PDA

View Full Version : Hitting the dirt: SCCA RallyCross!



TheJANG
05-16-2004, 05:27 PM
Guys, if you want to drive your rally car in true rally style in an organized, legal, safe manner, you have GOT to try SCCA RallyCross. The next event is May 23rd. It's at Thunderhill, 2.5-3 hours from the East Bay, entry is $35 for non-SCCA members ($25 for members), and all you need is a helmet.

If you haven't lowered your car a lot or installed a low body kit, you don't need skid plates. You don't need any special harness (as long as your stock belts are intact), roll cage, tires, nothing. You just sign up in the appropriate class and have a BLAST. I recommend everybody who enjoys watching WRC on Speed to give this a try.

I have a handful of pics, plus a few videos (including an in-car clip!) on my site here:

http://www.nepthys.com/evo/rallycross01.html

Enjoy, and hope to see y'all out there soon!

DB8GSR
05-17-2004, 07:08 AM
chit.. that looks like fun and for the price, you can't beat that! I may have to try that one of these days just for the hell of it. However, I'm more into road racing and will be at Thunderhill this friday, but definitely would like to try this out!! :twisted:

vtluu
05-17-2004, 12:40 PM
I might go, but I'll be co-driving a friend's Galant VR4. Really don't want to beat up my Evo that much yet. (Same friend who has an STi, so he obviously feels the same way about his STi. :))

EvoKach
05-17-2004, 02:39 PM
I could not imagine doing that in my daily driver. I mean that is worse then the drive way into WORKS. Looks fun though!

TheJANG
05-17-2004, 02:41 PM
I briefly worried about beating up my car too. When you think about it, though, rally-x is significantly easier on the car than auto-x (especially the entire drivetrain -- traction is low). You also have less risk of incurring body damage due to debris splash when actually on the dirt track than you do just driving *to* the track. On the freeway you get hit by pebbles & steel-headed bugs & other crap at 70-210mph (the high end comes when stuff is thrown off the tires of a vehicle on the other side). On the rally-x track, your maximum wheel (and thus debris) speed is generally under 50mph unless you intentionally drive like there's no tomorrow (in which case you'll probably be kicked out). I hand-washed my car the day after the race and while it took forever & a half (grrr), I didn't see any new scratches except on the nose from the trip to & fro.

Just to let you know where I'm coming from, though, I mainly say all of this to try to temper the concerns of folks who really want to go but are worried about body damage simply because it's on dirt. I fully respect anyone who makes an informed decision to stay clear! I just want to make sure there's positive encouragement as well so that we can get more participants hooked ;) ;) Too many STi's out there; gotta fix the balance. I figure 1 Evo to every 4 Suby's should do the trick :D

crapsstickman
05-17-2004, 03:40 PM
That looks rockin'!!! I would love to come out there and get some dirt on my tires! Unfortunatly with the dyno meet and everything else thats going on this weekend, I'm booked/tapped out.
How often do they hold events like this? I would love to test out the Evo on a course that it was made for... Or was the course, made for the Evo? :skid:

Things that make you go hmmmm... :eek:

chrisw
05-17-2004, 04:09 PM
I would go if I had the right tire for it. I don't want to trash my Falkins....

EvoKach
05-17-2004, 04:23 PM
Jang - you make an excellent point as my EVO has some good war wounds on the front from freeway driving. I know that our cars are set for the street, is ther any special set-up that you go through before running at a rally-x? I know this type of racing wouldn't be good for me because I'd be worried about driving it to work on Monday and thus I wouldn't get the maximum enjoyment out of the race.

Also, where is the track? I have been to t-hill numerous times to run our 1969 Merlyn/Formula Ford in the Vintage Raves but I haven't seen the dirt track before.

559EVO
05-17-2004, 04:30 PM
You guys know if we can go to those rally tracks around here on our own to practice by ourselves?Directions would be cool.

vtluu
05-17-2004, 04:32 PM
I'm with Chris, mainly I'm worried about the tires: my Kumho MXs weren't made for rolling in dirt/gravel, the Falkens currently stacked in my dining room, even less so. If I had another set of wheels and tires I'd probably go for it. My Evo has plenty of scratches, chips (not to mention cone marks :D) so I'm not worried about keeping it in "pristine" form. However my buddy Nick (STi/GVR4 guy) tells some entertaining "war stories" about tires, wheels and axles :shock: being sheared off by going the wrong way across a rut at rally-x. That's more the kind of thing I'm worried about.

evo_dadi
05-17-2004, 05:33 PM
hey bam my buddy was there on rallyx that day also and was telling me about your car.he had a blue 04 wrx and i think his no# was 666.

TheJANG
05-17-2004, 05:43 PM
Ok, for schedule info, classes, directions to the track, etc., visit the SFSCCA rallycross homepage -- there's a link on my page (sorry don't have it handy at the moment @work). The track is set up in the inclined field on the left at the very beginning of the Thunderhill driveway. They use a tractor with a front bucket & drag blade, plus a water truck to help define & prep the course.

There's no special setup needed -- I ran bone stock, stock tires, stock everything other than the mostly cosmetic micro-mods I've done so far. My times, once I got the hang of it, would have put me in the upper half of the class above me (street stock modified 4) -- Evo handling is "teh rox0rZ." I ran eight runs (twice what's entailed in a normal event) and noticed only minor rounding of the leading edges of my tread blocks, probably a 1/16" radius. If you want to become a career rally racer, no doubt you will want to get some nice high-profile, deep-treaded tires (but watch out for the rule that can throw you into the Open class if your treads are too aggressive). No doubt if you have +1'd from stock or are otherwise running some ultra-low profile tires, you'll want to skip. Surely you'll want to avoid driving on many California streets, as well.

Track condition for the Street Stock 4 class (usually one of the first to run) is super-smooth. It's still good for the Modifieds (what most of you guys would be in), as track maintenance is done once or twice during the day. The videos I posted are at the very end of the day, after the Open cars have torn it up, and no further maintenance has been done afterwards. One Modified STi blew a tire off the bead under these conditions, however I do have to note that he was driving very aggressively (so much so that it was really hurting his times), and his tire pressures looked a little low to me (?). I certainly didn't encounter anything that could reach all up inside of my control arms and grab an axle, though!

If anybody wants to check it out but is still a little apprehensive, feel free to flag me down, throw on a loaner helmet and come for a ride. Many of the folks out there will let you ride along if you just want to get a taste without any risk.

The drivers are cool, the event organizers are great, and the overall attitude at the events is, from my experience this one time and from heresay, very laid back and non-competitive. You go at your own pace (and slower than you want to go is the faster and safer way around the course).

evo_dadi: Ah, right on! Yes I distinctly remember the 666... how could I miss it 8)

EvoKach
05-18-2004, 10:34 AM
Jang, I would be down to ride along with you anytime. I have a full race suit, helmet,etc and I live about an hour and half from T-Hill. PM me or hit me on my cell at 650-279-4088 anytime.