Protege Rally Car
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Midnight22
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- '03 Mazda Protege5, 94 Jeep Wrangler
Mopho said:
subie wagon?!?!?! (no) (argh) (chair)
Lurch said:
I would agree with your decision, especially since you will likely run into the videographers at the rallies as it is a small family you know. The people making pirate WRC Rally videos, set to music, seem to get away with it, though I am surprised the WRC has not chased them down. Is that the kind of answer you were looking for?
As for the Subie read my thread on Mazda screwing us on resale value.
Didn't realize the Mazda was going so cheap now. We talked a bit at WA and you seemed on the fence...seemed like you still thought the Protege was more fun to drive, even with the anemic power. How bout you just buy my FSZE last year rally motor and wake that Protege up? 
WRX is neat...4wd rocks as does the 227 hp, but it comes down to grins, eh? I can't say as I've never driven a WRX...or a P5 for that matter, but I would guess they handle like a sedan.
Whaddya think of the 3?
WRX is neat...4wd rocks as does the 227 hp, but it comes down to grins, eh? I can't say as I've never driven a WRX...or a P5 for that matter, but I would guess they handle like a sedan.
Whaddya think of the 3?
Yeah that was a good conversation considering how much booze I had consumed : )
Well, we're going a bit off topic but it is all fun, and I could stand to do a little out loud rationalizing: ).
I was loaned a WRX for a week while at the Ojibwe Forest Rally and it was total giggles being able to actually pass cars/trucks without having to get a running start and praying for the perfect window of opportunity. The 4wd was a blast too on the dirt roads. That said, the suspension is way too soft and the car leans a lot in the corners and did not feel nearly as good and nimble as the P5. But as I see it, it is lot easier, cheaper and more reliable to make the WRX handle better than to make the P5 as fast, especially as it is my work/daily driver and I can't afford to be dicking around with blown motors and such. So I have been poking around looking at cars and today I found a WRX wagon that had some suspension mods and WOW! Big difference, it was a great compromise! Also the Subaru's are holding resale value much better. Additionally, my dad and I are buying a Lotus Elise which will satisfy the GoKart craving : ) that said, it has been a really difficult decision as I really love the P5, by far the best car I have owned to date, and it is still not a done deal.
I should also add I am a bit brainwashed by rally marketing and the many rides I have had in Subaru Rally cars.
Mazda really shot themselves in the foot if you ask me by not making the Protege/ 5 a turbo 4wd WRX competitor. Even if it made it as expensive as the WRX it would be a better car.
As for the 3, the jury is still out, but it looks like it is going back more to the grocery getter/ utilitarian roots than sports wagon
Back to Rallying, Did you get to watch Catalunya tonight, what a great race!
Well, we're going a bit off topic but it is all fun, and I could stand to do a little out loud rationalizing: ).
I was loaned a WRX for a week while at the Ojibwe Forest Rally and it was total giggles being able to actually pass cars/trucks without having to get a running start and praying for the perfect window of opportunity. The 4wd was a blast too on the dirt roads. That said, the suspension is way too soft and the car leans a lot in the corners and did not feel nearly as good and nimble as the P5. But as I see it, it is lot easier, cheaper and more reliable to make the WRX handle better than to make the P5 as fast, especially as it is my work/daily driver and I can't afford to be dicking around with blown motors and such. So I have been poking around looking at cars and today I found a WRX wagon that had some suspension mods and WOW! Big difference, it was a great compromise! Also the Subaru's are holding resale value much better. Additionally, my dad and I are buying a Lotus Elise which will satisfy the GoKart craving : ) that said, it has been a really difficult decision as I really love the P5, by far the best car I have owned to date, and it is still not a done deal.
I should also add I am a bit brainwashed by rally marketing and the many rides I have had in Subaru Rally cars.
Mazda really shot themselves in the foot if you ask me by not making the Protege/ 5 a turbo 4wd WRX competitor. Even if it made it as expensive as the WRX it would be a better car.
As for the 3, the jury is still out, but it looks like it is going back more to the grocery getter/ utilitarian roots than sports wagon
Back to Rallying, Did you get to watch Catalunya tonight, what a great race!
No Catalunya...stuck at work. Allnighter designing a steering wheel for the big blue potato (Ford). Looks like the hours of a photographer are similar to those of a designer 
Re: WRX...Hate to admit it, but you're right. Cheaper/less headache to make the WRX handle than make the P5 fast. If you can get over the nasty styling...
Elise? I am pretty jealous of you there, friend! What an amazing little car. Will it be road licensed for the US?
The 3 is really a neat car. I saw the MXSportif at a Mazda function a while back...at the Ford 100 actually. It has the all alum. engine that is in the 6. 2.3L and a de-stroked 2.0L. Ford M-Sport has been working on the engine for a while now developing it for the 04? WRCar. The car weighs about the same as the Protege and is only an inch longer in wheelbase...which is still 2 inches shorter than the Neon. Same turning circle as Protege. Bigger brakes, good ratios...should be a fair performer with 30 more hp than your Protege. Still not 200+ tho.
On the rally car side, it is able to accept long suspension travel, the weight dist. is good, should be able to get it under 2500# with a well designed cage, and the engine shows good promise for forced induction. It already has electric PS pump system, so I don't have to convert that...maybe up the pump spec for a steering quickener...
We'll see. I've been doing my homework on it just in case, but still waiting for Mazda to say go or nogo. Got my chassis guys and engine development guys on standby. If not...I will be running a limited schedule in the Protege next year. And buying a new dirt bike. I miss camping and riding with my buddies. Cheap fun.
Re: WRX...Hate to admit it, but you're right. Cheaper/less headache to make the WRX handle than make the P5 fast. If you can get over the nasty styling...
Elise? I am pretty jealous of you there, friend! What an amazing little car. Will it be road licensed for the US?
The 3 is really a neat car. I saw the MXSportif at a Mazda function a while back...at the Ford 100 actually. It has the all alum. engine that is in the 6. 2.3L and a de-stroked 2.0L. Ford M-Sport has been working on the engine for a while now developing it for the 04? WRCar. The car weighs about the same as the Protege and is only an inch longer in wheelbase...which is still 2 inches shorter than the Neon. Same turning circle as Protege. Bigger brakes, good ratios...should be a fair performer with 30 more hp than your Protege. Still not 200+ tho.
On the rally car side, it is able to accept long suspension travel, the weight dist. is good, should be able to get it under 2500# with a well designed cage, and the engine shows good promise for forced induction. It already has electric PS pump system, so I don't have to convert that...maybe up the pump spec for a steering quickener...
We'll see. I've been doing my homework on it just in case, but still waiting for Mazda to say go or nogo. Got my chassis guys and engine development guys on standby. If not...I will be running a limited schedule in the Protege next year. And buying a new dirt bike. I miss camping and riding with my buddies. Cheap fun.
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I am a bit of a night owl.
I happen to like the looks of the Round Eye WRX, especially with some nice rims on it. Love looking over the hood scoop while being pushed into the seat : )
The Elise will be imported to the US by Lotus in about 6 months, it will be coming with a certified Toyota VTEC motor with 190hp and will 1900lbs so it should be good fun. http://www.roadandtrack.com/article.asp?section_id=6&article_id=868&page_number=1&preview=
won't make a good rally car though
Are you going to the SEMA show?
Here we are having our own little conversation, what happened to everyone else?
I happen to like the looks of the Round Eye WRX, especially with some nice rims on it. Love looking over the hood scoop while being pushed into the seat : )
The Elise will be imported to the US by Lotus in about 6 months, it will be coming with a certified Toyota VTEC motor with 190hp and will 1900lbs so it should be good fun. http://www.roadandtrack.com/article.asp?section_id=6&article_id=868&page_number=1&preview=
won't make a good rally car though
Are you going to the SEMA show?
Here we are having our own little conversation, what happened to everyone else?
I started going to rallies about 6-8 years ago. I was (and still am) a big Audi fan, so we went with all our Audi brothers and cheered on the Sprongls, Bruno, Kemp, etc . There were TONS of Audis there. I hadn't gone for a couple years and I went recently and the roads/parking lots were ALL WRXs. It's amazing how Subaru created interest in rally in the US and helped it sell the WRX. Terrible shame about Lovell and Freeman 
There used to be a 2-woman team that raced an orange Mazda 323. Are they still around? I talked to them once for a while at Susquahannock and helped push them out of a ditch at the Maine Forest Winter a few years back.
There used to be a 2-woman team that raced an orange Mazda 323. Are they still around? I talked to them once for a while at Susquahannock and helped push them out of a ditch at the Maine Forest Winter a few years back.
Yup, they are still around and do the occasional rally. Gail Truess and Pam McGarvey. Both were on the PPG Indycar Pacecar team and ran in BMW cup in roadracing, too. Unfortunately, with the death of PGT class in ProRally, the car is forced into Open class and doesn't stand a chance against proper WRXs and Evos...or Quattros for that matter.
There is still nothing like the sound of a 500hp 5 cyl. turbo Audi roaring through the trees.
There is still nothing like the sound of a 500hp 5 cyl. turbo Audi roaring through the trees.
Morgan, I hadn't heard about the Elise coming over! Too bad I don't fit in one.
Not sure on SEMA. Probly not, though I really should. There are a lot of opportunities abound that weekend. Definitely will be at PRI, though. Won't have the car on display this year, though.
Not sure on SEMA. Probly not, though I really should. There are a lot of opportunities abound that weekend. Definitely will be at PRI, though. Won't have the car on display this year, though.
As for the setup, do you keep the car as is or do you tune it for pavement? Like putting on bigger wheels, lowering the stance and stiffening the suspension, stuff like that. For an example...Lurch said:We hit the pavement from time to time...
Focus Rallye Sport for off-road racing
Focus RS WRC for pavement
But I think they're two different cars, one built to drive specifically on off-road courses and the other specifically for pavement. You only have one car, correct?
Actually, in the WRC the "car" is the same. That said, it is a different engine tuning, different transmission, different suspension arms, different brakes, different wheels and tires, different dampers, etc. so you can decide whether you think the car is the same car. It is the same shell, though. In the early 90s, some of the WRC rounds were gravel one day and pavement the next. The teams would completely strip the cars and rebuild them overnight. They made rules that make entire rallies a consistent surface to try to bring the cost down...among other reasons.
Our championship has less than 12 paved miles of the couple thousand total stage miles. When we run a paved stage or part of a stage, it is usually grouped with a gravel stage and that means we are on gravel setup.
The above picture was taken at Waterford Hills Raceway, a roadracing facility in MI. It was a Solo event...just one car at a time for fun. I decided the night before at midnight that i would go, so I loaded up in the morning and changed the tires to my sticky tarmac tires at the track. I did no changes to the car. Didn't even drop the coilovers.
Now I have highly adjustable shocks and plan to baseline a workable tarmac setup by twisting knobs so that I can optimise the car on those few stages with a quick adjustment, but not more than that. I may play with ride height and swaybar settings for fun, but I usually don't get a chance to mess with it in a rally. Besides, by leaving it high I can get the crowd going by jumping curbs as I am doing above!
Eric
Our championship has less than 12 paved miles of the couple thousand total stage miles. When we run a paved stage or part of a stage, it is usually grouped with a gravel stage and that means we are on gravel setup.
The above picture was taken at Waterford Hills Raceway, a roadracing facility in MI. It was a Solo event...just one car at a time for fun. I decided the night before at midnight that i would go, so I loaded up in the morning and changed the tires to my sticky tarmac tires at the track. I did no changes to the car. Didn't even drop the coilovers.
Now I have highly adjustable shocks and plan to baseline a workable tarmac setup by twisting knobs so that I can optimise the car on those few stages with a quick adjustment, but not more than that. I may play with ride height and swaybar settings for fun, but I usually don't get a chance to mess with it in a rally. Besides, by leaving it high I can get the crowd going by jumping curbs as I am doing above!
Eric
what's left on this years schedule that you guys are competing in?
Btw, got some pics of myself on some of Oklahoma's dirt roads. Kind of hard to take pics and drive, but when nobody is around... Nothing like what you guys do, of course. But going to make it happen.
http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=4288947645
and a couple movies: right-click and select save-as then change the file extenstion to .avi (had to add .mpg for imagestation to accept the upload, anti-windows sony!)
http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=4288833617
You know, I honestly would have though there would be lots of people posting here. I guess most people are for pavement driving.
any chance of stuffing that FS engine into my FP bay? (99 es)
Btw, got some pics of myself on some of Oklahoma's dirt roads. Kind of hard to take pics and drive, but when nobody is around... Nothing like what you guys do, of course. But going to make it happen.
http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=4288947645
and a couple movies: right-click and select save-as then change the file extenstion to .avi (had to add .mpg for imagestation to accept the upload, anti-windows sony!)
http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=4288833617
You know, I honestly would have though there would be lots of people posting here. I guess most people are for pavement driving.
any chance of stuffing that FS engine into my FP bay? (99 es)
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Midnight22
Member
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- '03 Mazda Protege5, 94 Jeep Wrangler
import the AWD system from japan? cosr u about as much for that as it is to buy a new WRX and do the suspension mods
Logan said:
I was actually planning on running it before I rolled the car heavily at LSPR. It won't be fixed in time, unfortunately. I am thinking of going up anyway to spectate or work. Some of my crew is going up.
Looks like an amazing rally. Its actually promoted instead of just happening. If we can deal with spectator issues, this is the way I'd like to see rallying go in the US as well. We will see.
Eric
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