Rallycross @ Summit 3/18 - attack of the e30s!!!!

[irish44j]

In case anyone wants to come out and watch (or run!), the first rallycross event for the season is this sunday at Summit.

I'll be running the new-project e30 318i (yeah, an M10 baby) in RWD Modified against a bunch of RX7s
Scott Crowner and his 4-man crew will be running his e30 325e in RWD Stock (2 drivers) and RWD Prepared (2 drivers)
Stuart and Spencer will both be running their newly-acquired 318is in RWD Stock as well.

so...7 guys runnign e30s among the Subaru hordes (interestingly, I am not running my WRX autocrosser, lol).

Also I think I saw that James Newman is signed up driving someone's old impreza in one of the AWD classes.

my weapon: lol...

[mcoupemindy]

Looks badass. Good luck buddy.

[irish44j]

in case anyone cares, but some pics from the event. I had two last-second co-drivers and we took 3rd and 4th in RWD Modified. The other e30 there (the blue one with 4 co-drivers) won stock RWD and 2nd in prepared RWD...

[mcoupemindy]

Damn, that looks fun!

[1996 328ti]

Cool.

What is the preferred tire for this event?

Vic

Someone else's.

[spidertri]

So is this more of an off road autox? I went to a few of the Rally America rallycross events at NJMP and they were going wheel to wheel for 5 laps and destroying each others cars in the process. Seemed like the wheel to wheel style would get pricey pretty quickly.

[mcoupemindy]

So is this more of an off road autox? I went to a few of the Rally America rallycross events at NJMP and they were going wheel to wheel for 5 laps and destroying each others cars in the process. Seemed like the wheel to wheel style would get pricey pretty quickly.

Rallycross = autocross in the dirt
Rallyracing = wheel-to-wheel in the dirt
Rally = time trial through a dirt path

(or so I know)

[GaryG]

That looks like a lot of fun. Are co-drivers required? Do they perform a specific job?

[irish44j]

Damn, that looks fun!

it is. I've autocrossed for 15-20 years and gotta say that rallycrossing in a 100hp slow-ass M10 318 is probably more fun than I've ever had autocrossing in any car (and yes, I still love autocross too).

Cool.

What is the preferred tire for this event?

Vic

For the stock and prepared classes, the preferred tire for the clay/dirt/grass surface at Summit (wet or dry) is usually a winter tire. Firestone Winterforce ($$cheap as hell) are what the majority of people use. Some of the prepared guys and most of the modified guys use gravel tires (rally tires), which have a super-stiff sidewall but really knobby tread (driving them on pavement is torture!). I got my set of rally tires used with 70% tread remaining off of a pro rally Subaru, and that's what most rallycross guys do - since stage rally guys get new tires for each event, even though the old ones have lots of life left. They can be found for $25-75 per tire used depending on size.

But plenty of people run with just a meaty-tread all-season tire as well and do just fine.

Someone else's.

or a beater. Though we did have a 2011 STi at the last event who didn't mess anything up other than one of his fog light covers.

So is this more of an off road autox? I went to a few of the Rally America rallycross events at NJMP and they were going wheel to wheel for 5 laps and destroying each others cars in the process. Seemed like the wheel to wheel style would get pricey pretty quickly.

time trials, like autocross. So you're not on course near other cars. The courses are between 1 and 3 minutes long though, and you get 8-15 runs - so alot more seat time. Rallycross is a full day though - you run morning and afternoon on different courses (or a reversed course), and every run is like a different course due to changing conditions (rutting, dirt getting moved around, water truck making it wet and slick, heat making it dry and hard). Most rallycross cars are older ones that people can beat on, but you could come out with a non-lowered late model car and if you don't go balls-out it would probably be just fine other than a crapload of dirt/mud everywhere on it

Rallycross = autocross in the dirt
Rallyracing = wheel-to-wheel in the dirt
Rally = time trial through a dirt path

(or so I know)

more or less

rallycross = autocross off-road essentially
rallysprint = like stage rally, but just a single 5 or 10-minute course (requires co-driver/navigator) - they do rallysprint at Summit too, but it's non-sanctioned and sounds sketchy.
european rallycross = wheel to wheel racing on combo dirt/paved courses - the ones you find on youtube where cars are getting banged up
stage rally = multi-day, full stages, hundreds of miles, costs $$, lots of safety equipment required
X-games rally = more or less like european rallycross, except smaller courses, jumps, and it's mostly on dirt rather than tarmac.

That looks like a lot of fun. Are co-drivers required? Do they perform a specific job?

nope. Alot of guys co-drive to split the expense of the car. Just like autocross, they just switch drivers between runs. Some co-drivers will call out turns, but really not needed - like autocross, it's pretty easy to read the course yourself and short enough to memorize where the turns are and such.

One guy (shawn) had three cars he owned out there, being driven by like 8 total people (his RX7, his wife's rallycross beater Subie Legacy, and another one I can't recall). I think Danny Kao (the top-notch autocross guy for those who don't know him) was co-driving the Legacy, actually. There was also some "pro drift" guy (apparently) there, co-driving someone else's RX-7 (he finished just ahead of me in my class).

ANyhow, highly suggested if you have a car that you don't mind getting really dirty and or making a bit of a mess of.

Next event is April 22nd, a 2-day event - first day is a driver's school/test and tune and second day is competition. If anyone wants to come out on the first day (Saturday) you're welcome to jump in and ride along with my slow ass, lol.

[irish44j]

here's a video of a couple of my runs, for context. And keep in mind, my car is one of the slower ones out there

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WINRj...3&feature=plcp

Here's adam kimmett in his 2.5RS Subaru, one of the fastest cars out there (last year's prepared AWD champ)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFKnb...XWKixoXTMNLLo=

[irish44j]

funnies part for me was went I went over to the main track paddock to get lunch. It's like "supercar day" over there....R8s and Lambos and GTRs all over the place. I'm comging through the paddock on my rally tires, all muddy, and there's a guy in a SpecE30 racer just staring at me like "WTF???"