[St.Nick]

Hello you dirty creatures,

My name is Nick, checking-in from Tasmania!

After a couple of years rallying a Mazda 323 4WD Turbo way back in the early 00s, the bug has finally bitten hard enough for me to consider another foray onto the dirt!!

This time, I'm thinking something FAR less scary than the grp A Mazda was! Cheap, cheerful, RWD fun... all the things the Mazda truly wasn't!!

Cue a BMW E36 323i sedan!

The plan is to get a 200k mileage E36, bolt-in a cage, seats, mudflaps, and the necessary safety equipment... and thats about it!
The 323i engine has enough power for a bit of fun, and there are quite a few suitable cars in Tasmania for little money!

We aren't looking to set any fastest stage times, or upset the 4WDs... just to have some sideways fun in the scrub!!


I'll be lurking around, watching a few build threads, and generally gathering advise and ideas for when the build eventually starts... However, I need to actually find a car first!!

 

[John Vanlandingham]

G'day Santa... or do you prefer Niklaas?

Anyway, definitely 2wd and rwd is the trend of the future because of the cost to fun ratio
...so aside from Targa Tasmania what other rallies you you have on the island? Tarmac all or gravel?
Found a forum with some results and man it seems to be just 15-16 cars at the 3-4 events I looked at...
And found a forum but it seems to be dormant--last posts from like 2012 and 2013..

You want to see some BMW build threads you'd be better off looking at here:
http://www.rallyanarchy.com/phorum/list.php?5

to a large degree there is 100x more build threads and activity and discussion there...

Maybe TAS rally discussions have moved all to Facebook and Twitter.

Well good luck and see ya over on the other place maybe.

 

[A1337STI]

Bolt in Roll cage? Awesome! wish we had that cost cutting measure here! hehehe

 

[St.Nick]

I don't know that the cages are much of a cost-cutter... $1900AUD for a 6 point!! However, I decided on a bolt-in, so that we can easily pull it out of the car if we badly damage the shell! I'd prefer to transfer the cage to a new shell, instead of trying to repair a bent one! We won't be seam-welding the car, or going overboard on prep.

http://www.agi-precision.com.au/product-category/roll-cages/cams-roll-cages/bolt-in/bmw/e36-4-dr/

As for events in Tasmania, its the usual grass and dirt motorkhanas, hillclimbs, as well as club and state level stage rallies on gravel (and sometimes at night!). There are also Targa Wrest Point (sponsored by Wrest Point Casino), and Targa Tasmania, which are both run on tarmac.

The BMW is gonna be predominantly a gravel car, (as thats what I love), but my nav and I will probably take turns at hillclimbs and autocross/motorkhana events and circuit days.

 

[A1337STI]

oh wow. I actually got my cage cheaper, but i had an amazing friend make it for practically free.

I guess that's the thing, need to be a welder / mechanic to rally ... or know one. or have the cash to pay for their services..

How hot is it during rally season down there ?

 

[St.Nick]

My nav and I are ok on the spanners, and can weld well enough to get by, but this bolt-in cage suits our needs.

In Tasmania, the coldest would average about 5 degrees C, max about 40 degrees C.... Plus its not humid or tropical (in Tasmania).

We get the best of everything down here. Anywhere from lots of mud, choking dust, or up to a foot of snow on stages sometimes, depending on the season!!

 

[A1337STI]

Ah, I've rallied in 115f (46C) but middle of the desert bone dry.. i borrowed a cool suit for that one.

how dominate is Subaru in the rally scene down there? in the US i'd say half the field of any rally is Subaru, and probably half the american rally drivers own a subaru for their rally car.

Yes i'm a fan boy, not looking for a "how it should be " debate / thread crapper lol

Just currious, since Australia is much closer to Japan than USA, I wonder if they are cheaper to buy/own for Australians compared to americans.

way less shipping costs, then again smaller market, and subaru makes many of their cars in USA (not imprezas though)

So is Australia flush with cool parts from Japan for the evos and STIs ? old GC body shell STIs and DCCD Transmissions galore? or is that stuff pretty rare even "down under" ?

 

[St.Nick]

As far as 4WD goes, its usually 50/50 Evos and WRXs... however our national championship has been 2WD ONLY for the last couple of years!! They do have a 4WD class, along with a "side-by-side class" (for Polaris RZRs etc), Historics for old school stuff (mostly 70s RWD), and an SUV class (with Diesel Foresters etc), however they're only for non-outright contention.
The front-running cars in Australia are Renault Clios, Honda Jazz etc... Most are European-works spec, some are even LHD (our roads are RHD).

Local State championship and club events are a mix of Evos, WRXs, local V8 sedans (commodores and ford falcons), a few older RWDs like series 1 RX-7s (and a Plymouth Fire-arrow), and some FWD odds and ends. There's even a replica Group B RX7 and a replica Toyota Celica "whistling Pig" Group B in Tassie!!

I wouldn't say we're 'flush' with cool parts, as a lot of it can only come in as parts or 'race-only' cars, plus being that the 4WDs are really only in contention for state championships, no one spends HUGE dollars on go-fast bits! IMHO, NZ is the place for the really cool stuff!!

 

[A1337STI]

aaaah, quite interesting. we get very very few Evos competing here. the few that do are Awesome, but its a tiny amount. also there's a lot less Evos sold to normal folk

I think there are less evos sold Per year, than WRXes Per month in this county
1200-1474 WRXes sold last month
6,784 base imprezas sold (not wrx/sti)

4800 grand total for all Mitsubishi (can't find a model break down) http://www.goodcarbadcar.net/2012/10/mitsubishi-brand-sales-figures-usa-canada.html

Its just not a well liked car company here, not many dealerships either. There are 3 subaru dealerships with in 40 minutes of me, but its a 3 hour drive to the nearest mitsubishi (would have to pass literally 6 subaru dealerships to get there)

Even though i'm a subie fan boy, its very sad..

oh ya Australia gets lots of cool Big V8 cars.. so what are the restrictions on your V8 class ? is there a limit on displacement? some sort of air inlet restrictor? anything goes? minimum weight?

 

[St.Nick]

There are a few V8 rally cars being used around the country, but mostly in club or state champs... Nothing really in the national championship. I'm not too sure on weight and displacement restrictions, but I can't imagine anything above 400bhp being of any use in a 2wd on gravel!