I loved the idea of spec Geo Metro rally. I gather there was a cage sorted out, and a suspension package. But it never came to fruition...
Now it's a few years on... What's the cheap, spares-readily-available, reasonably reliable car that will replace the metro as the next obvious basis for a cheap-as-possible spec rally series?
Some manner of Hyundai?
Do you guys get the Click in the US?
This series, if you start with a brand new car, costs about 12k.
I know there's a series in the US that uses very lightly modified Fits and Mazda 2s. Those are more like 20k out the door though.
Negative on the Click. We got them in Australia (as the Getz), and they're not bad little econoboxes with the 1.6 and manual trans. I could definitely see a race series there.
What is the absolute cheapest new car or readily available used car at the moment?
One of the cheapest, not sure if it's THE cheapest, is a Fiesta 4 door sedan. In a reversal of "common" auto pricing practice, Ford, and other car manufacturers are pricing the hatchback models as the "uplevel" car...so I imagine there is a Hyundai and Kia that can be had as a small sedan at the Fiesta's price point of $14K. The only car, off the top of my head that's lower in price NEW is the Versa. And even the newer Versas are not that much cheaper.
Spec Geo Metro? That was 10 years ago, and it didn't happen because there was no interest. If people are going to spend the retarded amount of money that rally requires, they're a lot more likely to do it in a car that actually has some decent performance.
Spec Duplo
I mean, Aveo 
I'll say it once again, the Hyundai Accent should be the natural successor to the A2 VW. The suspension design is almost identical, as are most of the specs. It has similar driving dynamics as well.
It's a shame the aftermarket sucks, but that would change quickly if rallyists showed interest in them. At least Quailfe has an LSD available, and I have a hunch that VW strut assemblies could be modified to work.
Zomby woof wrote:Spec Geo Metro? That was 10 years ago, and it didn't happen because there was no interest. If people are going to spend the retarded amount of money that rally requires, they're a lot more likely to do it in a car that actually has some decent performance.
That makes sense to me. I would think one of the major parts of going racing is to go fast, not only for the competition of it. I'd also wager (not having personal experience) that the initial purchase isn't the largest part of going racing. How much more expensive is it to rally a WRX compared to a metro? Cages should cost the same, safety equipment the same.... I'd think it wouldn't be that much more to get the faster car. For road courses, the miata remains likely the cheapest way to go racing.
Exactly.
If rally was like running the local oval, entry fees were $25, and safety equipment was sensible, it would be huge.
In reply to Zomby woof:
That does make a lot of sense...
It's a heck of an oversight, but I failed to do the math and recognize that rally's overall expense all but makes irrelevant a few thousand dollars in the cost of the car itself.
It does seem like a form of racing which is that likely to involve replacing major assemblies or even shells would still favor cheap stuff, but there's a lot that's pretty cheap and less crap than a Metro or its more-modern equivalent.
Thanks for the insight.
It's not a deal breaker for me, but it's hard to brag to a non racing person that you race a geo metro. No matter how great the racing is, to them, you're still racing a metro. FWIW, I loved autoxing a metro (until I got a miata)
How about first gen focus? Seems like a great choice they're everywhere for next to nothing and we already know they look good in a martini livery
Not sure if trolling?
There was a Spec Focus 'series' for stage rally.
Kia Rio 5's from Kinetic Motorsports for B-Spec racing go for about $28k out the door ready to go.
And ITC is the cheapest way to go road racing.
Would any companies be willing to offer a car without the interior? That could cheapen the initial cost.
Like most car racing, rally has a fixed "base" cost to get out on stage.
This figure is $10k if you pay someone else to do all of the work. This will get you out on stage in a car with suspension that won't be blown at the end of the rally, and all the various safety equipment/vehicle equipment (skid plates, cage, seats, etc).
That is NOT including the price of the car.
Now, Metros aren't very durable cars. There isn't really a reason to run them versus other vehicles as they aren't (IMO) any cheaper to buy or maintain then a lot of other econoboxes. And because the base price of a rally car is fairly well defined, you have to try and make it have some value if you ever want resale, which means having some power and being able to be used in G2.
Spec a car you can get in perfectly fine condition for $2k or less (no rust, not miled out, around 100hp or more, durable chassis/suspension) and build your spec class off of that.
Surprisingly enough, this is NOT a MK2/3 Golf in my opinion. The standard motor options are incredibly lackluster, with the 16v gti motor being adequate. I'd argue that realistically, the Neon is where it is at. And everyone and there mother has a cheap neon with a blown headgasket somewhere! This was tried in Alberta, but there was no buy-in. A pity, because if someone did nice prep work on built to order spec rally neons (the only spec thing would be stock motors and trannies with a lsd allowed, and weight, nothing else would matter then besides driver skill even if everything else on the car was baller bling parts y0)
