Banned Godlike Moderator Location: Red Deer, Alberta Join Date: 09/13/2011 Posts: 717 Rally Car: 2002 Subaru WRX STi |
Us crossing the finish line today (yes, a picture of a picture). We completed 3/4 of almost 800 competitive stage miles, 400+ miles of transit as well. Not enough can be said of the people who helped get us to the end, including crawling the last 5 miles at 15mph due to a crushed exhaust and a collapsing intake hose! We'll be back from the sounds of thing... stay tuned for the day by day writeup! I'm personally planning on building a truck to "rally" specifications for this event (their idea of rally includes a brand new Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland addition done up to run in the top 5 overall, with glass windows and A/C!), so I am on the lookout for the toughest mini-truck you can get. Conditions require extended cab, and must have an SUV counterpart to use as chase/tow/service vehicle. I'm thinking deranger and exploder. And as a final warning, do NOT do this event in a rally car unless you don't care about it, or you are willing to essentially "use the car up" completely over the course of the event. I hope to post some video from other people (never got a chance to), but some of the stuff we went through... the only reason was Ron's sheer power of will, including the will to do whatever it takes to make it "up and over" the obstacles in our way. The fact the car held up as well as it did... simply mind blowing. We only ACTUALLY wrecked two control arms, one rally tire flat (ran falken mediums for about 400 miles), and a front DMS 50mm started weeping from the seals. If you are crazy enough to do this event; minimum DMS 50mm's (PROPERLY SETUP, longer AND softer springs with correct damping, all things we didn't have), swaybars removed, full body length skidplates (and at least 3/16" thick, I think we were running 1/8" thick?!), completed boxed control arms, and realistically a tubular front end to get the front frame rails out of the way and provide more front end protection/better approach angle. If done properly, a rallycar would SLAY in the smoother sections, but you'd still have to be prepared to skip the car over boulders 1+ foot tall and pummel the car in general. SHORTER IS BETTER, and overhang is a killer. Awd lightweight cars work hilariously better in the fine sand of seabeds/lakebeds/silt river bottoms than 2wd heavy pickups with big tires. I think a 2.5RS could make a KILLER car for this (again, if you didn't care about ever selling it or using it again). |
Banned Godlike Moderator Location: Red Deer, Alberta Join Date: 09/13/2011 Posts: 717 Rally Car: 2002 Subaru WRX STi |
Videos (not mine):
This one shows ONE OF THE EASIEST STAGES WE ENCOUNTERED. Now imagine that in a Talon that was slightly raised  We did that stage in 1 hour, 44 minutes, XX seconds. That put us in the bottom 15% of all cars/trucks.
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Banned Godlike Moderator Location: Red Deer, Alberta Join Date: 09/13/2011 Posts: 717 Rally Car: 2002 Subaru WRX STi |
Daniel Spalinger Super Moderator Location: Windham, NH Join Date: 03/04/2011 Age: Possibly Wise Posts: 43 Rally Car: 2009 Nissan Frontier |
Banned Godlike Moderator Location: Red Deer, Alberta Join Date: 09/13/2011 Posts: 717 Rally Car: 2002 Subaru WRX STi |
Already found the truck...
http://www.race-dezert.com/classifieds/index.php?ct=prerun&md=details&id=46509 
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Aaron Gibson Mega Moderator Location: South Burlington, VT Join Date: 08/27/2012 Age: Possibly Wise Posts: 83 Rally Car: Cars are lame, I have a motorcycle |
I could do the event in a stock Audi A4! That wash in El Arco was fhe worst part and maybe the whoops in San Felipe but the rest was easy. |
Banned Godlike Moderator Location: Red Deer, Alberta Join Date: 09/13/2011 Posts: 717 Rally Car: 2002 Subaru WRX STi |
Ya know, I don't know whether to take that last post in jest, or if you are actually being serious. But to come into a thread where somebody/ a team feels quite proud of their accomplishment and to just shit on it. Congrats, you're a fucktard.
 Go do the event in a stock A4 that is built to the basics of the allowable rules, and then get back to us. Otherwise, stick to bikes 
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Ryan Scott Junior Moderator Location: Columbus, OH Join Date: 07/22/2008 Age: Midlife Crisis Posts: 4 Rally Car: passenger seat |
I did the Mex 1000 last week too, mainly in heavy chase. I was supposed to co-drive for JT Taylor in the #313 Torchmate rock-buggy, but then they broke it 38mi before I was to hop in. The event is cool enough that I too am looking for a vehicle to run next year, though a buggy not a truck - no way would I run a rally car unless you really hate it and want it to die a dramatic and painful death.
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Banned Godlike Moderator Location: Red Deer, Alberta Join Date: 09/13/2011 Posts: 717 Rally Car: 2002 Subaru WRX STi |
Banned Junior Moderator Location: La la land Join Date: 01/25/2006 Age: Fossilized Posts: 3,740 Rally Car: Not a Volvo |
A Tornado insert none-the-less, add an electric supercharger and hang on Gertie. Glad you had fun, there is something about an epic adventure that has to be experienced first hand. I'm a bit envious. I have 2 1986 Bronco II s in the shop right now, new motor in one. Maybe a consideration also. |
Ryan Scott Junior Moderator Location: Columbus, OH Join Date: 07/22/2008 Age: Midlife Crisis Posts: 4 Rally Car: passenger seat |
This was my first desert race and so I met A LOT of new people, and I also suck at remembering names...so it's quite possible that we met and I just don't recall. Sorry!
Even though I never got in the car I'm still really glad I went. Epic adventures aside, I learned a lot about just how much I don't know and the experience will be invaluable. Hopefully I'll be back in some capacity for the SCORE 1000 in Nov, and then the NORRA 1000 next year in my own ride - thinking a 2+2 Meyers Manx like Marty's yellow one, but w/ a Subaru motor...we shall see. Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/05/2013 01:29PM by GoFaster. |
Aaron Gibson Mega Moderator Location: South Burlington, VT Join Date: 08/27/2012 Age: Possibly Wise Posts: 83 Rally Car: Cars are lame, I have a motorcycle |
Calm down Francis, I was just pulling your cord. Figured you would like it.... 
Maybe some day, you'll meet me in person and maybe you'll be surprised how much car experience I have even compared to bikes. But, This is the internet after all and perceived knowledge is not all it's cracked up to be as you may find out someday. |
John Vanlandingham Super Moderator Location: Ford Asylum, Sleezattle, WA Join Date: 12/20/2005 Age: Fossilized Posts: 14,152 Rally Car: Saab 96 V4 |
Aaron, the boy comes from Calgay, Alberta. There's oil in the ground up North of there and therefore there's a cockiness we usually see in the stoopidest parts of this country where all they have to do is poke holes in the ground and oil comes out. So somehow they mistake good fortune with being smart and knowin it all. The boy is also in his 20s, and we all know every 20 something year old knows everything... Even when it is so frequently abundantly clear this particular boy is just talking shit.. I wanted to ask just what kind of event this was. It looks to be a desert version of Targa Newie-land....more of a tour than a rally or a desert race..But, i figured somebody would get butt-hurt and i'm tired of punks calling people names, like Adam just did. So you tell me: what was this? A glorified "tour"? There were certainly some pretty cars and expensive cars but they didn't look like serious cars. I can't figure it out. 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. |
Banned Godlike Moderator Location: Red Deer, Alberta Join Date: 09/13/2011 Posts: 717 Rally Car: 2002 Subaru WRX STi |
I did think it was funny, if I had known it was sarcastic. Since you seem to be in tune with the smilies, I figured there be one if it was! Sorry for the tirade, still catching back up on sleep and it was early morning.
John, it is a race. I already answered that question for you once. It is done EXACTLY like a stage rally, except the stages are 150+ miles. You can also pit anywhere/service anywhere/fuel anywhere. But don't take my word for it, I didn't just do it or anything... also, if I'd wrote that exact same paragraph to you about something, you'd flip your shit. At least I have the common decency to admit I was wrong and apologize (something you're not capable of). This race is NOT the same as typical desert racing which from my understanding, somebody yells GO! and you are off for XX amount of time or miles in one go. The race is also not a serious race. It is a vintage event that some more modern vehicles compete at. It's more of an adventure and party than race; afaik, this doesn't count towards any "serious" championship. Big sponsors and some money definitely rolls through it though. But in the end, it is still timed and time cards are filled in and you get penalized for not checking in properly. |
John Vanlandingham Super Moderator Location: Ford Asylum, Sleezattle, WA Join Date: 12/20/2005 Age: Fossilized Posts: 14,152 Rally Car: Saab 96 V4 |
Adam, the difference isn't that I can't or won't apologize. You have never spoken to me so YOU are a fucktard to say that about me and I would not call somebody I had had only superficial contact with a fucktard LIKE YOU JUST DID. Adam, you're just some punk from some nowhere place that nobody gives a shit about doing sport nobody gives a shit about. Just like the rest of us. That doesn't give you a right to call this guy Aaron a fucktard. That's the difference, you are READY to take offense because you're a spoiled kid who thinks you're some hot shit, so you're READY to call people fucktards. THAT ready recourse is not common decency. It is common assholery from spoiled punks. I won't call a person fucktard until I see somebody acting... well like you ---and most people I have encountered from Calgary---do far far too often. And sorry Adam, I couldn't TELL it was a "Exactly like a real rally". The various cars didn't look like real rally cars, they were , what I could see, far too pretty or kitschy. The in car and out car videos didn't look like or sound like people were "pushing"...looked as I said, more like Targa where most are "cruising" and then bullshitting on their brand forums what a REAL full on Professional RALLY-Race they're racing in with their street car. Sorry it wasn't instantly recognizable... By the way, Adam tard that was 2 apologies so  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. |
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