My first Rallycross

My first motorsports event as a participant. Yay for me 20 years later. (even been a GRM subscriber for 17 years...)

What do I need to bring? I've got a helmet- what else? The website has some basics, but I dont' want to be the douche noob. Is it OK to paint #'s/class on the side of the car with shoe polish or painters tape? Am I correct in classing my wrx wagon Stock with tokico D-specs (adjustable) in PA?

I would regularly bring, in no particular order,

Water, lots of it for drinking and for the radiator or rinsing the windshield
Food, some is good
Sunscreen, sweatproof is best
Large funny looking hat usually worn by gardeners or perhaps people on safari, this is a mandatory item
Jack Stands, at least two
Jack
Compressed air tank or compressor
Large piece of cardboard, fer layin' on whilst doin' repairs
Wrench capabale of guaging torques, and socket fer lug nuts
Rubbermaid container fer holdin' yer E36 M3 whilst ye race
Your own two way radio, when you are working a station few things suck worse than being the one with the radio that doesn't work trying to call in cones, club radios are always dying.
Duct tape
Roll of toilet paper
Fire ant killer
Towel and a change of shirt

Numbers are best printed out on white paper and taped to the car on both sides to ensure visibility on the run, it's much easier to read a black number on a white background than it is a blue painters tape applied number on a black car.

As a noob I recommend you look for the guy that has the funny hat AND the tall socks with shorts and do your course walk with him. He will likely drive an unassuming underpowered two wheel drive car with street tires and still get FTD.

Depending on the weather, it's good to brign a waterproof bag with a change of clothes.

More water or other hydration tool of choice than you think you'd need.

Food, if nothing is provided on-site.

Beer, for after the rallycross. ;)

Shoe polish works fine if it's not rainy. Drag racer dial-in show polish substitute works better. Actually, if it's rainy and your windows aren't tinted, you could just put the numbers on the INSIDE of the windows.

Duct tape works very well also for numbers and if you remove it the same day it will leave no residue.

Am I going to break E36 M3? Summit Point is about an hour and change from home, and breaking stuff could really cramp my game.

I have about 1/3 of your recommended payload, so I guess I'm going to have to take my chances and avoid the red mist on the course.

Technically, all rallycross courses need to be safe for street vehicles.

Practically, the worst thing you will have to worry about will be debeading, so crank your front tires up to max pressure. Really, debeading is only due to doing something dumb like plowing into a rut with the steering turned and it's fairly rare. Subaru chassis are very robust and the only time I've seen breakage was when someone found out the fun way that one of his lower control arm bolts was missing. (Threads in shell were stripped from a previous repair) Oh, and the time someone was at the top of 2nd gear and caught 1st instead of 3rd. Susprisingly, it was a drive axle that gave way.

I am sure you will hear this a bazillion times, but it is key to not worry about your times and just have fun. 99.999% of people don't do well at all at their first rallycross. With that in mind, focusing on having fun instead of trying to be competitive will ensure that you'll have a good time, and you'll go to more events (jooooiiiin uusssss....) and with experience you'll get speed.

Yes, technically, your car is PA. Most regions are soft on noobs and if you went and spoke with the other Stock class people, they may let you run Stock. Class really does not matter in rallycross, though. It's not uncommon for first overall to be a "lower class" car with a good driver.

I'll be out there also for my first rallyx. Look for the beatup multicolored saturn.

Cool- thanks for the advice. I'm not worried about how I place or what time I get. Its more dipping the toe in the water to see if this is something that I want to do. Mox- I'll be in the silver subaru WRX wagon (2002) #33. I'm a little bummed with the distance I'll have to drive (1.5hr each way), but again, this is just to see if its something I'll like (and try not to break the wife's car!).

Teh E36 M3 wrote: I'm a little bummed with the distance I'll have to drive (1.5hr each way),

snigger snigger snerk

Some of the people I've rallycrossed with drive 8-10 hours each way.

Rallycross is an addictive drug, oh yes it is.

If you have a spare set of rims/tires, bring them. Or at least bring a jack so you can pull off every tire to clean out the caked on dirt before the ride home. Nothing worse than driving home with unbalanced tires. You shouldn't break anything unless it was on the verge of breaking anyway. I always bring tools, mostly because if I bring them, I won't need them. It's when I don't have them, that I need them.

Closest rallycross for me is at least a three hour drive.

I did a Rallyx national tour stop at Nashville Super Speedway because it was close. Bought a Peugeot 505 just for the occasion.

I would not do Rally-x in a car I gave 1/2 a crap about. Dirt/dust will permeate the entire interior and HVAC system.

The sound is incredible...you're surrounded by yard gnomes wielding 1000 rubber mallets, pummeling your whole car.

People broke a lot of E36 M3.

sachilles wrote: If you have a spare set of rims/tires, bring them. Or at least bring a jack so you can pull off every tire to clean out the caked on dirt before the ride home. Nothing worse than driving home with unbalanced tires. You shouldn't break anything unless it was on the verge of breaking anyway. I always bring tools, mostly because if I bring them, I won't need them. It's when I don't have them, that I need them.

Funny you should say that 1.5 hours after I leave home. I would say this: There is nothing worse than driving home 90 miles on your do-nut spare tire.

The morning session went well until the last run. I was generally trending better until I got confident (4th run):
1: 1:58
2: 1:46
3: 1:41
4: 1:45(?)
5: 1:46

Notes:

-bring tire gauge
-get an air source besides the bike pump -bring jack
-bring extra set of wheels and tires (or at least a full size spare)*
-get some low end torque (2.0 wrx)
-get some higher ratio gears
-get some experience and skill

This could get expensive.

*The extra wheels and tires would be nice so you don't puncture a sidewall on your last morning run and get left with a space-saver do-nut for the 90 mile drive home on a SUNDAY.

My wife wanted to run our first RallyX for her birthday today so we did

The Saturn made it thru the whole day without problems with 2 drivers. Of course our times were in the 2:30 range in the morning and worse in the afternoon when they watered the course

The steering wheel was shaking a lot on the way home from the mudbalanced tires. I tried one of the auto car washes but I don't think it got nearly enough mud off the car even with the premium undercarriage wash (It did not even get all the mud off the mirrors) I guess I will have to try some more tomorrow with the hose or the selfwash place.

Here is a picture of my car on course from Detslider on Nasioc.

Then a picture of the car after our runs.

And what the underside of the car looked like when we left the event.

Teh E36 M3 wrote: Notes: -get some low end torque (2.0 wrx)

You'd be better off just getting a 2.5RS. They embarass STis on short courses.

Time for a "that's not a knife, this is a knife" style post:

I've found that at least with the generic steelies I'm using, my best bet with mud in the wheels is to not touch it at all. I drove the 3 hours home from the event in the picture with nary a bad vibration. When I swapped back to my street tires at home there was a solid 3/4" of perfectly spin-balanced clay lining every wheel.

mox- it was great to meet you Sunday. Where can I get a look at those pictures?

Brust

hmmm i have some 60 series snow tires.. would they be good to use? or would you want a taller tire 70 series or wutever?

This is where we used to Rallycross

I bought this in 05 for $400, rallycrossed it 2 years, never broke a thing, and still have it

Teh E36 M3 wrote: mox- it was great to meet you Sunday. Where can I get a look at those pictures?

Good to meet you also.

He posted a few in this thread on NASIOC. http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1909063 If you are not a member I can ask if he has any of your car.

Cool. I'm a member and posted there. I'll see if he feels like it. No worries though... I sorta left with tail between legs after the tire puncture. I found that my front struts were loose too- I'd just replaced the stockers with tockico d specs and eibach camber adjusters. Apparently the jarring from the rallycross worked the strut bolts loose.... Luckily the lug wrench happened to be the same size. Add another tool to bring next time.

Cool, I can't wait to be a noob...I just need to find a cheap Impreza first.

miatame2 wrote: Cool, I can't wait to be a noob...I just need to find a cheap Impreza first.

No you don't. IMO, Neons make far better rallycross cars.

Knurled wrote:

miatame2 wrote: Cool, I can't wait to be a noob...I just need to find a cheap Impreza first.

No you don't. IMO, Neons make far better rallycross cars.

Why the Neon?

My first criteria was cheap and disposable so I have the $400 Saturn. Since we liked it we might in the future get a car more setup for rallyx but I am trying to figure out something RWD with enough suspension travel stock because I think it would be fun.

Neons have excellent midrange torque, good suspension, good transmissions, and they're light.

I was thinking a Neon would be great, cheap and everywhere! I want to try it! Anybody know where to find event listings in the NW Arkansas/NE oklahoma region?