Best First Rallycross Car?

makes sense, thanks for the clarification. I should have word on if the rallysprint site that I've procured (info once a date is set) can be used to rallycross as well around the new year. The location is less then 5 miles from 695 and I83 and is over 220 acres with a large paved lot for grid/paddock.

The only reason we're cautious about using it for rallycross is the number of cars and frequency of events, it's a lot easier for neighbors to deal with 8-14 cars twice a year then 60-80 cars ever 4-5 weeks.

How large a lot? - AutoX is always looking for sites also.
If you are not already in touch with him you might want to get in touch with Adam (RallyX chair) after this weekend and just let him know what might be available since I am sure he is starting to work on the schedule for next year.

For the OP: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Shelby-CSX-CSX-88-shelby-csx-rally-car-prepared-for-rally-racing-street-legal-clean-title-/131341940163?forcerrptr=true&hash=item1e9496f5c3&item=131341940163&pt=US_Cars_Trucks

I really second that MR2 idea. Mostly because I'm the guy trying to get out of it. I'm just not really a dirt guy. It's a slick car, and it's fun around a road course, even on all season tires. Drive it well and it'll keep pace with NC Miatas with much sticker tires. Off road, it won't disappoint. Weight over the drive wheels really helps with rotation and traction.

Jerry, any chance you still have those dyno sheets somewhere?

Just bear in mind that AWD DSMs don't have very good sightlines, and they are geared tall. This might be a benefit if your region has small little courses that mean you can leave it in 1st gear, mind you.

In reply to Knurled:

The sight lines out the front and sides of the car are good. Not as good as a Subaru, but just as good as about any other '90's Japanese car. The rear and rear 3/4 is not very good. But if you are looking out the back during a rally cross, something went very wrong. AWD manual DSM's had very, very short gearing. 1st gear is pretty much only for the first 60' of the course, if that. Any strait at all, and you'll need to grab third. On the tight courses I drove, I banged off the limiter in second a bit. The final drive was in the high 4's if I recall. DSM's have a bad rap that they don't really deserve when it comes to reliability. Most problems can be traced back to poor maintenance or shoddy mods. Replace the belts and hoses, like you would do on any other 20+ year old car that you plan to race, and you have eliminated almost all of your common failure points. These cars were made for the dirt, not drag racing. They are a shorter, lighter, two door version of a rally car. With equal drivers, no FWD car should be able to touch one on a rallycross course. It's been a long time since I rallycrossed, but the 2WD cars were never anywhere close to my times.

EvanB wrote: How about this one? https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/200x-classifieds/my-stalled-project-98-ford-escort-zx-2-dayton-oh-/92310/page1/

Don't tell him about that I was hoping the thread would fade into oblivion until I could work out a way to go get it. Seriously though, from the info Chris gave me, it looks like a great deal. I thought about it when I saw the OPs post the other day.

In reply to Cactus:

I'll look. I thought they might have been with all the receipts. But I'll check.