Yet another RallyX Car Question

Gotcha. Not sure I'm up for the vagaries of the rotary lifestyle, but it seems like the whole BG platform does well? Any other Mazdas you'd recommend for this sport? I don't have to hold to the <1992 rule, it would just be convenient since I already have two other cars...

There's a base trim MX-6 for sale (https://lynchburg.craigslist.org/cto/d/mazda-mx/6200366268.html) - unfortunately it's in Lynchburg...

MX-6's are kind of cool cars, but I doubt they'd be very competitive. Also, consider that car has 110hp and weighs 2700lbs....so it's gonna be really slow. I don't know them that well, but also check on parts availability, modifications, etc.

I always say there's a reason why you see a lot of "certain" cars at any rallycross:

Because if something breaks, and 3 other guys there have the same car, there's a good chance that someone either has a spare part on-hand or knows how to fix it/ghetto-rig a fix for it. Show up in something oddball, and you'll generally be on your own if something breaks.

The 99-03 3rd gen protege (BJ) I am not thinking of any real suspension issues other than lack of availability of cheap performance suspensions(Koni, Bilstein). Now diff issues if you have a mazdaspeed protege I can tell you all about.

basically the long and the short is that I have a pair of BG cars that have sat for far too long. A 323 and a protege lx, and a spare BP with forged rods, spare G series gearbox. Both cars are in need of paint. The 323 needs more prep before paint, including a new rad support being welded in, I have the rad support, rust bullet and a gallon of matte black tractor paint from Tractor supply, and 2 guns. The protege is in need of a V belt and power steering pump, or retro fitting a non-powered rack. I'd do timing timing, waterpump, fuel filter, brakes and tires on either car based on the length of time that they've been sitting. My plan was to BP swap the 323, then add boost, and to toss the B6 into the protege and sell it, as even though the protege is the car in better condition, I prefer the 323 and it's shorter overhangs and hatch, for rallycross and potential rallysprint purposes. I have lots of other bits for the chassis as well such as coilovers and some other bits for the build, such as an Evo 16G.

My comment a while back on 318ti diff availability was in comparison to the 318i. You can get a prepared legal diff for the 318i for $200 and there are 50 on car-part.com. The E30 diffs bolt in but there is no 3.45 ratio for the e30. I don't know if the regular e36 carrier can be swapped into the ti housing. I believe the closest you can get to a prepared legal diff with limited slip under $500 is a medium case 3.46 from an e24 manual or Z3 automatic. Not legal but probably won't get you protested.

Our local site turns into a sandpit in the afternoon and there are going to be a couple of painful corners on every event with an open diff. I might experiment with left foot braking or get a spare diff and weld it.

If you are going RWD, don't forget about the 1st or 2nd gen MR2.

moxnix/capt - thanks for the additional info. Tom has offered me a very reasonable price on the GRM Focus which has the undeniable advantage of being already purpose built out for RallyX PF, with the caveat that I just need to figure out how to bridge the gap between FL and here . I think based on the fact that I can't really park a true beater in my HoA and that my personality will make me obsessively detail the car inside and out after each event I'll also be better suited to a fairly clean car.

Hope to see you all at the next event in Sep!

You'll have fun with the Focus. The SVTs are sweet cars to drive.

Even with you picking the wrong car we will still allow you to run.... J/K I think the focus is a decent car for the class as long as you can figure out how to drive it to not break axles.

If you are interested in an event before Sept SUSQ SCCA has an event in harrisburg PA on Aug 19th assuming you are able to get your car before then. It is about 2.5 hours from woodbridge.

ojannen wrote: My comment a while back on 318ti diff availability was in comparison to the 318i. You can get a prepared legal diff for the 318i for $200 and there are 50 on car-part.com. The E30 diffs bolt in but there is no 3.45 ratio for the e30. I don't know if the regular e36 carrier can be swapped into the ti housing. I believe the closest you can get to a prepared legal diff with limited slip under $500 is a medium case 3.46 from an e24 manual or Z3 automatic. Not legal but probably won't get you protested. Our local site turns into a sandpit in the afternoon and there are going to be a couple of painful corners on every event with an open diff. I might experiment with left foot braking or get a spare diff and weld it. If you are going RWD, don't forget about the 1st or 2nd gen MR2.

Trying to figure out why you'd even WANT a 3.45 in a Ti. The M42 will be a slug with that ratio unless you intend to be constantly rowing the gears. What you want with the M42 for rallycross is a 3.91 or 4.10 so you can run most courses in high 2nd gear.

moxnix wrote: Even with you picking the wrong car we will still allow you to run.... J/K I think the focus is a decent car for the class as long as you can figure out how to drive it to not break axles.

Same way you drive any other front driver: Do everything the rules will allow to keep the engine from boinging back and forth, and never apply full throttle at more than half lock.

If it weren't for them having crappy interior quality and rust-prone-ness, I really wouldn't mind giving a Duratec-engined Focus a shot as a PF car. I know the Prepared rules would allow a Duratec to make more power than Teh Volvo does, with more drivable throttle response, which is more important than power anyway. But they rust like nobody's business and I wouldn't want to commute in a car that feels like a GEM inside.

I drive to events so I am trying to stay in prepared. The 3.45 ratio puts me at about 3700rpm at 75mph. Top of 2nd is right around 50 mph so it is at least reasonable.

ojannen wrote: I drive to events so I am trying to stay in prepared.

This is one of those commonly held beliefs that makes sense on the surface, but with a little introspection, makes no sense.

Stock and Prepared more or less don't allow you to fix the stuff on your car that can break. Can't reinforce control arms, can't upgrade your cooling systems, can't upgrade your drivetrain at all. Modified you can do all that.

Therefore, you should see Stock and Prepared cars breaking left and right and get trailered to events, while Modified cars are tough enough to deal with any E36 M3 thrown at them and drive home safely.

Yet people drive Stock and Prepared cars in, and tow Modified. And most cars that DNF are Modifieds.

The only conclusion I can make is that most people who run Mod are modifying their cars all wrong...

Moxnix - I'll have to check that out depending on when I can get the car up here. I'll need to get a bunch of practice in on the driving side though, I just started driving stick shift this week.

So uh, how does the Facebook group work?

Knurled wrote:

I don't disagree. My problem with modified is there is no minimum weight. If there was a heavy modified class with a 3000lb weight minimum, I would be all over it. Otherwise, I have to compete with an early 90s Legacy with a full STI swap, or the front half of a GTI and the back half of a Miata, or two thirds of a Porsche 944. For now, prepared gives me a finishing point on the car where it still has an interior, reasonable NVH, and air conditioning.

Cblais19 wrote: Moxnix - I'll have to check that out depending on when I can get the car up here. I'll need to get a bunch of practice in on the driving side though, I just started driving stick shift this week. So uh, how does the Facebook group work?

Don't worry, the drive home will give you pretty of practice! And the Focus just got a pair of new axles that only have one event on them, so you should be good to go there for a while.

If there's one thing I'd save up for, it would be a limited slip. I never got around to putting one in the car, and on softer courses it would be a big help.

Yeah, I was reading that a Quaife is pretty easy for a transmission shop to drop in to the Getrag 265. That's a solid $1.3k or so though, I'd want to be pretty committed to the car before dropping that kind of additional cash!

Also not sure how much practice there will be on the highway with cruise on .

Also if anybody is interested in 2005 Saabaru with a bunch of expensive replacements done let me know .

Tell me more...

ProDarwin wrote:

Also if anybody is interested in 2005 Saabaru with a bunch of expensive replacements done let me know .

Tell me more...

Extra! Extra! Read all about it!

ojannen wrote: I drive to events so I am trying to stay in prepared. The 3.45 ratio puts me at about 3700rpm at 75mph. Top of 2nd is right around 50 mph so it is at least reasonable.

I drive to events (some of them 3 hours away) in a totally gutted interior e30 with 4.10s (the stock ratio, I might add). Yeah, it's a little buzzy at 75mph, but not really loud or annoying. And if you're prepared with full interior, I don't see why it would be an issue at all. YMMV I guess.

Problem with 50mph 2nd is that many courses are faster than that. I routinely bouce off my limiter in 2nd (and I have it chipped so +500rpm from stock)....If you're limited at 50, you're gonna waste a lot of time shifting to 3rd on fast sections.

Knurled wrote:

ojannen wrote: I drive to events so I am trying to stay in prepared.

This is one of those commonly held beliefs that makes sense on the surface, but with a little introspection, makes no sense. Stock and Prepared more or less don't allow you to fix the stuff on your car that can break. Can't reinforce control arms, can't upgrade your cooling systems, can't upgrade your drivetrain at *all*. Modified you can do all that. Therefore, you should see Stock and Prepared cars breaking left and right and get trailered to events, while Modified cars are tough enough to deal with any E36 M3 thrown at them and drive home safely. Yet people drive Stock and Prepared cars in, and tow Modified. And most cars that DNF are Modifieds. The only conclusion I can make is that most people who run Mod are modifying their cars all wrong...

That's because modified cars like mine have no A/C, have uncomfortable race seats, no soundproofing, no stereo, etc etc. I drive my car to some events, but honestly it's more pleasant to just load up the car on a trailer after a summer event, get in the truck and crank the A/C and tunes, and roll in comfort.

Maybe it's just the guys in Ohio modifying wrong lol.....usually the ones breaking here are stock class and/or FWD cars. Most of the mod cars (and almost all of the large MR class, full of '80s machines), don't break and drive themselves home...well except the Volvo 240s. They almost always seem to lose an exhaust or something :0

50 MPH is about right for prepared class cars for national style courses with the newer rules. I would want a bit more than that but a raised rev limit or different tires might be able to get enough extra.

From the rulebook. "Speeds on straight stretches should not normally exceed 40 mph (miles per hour) for Stock category vehicles and should not normally exceed 50 mph for any vehicle"

moxnix wrote: 50 MPH is about right for prepared class cars for national style courses with the newer rules. I would want a bit more than that but a raised rev limit or different tires might be able to get enough extra. From the rulebook. "Speeds on straight stretches should not normally exceed 40 mph (miles per hour) for Stock category vehicles and should not normally exceed 50 mph for any vehicle"

If a "stock category" Evo isn't exceeding 40mph on a straight, the course must be at the Harrisburg Farm Show lol.....

It only matters if you're Chang Kim and building a car only for national courses 1st gear to 50mph ;)

There's something simultaneously glorious and sad about seeing an ITR bouncing through the dirt.

Knurled wrote:

moxnix wrote: Even with you picking the wrong car we will still allow you to run.... J/K I think the focus is a decent car for the class as long as you can figure out how to drive it to not break axles.

Same way you drive any other front driver: Do everything the rules will allow to keep the engine from boinging back and forth, and never apply full throttle at more than half lock. If it weren't for them having crappy interior quality and rust-prone-ness, I really wouldn't mind giving a Duratec-engined Focus a shot as a PF car. I know the Prepared rules would allow a Duratec to make more power than Teh Volvo does, with more drivable throttle response, which is more important than power anyway. But they rust like nobody's business and I wouldn't want to commute in a car that feels like a GEM inside.

I've had the same thoughts about the Duratec Foci. The torque curve of the 2.3 looks a whole lot more favorable for rallycross than the Zetec. As you identified, they are hard to find in a rusty condition that isn't scary.

That's the great thing about Florida cars, our Focus is perfect underneath!

And the SVT's torque curve has actually worked pretty well for us, though some of our courses have the car at the top of 3rd gear (and even into 4th), which isn't normal for most sanctioned rallycrosses. On the slower sections, I just drop down to first since SVTs are geared fairly tall.