I competed once in the "jersey jump". I was in a first generation Hyundai Excel. It was stock and it broke, but it was fun!
I competed once in the "jersey jump". I was in a first generation Hyundai Excel. It was stock and it broke, but it was fun!
Around here, it's all about modified and heavily accessorized wranglers that also look like they have never been dirty.
I saw one a few weeks ago that had polished stainless steel bolts visible inside of the wheel wells.
Spend five to ten thousand on a suspension wheels and tires, take off the doors, top, and front fenders, then only drive it when the weather's nice.
I think Ford certainly is leveraging this.
Their faux rally car is called the raptor.
ebonyandivory said:The faux-rally look would be a better marketing tool than “grounded to the ground” ever was.
With that guy in the first part of your post, I’d ask him (since you’d know the truth) what races, when, what class he races in. As I get older, I’ve learned just innocently asking questions is enough to make younger kids realize A) they’re talking to an adult who’s been around and B) that fantasizing is NOT doing.
That being said, I love the rally look. I wouldn’t have a single negative though to the rally lights, the wheels, tires, mud flaps, stickers whatever on a street car in an effort to get that rally look. I WOULD however call out a guy pretending HE actually rallied if he didn’t.
nah, I'm all for decorating cars. hell, I won't even generally make fun of people with the fake Pep Boys vents on their Crown Vic or whatever lol. Obviously they guy had no idea I have an actual rally car (it would not be great to commute in, wearing a suit, so I've never driven it to work). I think if it wasn't "everyone getting the hell out on a rally weekend" I'd have kind of called him out - but I know enough young sailors to know that would delay my departure by 20 minutes lol. I've told so many guys at work about rallycross and few of them ever show up. Plus our events sell out anyhow, so don't really "market" much any more.
Several years ago I used to see an e92 (or whatever the 3-series after the e46 was) 325ix with "RALY BMW" plates on my commute and alway sthought it was kind of funny (and yes, he had the flaps too). Then a week later, lo and behold he shows up at a rallycross, and runs the rest of the season . Sadly a late-model 325IX is no match for the Subarus in stock class.....But I totally gave him props for doing it nonetheless :)
Robbie said:I think Ford certainly is leveraging this.
Their faux rally car is called the raptor.
one was running fast sweep at SOFR this year, and they were booking. I know they pulled Jon Kramer (multi-time rally champion) out of a ditch at one point.
Keith Tanner said:I think the 1999 Subaru 2.5 RS was pretty clearly going for “rally car”, especially when it got the full STi nose.
And other than the size of the knobs on the rubber, I’m not sure I see the distinction between a lifted, big tire Outback and a lifted, big tire Subaru rally wagon.
Imagine a tall Miata with mudflaps, white wheels and a poseur rally paint job. How ridiculous ;)
But therein lies the irony of the so-called "rally look"
a "Subaru Rally Wagon" wouldn't be lifted mcuh or at all, or have big tires. There is one that runs ARA, it's an older Legacy (not an outback) and to my recollection it looks almost stock.
Example though: here's the overall winner at SOFR (Adam Kimmett in the Impreza, not the Fiesta R4, which lost to him). Car is at stock height. tires are maybe slightly larger than stock, but not much. It is almost identical to his (stock) daily driver GC, other than the gold stripe and rally decals. Actual rally cars tend to look "less rally" than the poseur rally cars, lol.
As to the Miata - er....woudn't it not be poseur considering you did Targa Newfoundland in it? Or was that a different one.
Leave a rallyx schedule under the wiper for Mr. Rally Subaru.
In reply to Keith Tanner :
The butch Volvo wagon was the XC70 Cross Country FWIW.
I’m with Keith. The Volvo XC, Audi Allroad etc. are the rally look. If you showed them to 99% of people next to a GTi, WRX with a small lift, chunky tires, mud flaps and spot lights they’d think they were going for the same look. Both hint at off road and adventure intentions.
Robbie said:I think Ford certainly is leveraging this.
Their faux rally car is called the raptor.
The Raptor isn't really poser. It's pretty capable, it's just so big that there are limited places where you can really use it.
rslifkin said:Robbie said:I think Ford certainly is leveraging this.
Their faux rally car is called the raptor.
The Raptor isn't really poser. It's pretty capable, it's just so big that there are limited places where you can really use it.
Did you think I meant faux rally or faux car?
irish44j said:Seems like there's a lot of threads on this and other forums about "rally" and "safari" this and that, which seem to be pretty much primarily cosmetic stuff or spring spacers + all-terrain tires. Not that it's new - Subaru guys (disclaimer, former WRX owner here) have been doing that for years.
But I was thinking about it today when I was walking through the garage at work today and come upon a new WRX with mudflaps, big Hella lights, and the plate "RALY WRX" or something like that. As I glanced over at it, the (likely military guy) who owns it walks around the corner and and unprompted tells me how he "built it to rally" - and how he has seem my WRX (which I sold like 8 months ago, but whatever - this explains who kept leaving the "Subaru DRIVE" magazines on my windshield once a month, lol). Then told me I should "build mine to rally" as well. I'm trying to keep a straight face and I tell him "well, I actually do rally." The response "The WRX, or do you have an STi too?"
At that point I'm kind of wandering away toward my decidedly non-rally commuter GTI (ugh, with rally armor mudflaps....) and say "nah, just an old BMW" to which he says "oh, that's cool, when are you gonna build the Subaru??"
That is the point where I mumble something about fail-wheel-drive and how true rallyists go with two wheels.
OTOH, I am not a rallyist. I ain't straight outta Compton, I'm straight off the trailer.
(which is somewhat amusing of a song quote, because I refuse to trailer to events because I see driving to and from as a source of pride)
(...)
(swear like a sailor, drink like a slav, my only words of wisdom are kurwa mać)
rslifkin said:Robbie said:I think Ford certainly is leveraging this.
Their faux rally car is called the raptor.
The Raptor isn't really poser. It's pretty capable, it's just so big that there are limited places where you can really use it.
It's a gaint berking truck The only thing it is capable of is ordering food in restaraunts and spending its wife's money.
Keith Tanner said:I think the 1999 Subaru 2.5 RS was pretty clearly going for “rally car”, especially when it got the full STi nose.
1998. The only year for the DOHC engine.
I'm still annoyed that I couldn't afford one at the time, and they have kept their value so hard that I still can't afford one. Probably not as much as rallysist were annoyed by some obscure rule that kept from them from using common Outback Sport bumper covers to replace shredded 2.5RS bumpers. I guess they were practically identical save for the part number.
Anyway, the perverse thing about fate is that it is now cheaper to buy n JDM imported WRX than it is to buy a similar-condition 2.5RS. Or maybe I should shut up about that until I have my RA IV.
irish44j said:02Pilot said:If I can manage to rectify the more glaring faults in my Saab C900, I fully intend for it eventually to have some mild rallyesque styling cues: lots of big round driving lights, white wheels (well, the ones with the snow tires on them anyway; the Super Aeros wouldn't look right), big mudflaps (I've already mounted the rears, mostly because the factory ones were long gone), and a skidplate of some sort. I've even toyed with the idea of a very mild (1") lift, but I want to drive it at normal height for a while first to see how I feel about it.
Of course, I'll feel less silly about doing all this once I actually rallyx and/or TSD rally it.
I mean, I'm not criticizing the look. My WRX never left the street (it was on Racecomp Tarmac suspension), but it had RA mudflaps and the silly Subaru "rally pig" stickers on it. I like the "rally look" personally.
I didn't take your approach to be critical; my comment was really more a sort of vague stream-of-consciousness ramble than anything else. Though I like the look, I would feel a bit of a poseur if I didn't put the equipment to use, at least occassionally.
Having more thoroughly considered the subject, I feel as though we're defining the "rally look" too broadly. In the narrow sense you have cars like the WRX or Focus (the cars that seem most likely to be built that way around here) that have genuine rally connections - these manufacturers did capitalize on the motorsports connection to a point, though they probably could have done more via limited editions or factory option packages. In the absence of these, buyers built them up as they saw fit, often based on a host of incorrect assumptions about what rally cars really are. Misguided or not, these buyers
Once you move into things like Legacy wagons and Volvo XCs, you're talking about a very different customer base, one that for the most part would be hideously embarrassed to be seen driving something festooned with giant mudflaps and a brace of Hella 4000s. These buyers, as noted earlier in the thread, are drawn by the prospect of "adventure" (loosely defined, but clearly part of the advertising focus for these cars) but are unwilling to give up the primary attributes (as they see them) of the cars they choose, so in essence they just want a tall, ever-so-slightly rugged-looking version of their safe/comfortable/luxurious/whatever car of choice. I don't consider this the same thing as the "rally look." Most of these buyers have no interest in motorsports, let alone WRC or other rally competition.
There are two different groups of people we are talking about here. Those that do (race cars), and those that want to look like they race cars.
The folks that do race tend to learn what works and focus their efforts on those models. There is a reason there are so many E30s that fit into this category. And Subarus, and Miatae. But more than likely the people that race these cars did research on the models, talked to the folks that race them, and made an informed decision on what to campaign.
The other folks, who knows what they base their decisions on. Facebook groups? Pinterest? Honestly I don’t know. But it seems finding a look you like then duplicating it is easier than finding a vehicle platform with certain performance characteristics.
Anyway, I do think Ford and Honda could do more to get their names out into the rally world. But they will be up against a juggernaut of brand loyalty when compared to the Subaru option.
I think I see just as many Focus or Fiesta STs with mudflaps and Sparco wheels as I do WRXs. Ken Block has done a good job convincing kiddos around here that Fords are good rally cars.
In reply to Crackers :
That was the first car that came to mind after opening this thread.
I have nothing to offer except I bought Sparo Terra wheels specifically to put on my minivan.
Something like this is the end goal:
Mine has the painted front bumper and is a LWB though.
BlueInGreen - Jon said:I think I see just as many Focus or Fiesta STs with mudflaps and Sparco wheels as I do WRXs. Ken Block has done a good job convincing kiddos around here that Fords are good rally cars.
Taking the place of Roger Clark and Hannu Mikkola, then.
Knurled. said:BlueInGreen - Jon said:I think I see just as many Focus or Fiesta STs with mudflaps and Sparco wheels as I do WRXs. Ken Block has done a good job convincing kiddos around here that Fords are good rally cars.
Taking the place of Roger Clark and Hannu Mikkola, then.
You mean people who’ve actually won something? Heh.
In reply to BlueInGreen - Jon :
D'oh!!
I couldn't very well suggest Colin McRae, since he's more known for his Subaru antics than his Ford career.
Crackers said:This is funny. I *literally* just read this article before opening the forum.
About this car...
This was one of the articles that prompted me to start this thread.
Also, it is the embodiment of straight-up posing, as there's pretty much nothing on that car that even remotely resembles a real rally car.
Then again, a bunch of mud all over the front could disguise all those ugly vents everywhere, lol.
BlueInGreen - Jon said:Knurled. said:BlueInGreen - Jon said:I think I see just as many Focus or Fiesta STs with mudflaps and Sparco wheels as I do WRXs. Ken Block has done a good job convincing kiddos around here that Fords are good rally cars.
Taking the place of Roger Clark and Hannu Mikkola, then.
You mean people who’ve actually won something? Heh.
For that sake of keeping it real.....Block has won 21 rallies (primarily Rally America events, but that's still nothing to shake a stick at). So....he's won something, if not WRC stuff. Which is still a higher level of winning than anyone on this forum :D
In reply to irish44j :
Rally America, does that even exist anymore?
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