Basic equipment for roadrally (and potentially other kinds??)

Looking for suggestions on my ‘05 9-2x (aka Subaru Impreza wagon)

this is probably my one shot to put money into it no questions asked, I have my Amazon Prime ready to go because the rally starts Friday night 

Light bar? Just go with a Harbor Freight one?

stock size passenger tire (205/55/16) in high perf all seasons? Or something with a taller sidewall or more robust?

Basic tuneup or anything better than stock to install?

Ceramic brakes? Semi organic? Any special rotors?

Anything else I should order ASAP?

RoadRally doesn’t require helmets, right? Tho I might order one for TNIA with the Z4 anyway

Thanks, all. 

Think about how to illuminate the instruction sheets so the co-driver can read without too much light to bother the driver. Back in my day I had a gooseneck light mounted to the dash and/or the B-pillar so my cousin could read easily. I carried a small tool roll in the trunk with some basic tools and I never needed it. Spend time wiring anything you add to the car properly, with fuses and decent quality switches and relays. Consider a foot rest for the co-driver. My cousin liked to keep the seat well back and a foot rest allowed him to lay the instructions on his knees with his knees elevated a bit. Talk to someone who has co-driven and see what amenities they like for comfort, timing and storage of stuff, especially on longer rallies. A piece of carpet or rubber mat on the rear load floor of your Subie would be handy should you need to be laying in the dirt (not likely, but...) .  99% of the time any decent, dependable stock vehicle is fine for TSD rallying. You and your co-driver want to be comfortable and able to see in all driving conditions.

Also , I had been looking for an all season tire with a bit more aggressive tread than the usual touring type tires for gravel and dirt roads. I was wondering if something like the  Michelin Agilis CrossClimate would work. It's a light truck type of tire so it will probably have stiff sidewalls. Those with more rally or rallycross experience will chime in, I expect.

For night time sailboat racing, red lighting is popular, green might be better, personally, I hate blue lighting. 

https://www.yachtingmonthly.com/sailing-skills/is-red-light-at-night-best-71181

Wire any lighting to function on your hi-low beam switch. You don't need to be trying to find an on-off switch every time you meet oncoming traffic, and I'm pretty sure it's a requirement in most jurisdictions anyway. Get a kit and polish up the stock headlight lenses. When you dip from all the extra lighting to stock low beams you're going to feel a little blind.

I keep remembering more stuff from 40 years ago......check how well your backup lights actually illuminate behind you. I ran a small Hella flood light wired to my backup lights. Handy when you miss a turn in the dark and have to back up. A cheap 4 LED unit should work fine. Mount any lighting, front or rear, on solid mounts. A vibrating set of drivng lights will drive you nuts.

Look for a phone app called CentWatch or something similar. It's a clock / stopwatch that runs in 1/100 minutes. 
 

Okay I got front bar and rear spot lights and I’m trying my luck with the highest rated magnetic brackets since I couldn’t find a good mounting setup. We shall see — or NOT see! Ha!

I don’t see any truck or SUV tires for 205/55/16 so I’ll probably just go for the Michelins

Anything else?

Duke said:

Look for a phone app called CentWatch or something similar. It's a clock / stopwatch that runs in 1/100 minutes. 
 

Thank you, will do. 

Setting up a decent red light for your navigator is all well and good, until it dies, won't stay in place, etc. We installed a red interior light on a flexible shaft, which was sweet until it didn't work, and then I was sad. So for a bunch of years I used a headlamp that I covered with red cellophane, then I had one with a red auxiliary light, which worked well. I'm partial to the Petzl brand, but I'm sure lots of others have a red light, too -- Petzl tends to be on the spendier side.

Have your navigator get a lap desk. I just looked for an example of what I used to use, and can't seem to find anything like it now, but it was plastic, had a storage compartment for pens, calculator, rule book, etc., then a clipboard clip on the top with which to hold the route book in place. Even if you can't find something similar (that is, with storage), any lap desk is better than none, IMO.

Put a piece of velcro on the bottom of the calculator and another piece on the lap desk, to keep it in place. I've seen people do this for their pens/pencils, too.

Last, I infer from your post that you and your navigator haven't done this before, and your navigator is your SO. TSD can be super fun -- the teamwork is what I enjoyed most about it. Math dorks, especially, dig this stuff, as you can imagine. But be prepared for the small chance that TSD literally makes your navigator sick: they may make you stop, to keep from puking, they may be so nauseous that they have to get out of the car, lie down, close their eyes, and keep still. It's worse on pavement (more g's) than gravel. Some people can take pills, others use a transdermal anti-nausea patch behind their ear. Others simply try navigating, are made miserably car sick, and either become drivers, or don't rally. :-)

Edit: handy link to a GRM thread about TSD: https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/learn-me-tsd-rallying/4480/page1/

In reply to procainestart :

Thank you, there’s a lot of good tips there and in the linked thread, too  

my BIL is the navigator and he’s done POR a few times, a couple times recently in his old school RHD Mini. 

Never did rally but wondering if a pilots knee board might be helpful instead of having to hold instructions, etc.

When I was racing sailboats offshore all of the light fixtures had two bulbs one for white the other for red with a two way switch. The red light really helps to maintain night vision.

When I was trying to bring road rally back to Ohio, I was told this sacred text had a lot of good information even if it was from the Way Back times.  It does, and I'd sell it to you if you were interested.  It's just sitting on my desk at work.

I think the lighting aspect is the most important and has already been covered.

So, I now have to ask (and hopefully the OP is ok with this). I always thought TSD was docile driving. Are you driving hard, but keeping it under the speed limit and obeying laws? 

Curta calculator , Halda Speedpilot , Halda Twinmaster and a lap timer clipboard with 3 Heuer stopwatches......

and a Helphos stick on the windshield spotlight........

When we did TSD rallies, my wife worked our main stopwatch. To time the pauses, I had a cheap digital watch Velcroed to the steering wheel. The pair worked well together.

Biggest thing, of course, is not getting lost. (And having fresh batteries in your watches.)

In reply to Vajingo :

Here's the thing.....the speed limit on unposted roads in Michigan is 55 MPH. I can readily find roads where you would have to drive fairly aggressively to maintain a 50 MPH average and if you're already the least bit behind schedule it becomes entertaining for the driver. I can set the speed anywhere up to 90% of the speed limit, so I can make the rally as docile or as aggressive as I want to suit the skill level of the participants.

In reply to DeadSkunk (Warren) :

Oh that sounds FUN! 

One thing not mentioned is communication - as in, be tolerant of each other, don't get mad, hang loose.  You WILL get in some situations where you will be frustrated, the key is to be calm.  And learn right now to answer any question that requires a positive answer with "yes" or "correct" do NOT say "right" unless you meant to turn right.  As in "we turn left at the next stop sign, don't we?"  You don't answer "right" unless you want to turn right.  When starting to TSD rally, don't worry about trying to calculate whether you are on time or not, just drive 3 or 4 MPH over the listed speed to make up for stop signs, traffic lights, etc, if you are a little bit ahead you can slow down a little bit going into checkpoints and you will usually be quite close to true time.

Always synchronize your watch(s) with official time.  Always write down your arrival time at each checkpoint and compare with the in time on your timing slip to make sure the control worker wrote it down correctly, sometimes mistakes are made.

And above all, try to remember to have fun.  It's a game with cars, not a race.  Run a few before making up your mind -you will either like it or not, it's not everyone's thing, but if you like logic games, you may find that this is your motorsport that has very little risk and almost no required preparation (assuming you are mostly on paved roads).

Have fun!

OE tires are 205/55/16. A common upsize (and the one it came with) is 215/65/16. I'd like to run those so I can get the extra inch of clearance for the winter, but how much of a hassle is it for my navigator to have to calculate that additional 8.5%? (he's unable to reply right now for me to get his take)

In reply to P3PPY :

LEDMIRCY Led Light Bar Mounting Brackets,2PCS Universal Clamp Piller Holder Work Light Bar Mount Bracket Stainless Steel Piller Hood Installing Without Drilling

Try these brackets, my brother uses them in Gambler 500 rallies. I have a set but have gone bolt through instead. 

Could probably be used in the front of the hood if thin enough. 

Good luck

In reply to P3PPY :

You can get odometer and speedometer apps for phones. I'd expect them to be accurate. If you're going to get new tires before the weekend go check your speedo for accuracy with the current size tire and see if it's off and by how much. An accurate odo/speedo will make it easier.

In reply to NoBrakesRacing :

I picked up a set for when I try the light bar install. I'll return the one that doesnt work (this or the magnet)

Thanks!

DeadSkunk,

Thanks, I decided to just go with stock to make it easier then. If I DO need more lift I'll just get the Forester struts and go up 2".