AW11 MR 2: humor me

seriously....I am an amateur who is going to compete against other amateurs.

DirkaDirkaJack Wrote:
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> seriously....I am an amateur who is going to
> compete against other amateurs.


Bearing in mind the "in spite of the car",
IF you have a choice---that is to say unless you already have piles of good spares of rally parts, or have a pre existing sponsorship relationship linked to a specific brand,-----and remembering always that when we compete we're somewhere in our heads thinking about BEATING the other guys--and gals--
THEN what logic would lead you to purposely choosing a particular chassi which----for the area you live, the roads used, and what the other cars--your competitors--you are facing may be driving-----in advance saddles you with disadvantages?

Remember--just because a car works better doesn't mean it's not fun.

And finally, what role does other people's previous experience have in a discussion?
In other words when stacks of people have come in to the sport and then dropped out of the sport, and somebody knows what some of the reasons they dropped out is, and repeatedly a dead end was reached or rather the balance between what they wanted to do and what the next level would cost was reached, what weight does that have in the consideration of the choice of vehicle---under the conditions of no pre-existing relationship as noted above?

---

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.

DirkaDirkaJack Wrote:
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> ok, I was already to let this thread die because
> of wheelbase bla, bla, bla.....
>
> ...but then it occurred to me that Cody Crane who
> kicks some G2 ass has a CRX--with a 90.3 inch
> wheel base....
>
> ...so...stick that in your pipe and smoke it.

Yeah, just think about how fast Cody would be in a good car. He should ditch that CRX (not that he hasn't already in the literal sense) and buy my old Omni turbo which Fling Pu has for sale now. He would have no trouble dispatching any Subaru around here in that car. The overall win trophies would pile up. John Lane would be turning up the boost just to try to keep up.
Oh, did I go a bit far with it? But you get my point. Cody may not agree but that CRX is holding him back. That kid has real talent.

Hey Jack,

Any chance you work at 4747 Channel Ave?

I wouldn't freak out over the wheelbase thing . I ran a RX-7 for a couple years at 95" wb and beat pretty much everyone around here and managed Open class 1st and 2nd National finishes. Rod Millen in a RX7 made me look stupid slow...with around 300 hp the car saw 125mph regularly on stage. I also built the first quick Datsun 210 back in the day . It had a 92" wheelbase and also ran at the front of most regional events with no horsepower and was stable to its top speed. There is a certain magic to a short wheelbase car that dances,

Both of the above mentioned cars, as well as Cody's CRX and I suspect Starlets are predictable, consistant cars at the limit. A MR2, Fiero, X1/9 are not predictable by nature. You can rally one and you can have fun in one. The problem will happen when you top a blind crest and the roads goes left while the treeline goes right.

The bigger issue for me is the lack of interior volume, no room for assholes, elbows and helmets. The FIA is currently looking at new seat rules, door bars and trying to figure out how to get maximum room between occupants and the outside of the cars. You will increase your personal risk and decrease your chance of notable finishes. If you already don't have 3 or 4 MR2s in the backyard then invest in a better platform. I've seen several Starlets in the local small town junk yards here, so that should still be doable.

heymagic Wrote:
> A MR2, Fiero, X1/9
> are not predictable by nature. You can rally one
> and you can have fun in one.

It all depends on what you are used to. I have owned at least one short-wheelbase, mid-engined car (doesn't mid-engine usually implies short wheelbase?) since 1986 and, for a while, that was all I owed. For the most part, I find them very predictable.

Having said that, a Fiero can be a handful.

alan

Horses for courses.

---

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.

The funny thing about this topic is that the loudest voices against Subarishi hegemony are also the loudest voices if you don't choose one of the cars that they favor.

OK here is my totally unquallified two cents:


So you have some sort of perverted wet-dream about rallying a Mister Too. That's OK, people do way worse stuff than that. You have one at hand, if there is anything left after the 24 hrs. of Lemmings (nerf bars might help). You take whats left, cut out the practice cage, get something up to code put in there, fix all the broken things and try it out stock. Maybe you will make it through half an event and then you will know if its worth it. You will certainly be able to scare yourself and have fun.

I would take Gene's comments on safety issues seriously.

Then again why not just get some brass in your balls and build up a REAL rallycar outta one of the Sellickuh Owl-tracs that are out there before they all get crunched up.

Bill Beers Wrote:
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> Hey Jack,
>
> Any chance you work at 4747 Channel Ave?


As a matter of fact, I do (this week anyway). Are you there as well? Come by say hi.


Just to to mess with Dave C, I am going to have him prep an MR2 for me. Ok, kidding, kidding...

Yeah, at first we planned on putting an FIA.253 cage in the Lemons car so we could try it out on stage. But a this point, we are running out of time to get the car done and realistically, if I still have a job and a "real" rally car by the beginning of the 09 season, the MR2 would never see a stage anyway, so it would probably be a waste of time.

tipo158 Wrote:
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> > The funny thing about this topic is that the
> loudest voices against Subarishi hegemony are also
> the loudest voices if you don't choose one of the
> cars that they favor.

Hey Alan, I make the assumption that A) some people want to have a car that is competitive not just in some fucked up Peee or Pee GT class, but decently overall and they don't make lots of disposable income to piss into the sand on some dead end project which may be "Interesting" or "original" but has serious buzz-killing limitations that somebody with any balls will find out after an event or two as they get the hang of what they're doing a little bit.

Because once it dawns on those that are competitive---ya know who what do TRY to go fast---that they pet project chosen for its whatever factor can't be made to go much faster they will consider selling the car AT A HUGE FUCKIN LOSS.

Now you don't seem very concerned about people dumping their first cars and starting all over but I sure talk to lots of people who have to and they're not thrilled at esentially being stuck with something they can't upgrade.
But what the hell, it's just money, right?

Why worry? Be happy.

Everythings all the same, no car size or configuration, of spec is any better that the next, right?

Fuck.


>

---

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.

Hence why I tell people to build a GC Subaru, Volvo 240, Merkur XR4ti, Golf, M3 or a Civic. Not in any particular order there though. All depends upon how long they want to build it up and how well.

---

Grant Hughes

In response to John, if someone's goal is to be a fast driver, I think that he should not listen to me and should listen to you or Gene or Grant. However, if his goal is to just go out and have fun, then he shouldn't get any flak for wanting to build a car that he is comfortable with.

alan

I never understand that ideology. I don't even consider myself as that competitive of a person but I want to win or at least have a carthat is capable of winning a meaningful race. If I didn't care about that I'd have built an Impreza with a junkyard 2.2T engine. Cheap, easy, AWD, reliable, and plenty of fun. But you'll always be competing for 5th or 6th place if anyone actually shows up.

I haven't won anything meaningful yet, but it's all driver, not the car and I am way happier having that be the case than being limited by my car.

---

Grant Hughes

tipo158 Wrote:
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> > In response to John, if someone's goal is to be
> a fast driver, I think that he should not listen
> to me and should listen to you or Gene or Grant.
> However, if his goal is to just go out and have
> fun, then he shouldn't get any flak for wanting to
> build a car that he is comfortable with.
>
> alan
>
>
As I said, I make the assumption that somebody embarking on spending thousands of dollars to build a competition car, and then go pay exorbitant entry fees and towing bills to enter a competition has some competitive blood in their veins and wants advice on how they can eventually be competitive.

Most people are not de facto locked into a particular car or drive configuration due to being employed by a manufacturer who only makes a whatever so that's what they have to drive.
People have choice---I attempt to show they what is the plusses and minuses of their choices and point out the down stream results of choosing some dead end thing "cause i have one for free".

And when it's obvious that they don't care if the car is suitable, and that they will never fight for any placing, that they can afford to build a car, like you and your choice of a TR7, I don't comment.
You have a TR7, you intend to build it, and you know you don't care about results, so no critique.

I try and convince those who have not yet made an expensive blunder.

---

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.