Healthy 2WD field at Sandblast

Some great photos from the event I found:

Guys,

I first rallied through Sand Trap in '92. Seems like we never got stuck there until all you youngsters started showing up in this decade....Using BFG Mud Terrains in those days was a big help too...!

Seriously, Anders, one thing to consider: Look over the field and figure what/who is most likely to get stuck on the Sandtrap stage. Then put them in the back of the field not matter what their speed factor. The last few 'group stoppages' on Sand trap were caused by cars that were pretty obvious candidates to get stuck in that deep uphill sand.

Regards,
Mark B.

Mark, that's a good idea. Low clearance and open diff... to the rear!

Also, Matt, I believe you'll have to change your signature, as your car is no longer all black, and it's now quite sharp looking:

http://sandblastrally.com/2008/media/Ken-Neher-Stage3/images/aIMG_5145%20copy.jpg

How does one put pictures in with phorum???

Anders

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Grassroots rally. It's what I think about.

Very good pix. 'Specially the one of the Colt; I wonder what Mike Hopper is thinking exactly? "Where's the ejection seat button??"

Regards,
Mark B.

Thanks for the compliment Anders. Never underestimate the power of $20 worth of rustoleum spray cans. I think Kevin Allen managed to get the best shots of the car this year.


Anders, I still think that my idea for stabilizing the soil on that hill is worth pursuing. Roadway improvements to stabilize the surface. I know its easier said than done but I have faith in you Anders since you are famous now

Mark, for what it's worth that hill was squishier that I remember it being in past years. Coul be motorcycles or more likely the 4wd trucks that pulled five cars through it before we went up the hill.

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Matt Smith

Racing in glorious black and red

My daily life is a Saab story (sold!)

Hi all,

We had a great time at Sandblast. Anders, Amy and everyone else did a great job. What a great group to run with.

Mustaffa, the reason that we didn't have any glass in the car was that the rear window was lexan. Why it came out, no idea.

This rally got me really excited to run more events this year.

Thanks
Brad

Hamburger Hill ended our rally in 2005. A smoking, fuel starved engine.

Fortunately we were able to slip around the 911 and the Z, and continue past the mahem this year.

Maybe there should be an addendum in the notes:
"Mile 1.50: 2wd cars -- PUSH THE GO PEDAL OR PERISH!!"

Great event!

Greg and I would have made it with the Z, but all it took was one breathe out of the throttle when we 1st saw the Porsche and that killed enough momentum to stop us from reaching the top.

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-Brian

That last photo of the Saab with a fifteen foot high wall of dirt... WOW! That's one thing about this event that you rarely see anywhere else.

Anders

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Grassroots rally. It's what I think about.

Hey Anders been talking to some of the boys there and it occured to mew you might maybe want to consider what the Anglais were doing for a while (and it worked just fine then): Reverse seeding.
Ever read about that? BTRDA in the early 90s??

The interval car to cars is the same, and the lower seeds get decent roads, and THEY certainly don't chew the fawk outta the road anything like the higher power cars?

Ever hear of it?
Gimme a call!
(If we're still friends and you ain't all butt hurt I suggested that 450lbs bikes were beeeg peeeeeegs over on the other place.)

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John Vanlandingham
Sleezattle, WA, USA

Vive le Prole-le-ralliat

www.rallyrace.net/jvab
CALL +1 206 431-9696
Remember! Pacific Standard Time
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john vanlandingham Wrote:
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> Hey Anders been talking to some of the boys there
> and it occured to mew you might maybe want to
> consider what the Anglais were doing for a while
> (and it worked just fine then): Reverse seeding.
> Ever read about that? BTRDA in the early 90s??

We've done it at Sandblast before, one year we ran all the 2wd first. It ended up not working....


> (If we're still friends and you ain't all butt
> hurt I suggested that 450lbs bikes were beeeg
> peeeeeegs over on the other place.)

HA! Yeah, if you want to talk to me now, you have to pass a note to Marcy during lunch.

Anders

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Grassroots rally. It's what I think about.

Hey John,

Like Anders said, reverse seeding ha been tried. You need to come to SB one year to experience the effect of the sand. We have run 2WD and AWD there, and the difference in capability is waaaaay beyond what anyone could reasonably expect. With 2WD, you never really 'get up on the step', like happens when a seaplane gets up on it's floats after reaching a certain speed; AWD cars can get enough speed to get partly up on the sand surface, and end up pushing far less sand. And the car attitude for AWD on a fast rutted turn is entirely wierd: front wheels deep in the ruts, rear end kicked up on the upper, outer edge of the ruts. The car ends up tilted downward at a 5-10 degree angle on a flat road!

So when the 2WD's were run first, even with a 10 minute gap, the front AWD cars could catch up to tail-end 2WD cars.

3 things you can do for 2WD in SB, and they all used to be a lot more common on rally cars:
- knobby tires
- lots o' ground clearance
- light weight

When we ran our Arrow there, we had the ground clearance and ligth weight working for us. We ran up behind 2 Golfs stuck side-by-side in the Sand Trap, and I yelled to Duffy to mash the gas and steer up over the berm; with the light car and the clearance, we just popped up over the edge of the road, and made it past.

We gotta figure out how to find some 13" and 14" knobbies for 2WD cars at SB. The best I ever used were Mud Terrain T/A's when you could get them in 13" and 14" sizes. Buy one set and they will work for a couple years there. Anybody got any good leads on 13" and 14" knobbies?

Regards,
Mark B.

I think the conditions this year seemed worse than last year. Comparing times for consistant drivers like Healey, he was almost a minute faster over the same stage last year in the same car... The sand was very dry this year. I actually thought the roads improved with more passes, even though the ruts got deeper, it got down into a deeper, damper and harder packed base. Repeating the 1st stage backwards as the 5th stage we were only about 20 seconds slower in 15 miles and there was a lot more uphill that direction. At that point 100 bikes and 40 cars had already been down the road... The escort Gt was running really knobby snow tires at first but after 2 flats on 1 stage they switched back to rally tires and said the difference wasn't really noticable. Correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think any 2wd cars with a proper diff got stuck?

Ok, I'm just going on the record that Luke wants more and deeper ruts next year. I'll see what I can do. *grin*.

Anders

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Grassroots rally. It's what I think about.

Ha, bring it on Anders! (Just don't put us behind someone else with an open diff!)

Heres some in car from the 2nd stage where we took a nice mud bath. Really can't get a good sense from the video how difficult it is to maintain speed in that sand!