First Rallycross this weekend need advice!

[MSA13]

Hello all,

Finally decided to try my hand at Rallycross this weekend in New Hampshire. Need advice as far as how to set up the car, planning to run some winter tires, I'm guessing I should pull the abs fuse? Any recommendations on tire pressure? Also I have a corksport sway bar in the back, disconnect or keep?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Andrew

 

[CorkSport]

Any idea how rough the course will be?

 

[MSA13]

Here's all it says.
"The RAL RallyX IS A GO on Sunday Aug 10th.
-Location: Caanan Fairgrounds, Caanan, NH. (off Rt. 118).
- Surface: we have many areas to use, grass, gravel, and even the paved oval. NO Babyheads like RALs of years past!!!!"

I know I won't be competitive until I figure out how to drive off road, but some general pointers would be great. And pull the abs fuse or no? Also I will be spraypainting my winter wheels white which will obviously make me faster.

 

[okvol]

I tried rallycross with my stock 2. Expect the rear to drift on dirt, but just keep feeding it fuel and don't back off. The ride was very good, the suspension can take a rough course very well. Just watch about staying within the limits of your front traction, and have some fun.

And don't expect to ever, ever, ever get all the dirt out of the chassis.

 

[jasyatz]

Wow...honestly I don't have any idea on how to set up a rally cross car. From what I've seen and read and heard from guys that run rallycross; Winter tires are a must, suspension travel is more important than spring rate. Take everything you don't want damaged off the bottom of the car ( spoilers, lips, mudflaps). I would invest in a CS skid plate if the rules allow. Not to scare you, but our oil filter is a sitting duck under there.

Now for the event prep, it's the same as an autocross. Here's a little something our Novice Steward put together a few years back...I think it applies to just about every type of Motorsport event. Most importantly... Show up early. Find the guy with the biggest hat and make a new friend; he probably knows a lot about the sport...And absolutely the top priority of the day...Have fun..

Heres the link http://autox4u.com/file/check.htm

 

[eyeballs]

I did a few rallycrosses back in my subaru days. I would highly recommend removing the OEM front lip spoiler. I doubt you'll have an issue with the abs. I'd leave it on, but be prepared to pull it between runs if necessary. I would turn off the standard traction control though (with the button). As with autocross, a dedicated set of tires will likely be your single most effective mod (in this case, gravel tires or something with deep lugs that can shed mud easily). Keep on the torsion bar, and set your tire pressures low (but not too low or the bead will pop off...I've seen it happen). Mud flaps (I like rally armor) or lots of tape to prevent paint scratches if that sort of thing concerns you.

And for after you clean your car....a pressure washer and a shovel work best for cleaning the massive pile of dirt off the driveway.

 

[MSA13]

Thank you every one for the responses. Should be a fun weekend, still trying to figure out how to drive a fwd car fast, all I've autocrossed/owned before were miatas, feel like I'm starting from scratch again. Hopefully I won't bang up the 2 too much.

Jasyatz-good point on the oil filter, ill bring an extra one and some oil just in case.

 

[CorkSport]

I would run with the DSC switched off but leave the fuse in for the ABS just in case. Be prepared to be off and on the throttle alot to get the car to rotate. Watch for big ruts is they start to form up on the heavy corners. Two wheel action and a rollover if you hit one sideways too fast (came close myself in the past)

-Derrick

 

[eyeballs]

Yea, like Derrick said...the terrain will determine the line (so pay attention to the surface), and that will change throughout the day. Whole different animal than autocross, but just as much fun! The club was so small when I did it that timing was done with a stopwatch (the worker at the starting line), and if you hit any cones you had to get out of the car at the end of the run and go put them back.

 

[MSA13]

Well damaged a ball joint, no rally cross for me this weekend, gonna have to wait for the next one. By the way word to the wise, my mechanic, not messing with a ball joint myself, looked everywhere for just the ball joint and had no luck his parts were 180$ found it on rock auto for 12$. Thank you for the help everybody.

Corksport - no more skid plate for the 2?

 

[CorkSport]

The ball joint for the control arm is all one piece from Mazda thus the $180 price you are finding. Let me know how it goes with the $12 option. We haven't tried it yet on the B-Spec car, we just changed out the whole arm. Bouncing off curbs at racetracks is pretty rough on the ball joints.

Skid tray = no more

-Derrick

 

[drop360]

Hey Andrew!

I was at the rallycross this weekend, sorry you weren't able to make it. I didn't drive, but was there for moral support of my fianc and her new rally buddy in their first outing. I've spectated at the New England Forest Rally a few times, and I've been curious about trying out a rallycross or an autocross. This was my first time at either type of event.

A couple take-away points from my perspective. I'm sure each event is different, and these points may not apply to all events.

1) Don't expect/plan to drive your car home - there were multiple cars that would not have been able to leave the track under their own power, and others that probably would have been pulled over by the police for missing parts (bumper covers, exhausts, etc). There were about 60 cars yesterday, and I know of at least 4 that needed to be taken away on a trailer, and a couple more that were missing pieces. I'm not saying to expect to damage your car, but it would be a really crappy end to the day to not have a way to get home. So, bring a friend with another car at least. Maybe a trailer.

2) Skid plate - you'll want that

3) Think twice about rallycrossing your daily driver. Think three or four times if it's the only mode of transportation available to you. Again, this goes back to the potential damage to the car.

4) Don't run your car with lowering springs

5) Hope for the best, but plan the worst - if you have spare parts, bring them. If you have a friend(s) for a pit crew, bring them. There was an awesome atmosphere at the event, and everyone was really helpful and willing to loan parts, tools, labor, etc. But everyone seemed to agree that being as prepared as possible is the best way to go.

I thought the event was really well run, and overall quite safe. There were multiple safety stewards always keeping an eye out for potential danger to drivers and cars. The course was adjusted multiple times to avoid hazards as the terrain changed during the day. And there was a concentrated effort to remove any large (baseball+ sized rocks) from the course between cars. I think the majority of the cars were fine at the end of the day. But aggressive off-road driving certainly has potential for damage.

Do I want to rallycross my 2? Hell yes!! It looked awesome! But I'm going to make sure I have a way to get to work the following day before I rallycross my 2.

If you're on Facebook, check out 2 Girls 1 Car Racing. That's the rally "team" that my fianc and her new friend have decided to start. Lots of enthusiasm, no experience, but a good attitude. There's a very short video of their first run at the rallycross. Their plan was to go easy on the first run, to get a feel for the course. An important lesson was learned... The result of the video had 0% to do with the course itself.

-Matt

 

[MSA13]

Thank you everybody for the responses.

Update on the 12$ ball joint, works without a problem, will be needing an alignment though. Any recommendations for a snow biased alignment?

Matt thank you for the input on the event, surprised to hear how many cars didn't make it out alive, and the 2 being my only car for now I might reconsider until I get another miata, hopefully the new one will be worth the wait, reveal sept 3!!!!

 

[CorkSport]

Thank you everybody for the responses.

Update on the 12$ ball joint, works without a problem, will be needing an alignment though. Any recommendations for a snow biased alignment?

Matt thank you for the input on the event, surprised to hear how many cars didn't make it out alive, and the 2 being my only car for now I might reconsider until I get another miata, hopefully the new one will be worth the wait, reveal sept 3!!!!

Good to hear on the ball joint, not sure what a good snow alignment would be.

-Derrick

 

[okvol]

Your course must be much worse than where I ran. Of course, Oklahoma is mostly flat.

This is an example, my last run with the course in it's worst shape.

No one lost any major parts. One old one that was brought on a trailer broke a hose.

 

[Chris_Top_Her]

Your course must be much worse than where I ran. Of course, Oklahoma is mostly flat. This is an example, my last run with the course in it's worst shape.

No one lost any major parts. One old one that was brought on a trailer broke a hose.

cool