Fiero on dirt

I borrowed some gravel tires mounted on 15x6" GTI wheels from my friend and took my DOHC-powered Fiero track car out to a RallyCross practice event. I have been very successful competing in an AWD car but this was my first time on the dirt with a RWD.

Conversion from my track setup to rallycross involved the following: * Swap wheels over to the gravel setup, removing the front wheel spacers * Remove fieroguru lateral link relocation brackets * Raise front and rear suspension by 2 inches using the adjustable coilover sleeves * Remove front splitter * Remove rear wing

After these adjustments, toe remained at zero front and rear. I didn't measure the camber but it is not critical for rallycross.

The car behaved VERY well. Surface irregularities were easily soaked up by my springs and dampers (800 lb/in front with custom valved Bilsteins, 475 lb/in rear with Koni reds at full stiff) and even the largest dips did not upset the chassis or result in tires losing contact with the ground. The fast steering made for very easy corrections. The 3.4 DOHC makes enough torque that 2nd gear can be used for almost the entire course. First was only needed if I messed up and lost a lot of momentum. Even in second gear at 2500 RPM I could spin the tires at full throttle. Even on a freshly-wetted surface, handling was predictable. The torque delivery is so linear that it's easy to control the rotation of the car by feathering the throttle and making minor steering adjustments.

It could certainly use some more grip.. the tires I used were heavily worn, hard compound, and hardened more with age. Some fresh gravel tires should help quite a bit.

I would definitely like to make it back out on the dirt, perhaps with some fresher tires. I also had a minor issue in the form of right strut tower separation.. but as scary as it sounds it was because of some work I had done in removing some brackets and adding clearance for the power steering pump, and I forgot to re-weld some spot welds that broke while I was hammering it out. Doesn't look too hard to fix though.

UPDATE: Here's a video of one of the runs. Sorry about the sound, I didn't have my external mic. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lTO_BN4Lqg

I watched the special on Smoking Tire about your car. Your car is amazing. I wont lie, kinda has me looking into some local cheap Fieros. I actually dig the look, its just the drivetrain and everything that sucks haha.

Looks like you had a good time! You should try and get some video next time!

i love me some LQ1, your video sound makes me miss my z34.

HOw the hell did I miss the original thread on this car. Many many awesome points to you for the car and taking it on the dirt

I love that engine, although it is large and heavy. I seriously considered it for my own 88 GT before I decided to just stroke the stock engine and turbo it. I guess it is becoming a bit of an orphan now?

Oh don't worry, I had 3 GoPros rolling for about 7 runs... But anyone who followed my Motorsports Vacation thread knows it might take some time for me to get around to posting it!

This is awesome. I've never though about combining Fiero and Rallycross before.

Now you have me wanting to search Craigslist for Fieros.

In reply to series8217:

Ha! I wondered where you went with it. I unfortunately didn't get to really watch you run as there was lots of people needing tech at that time of day. I did hear that you broke it though. I'm sure rwd is a blast in the dirt especially in a car that is as light as your car looked!

The sound didn't work because the camera I use for exhaust sound was getting clobbered with dirt or tapping against the license plate I guess, but here's one of the runs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lTO_BN4Lqg