Unique Rally Cars and why we don't see more of them

[GuyB]

New and different cars mean doing a LOT of development and custom fabrication. With Subarus and Mitsubishi there are global resources of knowledge and parts that are proven to work. (Similar for VW in the 2wd cars)

The celica above did fine, after a lot of development, but certainly didn't do anything extraordinary. (It was a P3 car, not Gr2)

(the 'proof' watermark is from the photog's site, not an ignorant statment of 'proof' that the car exists )

Thanks Keith

This is almost exactly what I was thinking about in my head, a Production class Celica. So it is possible, just difficult.

At first, I was just imagining having a Toyota Rally car, and I originally thought about my old Corolla, but why would you start with a corolla when we all have an idea of what it has to offer.

The same question goes to why there does not seem to be many newer Civic rally cars, even if there are much greater numbers when you get into the mid 90's model years. I know I have seen 1 newer model civic in the US, but that is it.

It is just a bit shameful that the only new car you can convert into a reliable 2WD rally car is a Fiesta. I have not seen any others to date.

I agree with everyone saying that you want to have a reliable car and finish rallies. Its more fun that way, cause you get all the mileage. I was also thinking that Toyota is a reliable name, how could we make this work?

Another Idea I have is to start with a late 80's Mustang. RWD would be fun to drive, the class needs the competition and I would think there are several donor cars available for parts. I have not seen any Mustang Rally cars in Canada, and know of only 1 or 2 in the US.

Thanks for the great info guys, keep the ideas coming!

[GuyB]

I have a 95 celica, converted to AWD. If I had to do it over again i would just buy a subaru. For one it's too small for me since I'm tall. Parts availability is more difficult...


There's a reason people run similar cars and not just because it's a fad.

Thanks for the input. I actually would think that the older AWD celica cars would be better as a rally car, but I was imagining that parts and availability would make it more expensive to run and fix than the newer ones.

[RichardM]

Another Idea I have is to start with a late 80's Mustang. RWD would be fun to drive, the class needs the competition and I would think there are several donor cars available for parts. I have not seen any Mustang Rally cars in Canada, and know of only 1 or 2 in the US.

Thanks for the great info guys, keep the ideas coming!

There are 2 of us Mustang drivers entered at Ojibwe Forests Rally this coming weekend.

[jrally]

The problem with the Celica you speak of, dream of, IMO, is it's low roof line. A car with a low roof line sucks for putting a cage into and after the cage is in place, it's hard to fit people wearing helmets into it safely. You would have to bolt the seat to the floor pan and have one that lays back a bit too, if you're taller than say 5'8". If you've seen my '84 Celica around the web, or the build thread in the construction section here, I can't comfortably even fit into it with a helmet. The seat is about as low as the floor allows and I only have a half cage, so nothing over head. I considered a Mazda MX-3, similar size to te '00-ish Celica, same trouble, too low a roof line for me.

-Jon

[BajaBill]

I like to race the Ford Raptor as it sticks out in a crowd.

Bill Holmes
Ford Raptor #44

[Davenport576]

The yellow celica pictured was actually built buy davenport racing for Bob Olson to run production here in the states. DMS built the struts and seemed to handle pretty good. It's first event was snodrift and hit a tree. Second event was Cherokee trails with a second in class to Jeff fields celica of the same generation. Both celicas did quite well. There was plenty of suspension travel and plenty of power being the gts model. I think it's a pretty good choice. The yellow celica was sold from Bob Olson to th fellow in Canada after bob rolled it in Oregon. Due to rule changes they had to rebuild th cage to match Canadian rules of larger tubbing. They would not except the 1.5x.120 wall main and side hoops. If you like I say build it. Just be ready to put your thinking cap on!
Doug Davenport
www.davenportracingusa.com

[ugly]

I'm going with the Mini even though I would prefer a Impreza for all the reasons mentioned. The Mini is going to take a lot of development but as I know Subaru I'm converting most parts over to Subaru to save costs and development. Fitting STI struts was not easy but they work. The reason for the Mini was the topic of the this thread. It's different and will gain me much sponsorship down in Costa Rica. Even David Richards of Prodrive knows what I'm doing. I woundn't get the attention with an Impreza!

[czwalga]

The problem with the Celica you speak of, dream of, IMO, is it's low roof line. A car with a low roof line sucks for putting a cage into and after the cage is in place, it's hard to fit people wearing helmets into it safely. You would have to bolt the seat to the floor pan and have one that lays back a bit too, if you're taller than say 5'8". If you've seen my '84 Celica around the web, or the build thread in the construction section here, I can't comfortably even fit into it with a helmet. The seat is about as low as the floor allows and I only have a half cage, so nothing over head. I considered a Mazda MX-3, similar size to te '00-ish Celica, same trouble, too low a roof line for me.

-Jon

Yeah, that low roofline sucks. My cage is about as tight as you can get it, i'm 6'2'' 200; codriver is 6'2'' probably 230. We're like sardines.... i've already remade the floor so I can get the seats lower, but still not ideal.

[sureshot007]

The Jeep has the durability and parts availability...but still doing the research (trial and error) in figuring out exactly which shocks and valving work has been a pain in the ass.

I do really like the fact that I stick out in the sea of Subarus...even if that means I'm sticking out at the end of the line...

[GuyB]

OK, thanks for all the info guys! Maybe we could create a list of the things that you should look into first if you want to determine if a street car can be made into a good rally car! Maybe there's already a thread on that one. So far, you seem to need headroom, spare parts, and strong suspension that can accommodate travel. (I heard that is the problem with the new Mini, so that is what "Ugly" has to deal with).

Sadly I'm still broke (unless I sell my house and live in a cardboard box!) so it may be a while for me! If money were no object, I suspect that the new Sonic would make a good rally car too. This is of course based on the Rob Dyrdek kickflip video.