW to a no budget team. However if you are willing to spend about $25k like I am it looks like there are a lot of race BMW's in the US caged etc ready to go. Sell the track shit like wheels and low suspinsion, get rally shit off the shelf from Sellhom, Ritger, Proflex, etc, go have fun. Most even come with multi rear ends so you can pick the ratio for the event. Hey my company gives me a car allowance check every month I should spend that on a car, right? No one said it could not be a rally car.

---

In the long run reality always wins.

Thanks derek, im def doing a rally school.....

now i just need a car i can start messing w/ over the summer?!?!

anyone have or know of any XR4ti's for sale. i wouldnt mind a project car (unfinished rally car), or a rally prepped one.


-Pieter

derek Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Rally school is a good investment, a years worth
> of seat time for less then the cost of one rally.
> Hell of a lot of fun. Right now as I do not have a
> rally car if I ever get the need I will just go do
> school again, cheap fun and makes you better...
> made me like 5 or 10 seconds a mile faster. It
> also made driving so much more fun as I felt comfy
> going sideways and sideways driving is why I do
> this sport rather than go karts or something much
> cheaper.
>

>
> See me go at:
> www.11tenths.com
> In the long run Reality always wins.


Ok, what rally school have you attended and what would you recommend? Overseas or in the US?

---

rally gods would turn in their graves if they ever knew Lada's were now part of EU rallying!!!

depape Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Thanks derek, im def doing a rally school.....
>
> now i just need a car i can start messing w/ over
> the summer?!?!
>
> anyone have or know of any XR4ti's for sale. i
> wouldnt mind a project car (unfinished rally car),
> or a rally prepped one.
>
>
> -Pieter
Piet mijnheer, I have a good starter car mainly cause its cheap, and RUST FREE!
I have just gotten a call from a guy with another again cheap and RUST FREE.
ones a 86 the other is a 87 I think.

Towing isn't that bad if you get the car for 200-300 bucks.

RUST FREE

There may be some closer buit you have to watch for rust unless you like to weld.


And one thing gone not said is that you really don't HAVE TO do the full stich weld the entire car, chop the windows etc.
The longest term Xrattista in North America is Grand dad Colin McCleery and he has a cage, and decent UK made versions of the Bilstein upside down stuff like I make for struts in fronts and some "909" Bilsteins he got from me in the back, a LSD and that's it for 9 years.
He did finally blow up the million mile box in the car, slapped in another while he searched for a Borg Warner T5..
And since he's older and getting all nostalgic, he dropped a V8 in rather than freshening up the 2300 and getting slightly short rear axle ratio.


You don't have to go full crazy like Seattle Scott, Spokane Scott, Skye Poier and I have done on our cars-----while we ALL were getting downsized, getting married, buying houses, having first children---amazingly nearly all of us.

Cage and suspension and skid plate stuff might total 4500, then its just seats and harnesses and an exhaust (3 inch is the best single thing you can do, it really WAKES THE CAR UP!!!)

You could then refine the car as you have time between races.
More repainting of the areas you weld on but it gets you in the woods quicker.

By the way, I know even more cheap 300-400 Xratties so they are all over---out here.


Maybe its easier to just move where there's more rally activities and cars.

---

John Vanlandingham
Sleezattle, WA, USA

Vive le Prole-le-ralliat

www.rallyrace.net/jvab
CALL +1 206 431-9696
Remember! Pacific Standard Time
is 3 hours behind Eastern Standard Time.

Go here:
http://www.nocoastmotorsports.net/CLSearch/

Right click and Save Target As for both the files located there. Save them into a new folder somewhere on your computer. Run the program with Merkur for a search string and you'll locate all the Merkur's on all Craigslist sites in the US. Look for ones near you.

Sign up at www.merkurclub.com/forum and/or www.merkursport.com

For $4000 you could get a really good car with some upgrades. For $2000 you can get a nice one without alot of upgrades but spend $2000 on cage and be good to go. Contact John and spend another $2000 on suspension, buy some good pads for the brakes, build a couple skidplates, and you could be rally ready. Oh, and make sure to weld the diff and throw a 3" exhaust on. Then go rally.

You can upgrade power, cooling, and brakes as time goes on.

I made the mistake (in my opinion) of trying to upgrade it all at once. I'd rather progressively make it better so I had a good memory of having fun driving the car in a rally that was helping to motivate me to make it better and to get it done quickly.

---

Grant Hughes

I have a red XR sitting in Raleigh screaming to be built into a rally car. I think you may have seen it when you were over at the house a while back. Its solid,in need of lots of TLC but the price is right.

you have access to the THSCC rallyx which is a cheaper entry into driving than formal schools.

---

Matt Smith

Racing in glorious black and red

My daily life is a Saab story (sold!)