how did you get started in rally?

[Murphy]

How did you guys get started in rally cross and rally sprints?
Are you guys with the SCCA or do you do it with another group?
How much money do you think you put into your car?

Do you think im to young to be thinking about this (im 16)?

I am also thinking of doing the SCCA Solos but am less concerned about that, or is rallycross basicaly the same as far as entering?

There is only one rallycross event within 2 hours of drving time from Ownesboro, its a place outside of St. louis called Ewing,IL. But luckly they host about 5 races a year.

[jamal]

Yeah you can just show up for a rally cross in your own car. Do it. The biggest risk is blowing a tire off the bead, but I think that only happens when people let too much air out of street tires and things get all rutted up.

Right now I do navigational road rallies and volunteer at stage rallies. I've been meaning to rallyx for awhile but it always seems like I'm busy. I'll get more into those and eventually I'll buy a rally car or have a cage put in mine. I'd like to run a Legacy in CRS PGT within 3 years.

I heard somewhere that a stage rally ends up costing close to $1000 for a local event, if you don't break anything.

Anyway there are plenty of people here who have actually done it.

[Murphy]

thanks, that a little bit of renewed confidence. i think rally stages will be a little ways down the road

rally cars seem very expensive by the way, wouldnt it be cheaper to make one?

[Legacy294]

There are only so many places you can cut costs when building a car..

Many people buy prepped rally cars for their first one, usually costs less than prepping one.

As far as for what you need to be legal for stage rally:

Roll Cage: $2k+ They go waaay up from there.. ($2,000)
Seats: Cheapies are $300 ea. ($600)
Side mounts for seats $60 ($60)
Harnesses +-$120 ea for Gforce ($240)
SKidplate/ diff guard/ underbody protection ($400+)
Suspension used stocks (not ideal, but can be done) ($200)
Roll Cage padding 4 sticks ($80)
Terratrip and terracom ($450)
Driving suit/ Helmet (budget) ($300)
Safety gear for car
(first aid, tow strap, extinguishers, spill kit, triangles) ($150)

The CAR.. sometimes $500, but plan on $1k +, one that runs to start with is a good thing..

Any maintenance..Belts, hoses, seals, radiator.. AT least $200 worth..

So to build this car with no extra labor costs (unlikely) you are looking at $5180 using a $500 donor car. That's with no extra labor, budget parts, and nothing else mechanically related that needs freshening, which is rare on anything 10 years old or older.

If you want better suspension, you are looking at +-$800 for AGXs and better springs, $2000+ for Bilstein Coilovers, $5k + for DMS 50mm, $5500+ for RSSP coilovers, $6k + for Proflex or Ohlins.. If you want alloys vs. steelies, that will be more $, A Sparco suit vs. a Pyrotect same thing.. Rally Tires $100 + ea new, another $500 since you need a spare.

Rally can be expensive, but sometimes guys sell there cars for good deals and you can get a fully prepped car for $5k or less. Not often, but somtimes..

If you need to save to build a car, then start with rally cross. Go buy some used rally tires, a skidplate, and fling some mud..Practice your driving skills, and get some seat time.

If you start now, you'll be whipping on some old schoolers by the time you're 18..

[Legacy Rally Guy]

To be honest, search ebay motors for "projects" You'd be suprised on what you find...
My dad bought a fully race prepped 85 rx7 solo II race car with a doner car for engine and other stuff for about $800.00. Subaru shells are a bit hard to come by, but I've seen BRAND NEW and fully seamwelded/prepped with a full Group 2 cage for 8,000. They're on some rally parts pages occasionally.

Now if you just want to test the waters, there ARE rental services...

I chose a 1991 Legacy SS... I traded a motorcycle for it. About $1000.
So far I've invested...
$1000 for forged pistons, seal kit, HP wrist pins, HP head gasket
$100 Extra ej22t crank and a rod (car had a spun rod bearing)
$100 on ebay for TD04 turbo and tmic from a wrx.
$400 for head work cleaned, surfaced, performance 3 angle valve grind.
$100 for front cv axles
$377 for 6 puck race clutch, pressure plate, t.o. bearing
$100 for wrx struts and springs (almost new)
$20 for aftermarket wrx hood scoop on ebay.
$500 for stainless equal length turbo headers

(soon)
$??? for sti trans and engine mounts
$270 for sti short shift kit and adapter
$??? bottom end of engine bored/cleaned
$120 for rear cv axles
$??? six gravel tires (maybe find some used ones first)
$??? roll cage


The car had 180,000 but is in great shape. I just replaced the stuff that seemed to be the usual problems on older cars. Other than the machining... I've been doing all of the assembly and disassembly, this saves LOTS of cash! The regualr maint. stuff was apparently well taken care of though.


I'm sure there are cheaper ways to do this, but I didn't find this site until recently...

I know you can spend just as much money on solo II, but it's a matter of how serious you want to get.

[Murphy]

thanks for the input ill look around at cars alittle more and see whats out there

well see this was the original plan
my car (90' Legacy LS AT sedan AWD) was only $800 and right now is in perfect condition as far as the engine goes, theres no damage or anything just a slight dent, but anyway.
i was figuring that i could start autox with it basicaly stock untill i got the hang of it, then start doing work like a new 5MT tranny, 04' WRX struts, and before i get new tires i will get some alloy wrx rims at a junkyard with slighty used tires.

then as i get better and maybe find a new beater daily driver, i will gut the interior and put in a roll cage with seats (maybe used) and a harness. then ill track down a pair of 2.5 N/A heads and bore the block so it will fit just right (.02 bore i think) i will get someone to weld up a intake manifold and get a Eaton M-45, i figure to go with that than a turbo EJ22T becaue it will give me a better torque curve and i can put headers and a straight pipe in with just a high flow silencer on the end

i will eventualy cross over to stage rally and i think my skill level is ready

i left out all of the details like ecu and other things becaue its to much to list, it will be a contiual work in progress and always being upgraded not something i would do all at once, the thing im about to do is the rims and tires because i need new tires soon

thats just a before plan, im pretty sure alot of it will change as time goes along

ive got my whole life ahead of me to rally so im not in a big rush and i dont want to be like some people and blow there life savings in a week on a hobby, ill will also be joining the ARMY to get school credit so i can go to UTI so that will put a hault to it for 2-4 years

[Legacy Rally Guy]

On the ej22t with ej25 heads thing, They DO bolt on, but there are a few things like water jacket placement, ect that dont exactlyt match. (machining can fix this) It's a great build up, but isn't real cheap... Definitely do some research with some of your local machine shops on who knows and works on subaru heads...


later
,

Ken

[sammydafish]

anyone looking to get into special stage rally can't forget one really important thing..... spare parts... especialy wheels and suspension. you'll surely bend your share of control arms and other suspension parts, unless you wanna go home after it, you'll need to bring them

add a trailer and truck to that, plus all the related mobil gear to keep the car in good enough shape to finnish a rally.

[Brat4by4]

And you also must start out in rally with a 2wd car for a preset amount of events. There were too many people killing themselves with the added abilities of AWD.

So you are going to need a 2wd starter car unless you toss a FWD tranny in yours...

[sammydafish]

And you also must start out in rally with a 2wd car for a preset amount of events. There were too many people killing themselves with the added abilities of AWD.

So you are going to need a 2wd starter car unless you toss a FWD tranny in yours...

That's a Rally-America rule. If you run in a rally sanctioned by another body such as NASA you can roll out in a 700hp Group B car if you want, as long as it passes safety tech, you're in.

[Dirty91Legacy]

Thts not true as of this year u can start with awd N/A

[kimokalihi]

The biggest risk is blowing a tire off the bead, but .

How is that the biggest risk? What if you roll your car or hit a tree?

[brand]

The biggest risk is blowing a tire off the bead, but .

How is that the biggest risk? What if you roll your car or hit a tree?

I think the difference is those posts were talking rally cross, not rally. I haven't seen a rally cross course that had too many unforgiving parts of the track or hard obstacles. Yeah, there are risks, but I think Jamal meant it in the sense that the greatest increased risk beyond the risks of racing/tracking your car in general is a tire issue.

[555BCTurbo]

I got started in Stage Rally by being at the right New Year's Party with the wrong people lol

[kimokalihi]

The biggest risk is blowing a tire off the bead, but .

How is that the biggest risk? What if you roll your car or hit a tree?

I think the difference is those posts were talking rally cross, not rally. I haven't seen a rally cross course that had too many unforgiving parts of the track or hard obstacles. Yeah, there are risks, but I think Jamal meant it in the sense that the greatest increased risk beyond the risks of racing/tracking your car in general is a tire issue.

What's the difference between rally and rally cross? I thought it was the same thing, people just said rally for short.

[brand]

How is that the biggest risk? What if you roll your car or hit a tree?

I think the difference is those posts were talking rally cross, not rally. I haven't seen a rally cross course that had too many unforgiving parts of the track or hard obstacles. Yeah, there are risks, but I think Jamal meant it in the sense that the greatest increased risk beyond the risks of racing/tracking your car in general is a tire issue.

What's the difference between rally and rally cross? I thought it was the same thing, people just said rally for short.

Rally cross doesn't require a cage and all of the more expensive gear. It's basically an autocross but without the pavement, so instead of a parking lot you're on a field or other open space. The course is marked by cones, so if you go off the course you're not likely to flip the car.

Here's the SCCA page about it: http://www.scca.com/contentpage.aspx?content=47

[Legacy Konig]

Hey Murphy, if you're really interested in starting rallying, at this stage money isn't an issue. For right now, don't worry about buying a junker car and fortifying it with safety equipment and whatnot. Simply buy a junked out sedan or wagon, and run it as is, it's as simple as that. A year ago my cousin buy a Legacy wagon for $800 and ran it just like that.

Just for starting, so you can learn your driving lines, trail braking, left-foot braking, the three segments of a corner, etc.

And DO NOT go to UTI.

Listen to me now-

At UTI you will pay $50,00 to $60,000 and you know what?

You'll recieve a certificate of completion upon finishing the two year course.

You won't get a degree, and you'll have spent a ridiculous amount of money for what you'll get.

If you're truly interested in automotive repair, you need to go to a community college instead, spend $10,000 to $20,000 and upon completing the actual college course you'll recieve an Applied Science in Automotive Repair- rather then a certificate saying you completed a course.

Dealerships and repair shops want to see that you have a degree, not a certificate.

I wouldn't have said all this if it wasn't true.

Take it from me.