I'm curious about rally racing

Do you to be competative or just have fun, the car choice definitely changes with this goal

Bring bucket loads of money. Last I checked the entry fee for STPR was over a grand. Unless you live outside the US, it's a hobby for rich people.

I volunteer at 3-4 rallies a year. We ALWAYS need workers to help run the race. You will learn a ton by working. A good stage captain will let you rotate through a few positions if you are there for the whole event. I think most rally people would advise to go to a few races before making any financial decisions.

1.) Go to an event. If you can get in touch with the organizers beforehand, offer to work.

2.) Once you have some exposure to the scene try to get a seat as a navigator.

3.) Look for nearby rallycross events and try to get involved. Much cheaper, you don't necessarily need to buy a car for it, and you get good seat time for the cost.

4.) When you're ready to buy a car, buy a well-known, complete, running/driving car. It might not be competitive, but it will let you get on stage the cheapest/easiest.

5.) It's definitely not a cheap sport. Ignoring the cost of the car, it would be difficult to do an event for under $2k, unless it's close enough to your house that you don't have to deal with travel/hotels.

I wish I lived closer to rallies. I'd love to volunteer. (But I think the closest is about 5 hrs away)

Jerry wrote: I wish I lived closer to rallies. I'd love to volunteer. (But I think the closest is about 5 hrs away)

We would love to have you at SnoDrift. Its just a short 6 hours straight north.

Jerry wrote: I wish I lived closer to rallies. I'd love to volunteer. (But I think the closest is about 5 hrs away)

In other words you are close then by American standards

I've been rally-crossing for the last year and a half. Very cheaply. I have under $2k into my Miata and have been having a blast. Several of the guys who frequent our events are stage rally drivers as well. It seems like a very logical stepping stone into real rally events. Good luck.

Go do a Team O'Neil school. I recommend this one because they give instruction on more than just driving skills (co-driving, event structure, etc.). If you enjoy the school you'll probably enjoy rally.

My opinion (feel free to disagree) is that rally is generally more expensive than other forms of motorsport. You need an FIA cage to compete in any stage rally. Petegossett is spot on about entry fees (although you can save some by running regional entry and tulips instead of pace notes). You typically also need crew to drive your stuff around to each service location even if you do all of the wrenching yourself.

All that said, it is out of control awesome.

ddavidv wrote: Bring bucket loads of money. Last I checked the entry fee for STPR was over a grand. Unless you live outside the US, it's a hobby for rich people.

Haha, the US and Caribbean are actually the cheapest places to do it, in terms of entry fees. And of course the US is cheapest by far in terms of building a car.

Entry fees in the UK are so high that many UK teams prefer to compete in the Caribbean

If you can't afford to absolutely wad up your car into a tiny cube and walk away. Don't start rallying.

A rally is like an all day long plane crash. Glorious yet terrifying all at the same time.

I bought a log booked rally car that was ready to run for $5k. Entry fees in Canada run from $500-1200 with regionals being cheaper. The car gets banged to E36 M3. The amount of work needed to get the car ready between events was staggering (I had the previous owners notes). Oh, and you need road insurance. In Ontario since it's a modified car you are looking at $5700 per year paid up front. Mercifully, I think insurance is cheaper everywhere else, but is still an expense.

For me it was to much. I've got the car sort of for sale and am planning on getting it ready for the track for next year. Maybe at some point I'll be able to rally, but right now I can't make the numbers work.

For cheeap rally in the US- NASA RallyMoto. It still costs about $600-1k per event, but the buy-in is vastly cheaper than a car. Make sure your health insurance is good though, crashes hurt more without a cage.

NONACK wrote: For cheeap rally in the US- NASA RallyMoto. It still costs about $600-1k per event, but the buy-in is vastly cheaper than a car. Make sure your health insurance is good though, crashes hurt more without a cage.

Looks like the RallyMoto website they direct you to is dead. RallyMoto is something I'd be interested in.

Edit: Found the FAQ here and it sucks they don't allow 2 strokes. http://www.nasarallysport.com/main/RallyMoto%20Faq

Honestly, I'm not sure a 2-stroke would be that much fun for RallyMoto anyway. You run the same stages as the cars, and therefore spend a large amount of time at WOT. My DRZ was geared WAY too low for Black River Stages, and I had to spend 25% of every special stage just feathering it at the top of 5th. I would imagine a 2-stroke would have a similar experience about 50% of the time.

NONACK wrote: Honestly, I'm not sure a 2-stroke would be that much fun for RallyMoto anyway. You run the same stages as the cars, and therefore spend a large amount of time at WOT. My DRZ was geared WAY too low for Black River Stages, and I had to spend 25% of every special stage just feathering it at the top of 5th. I would imagine a 2-stroke would have a similar experience about 50% of the time.

good point....my two strokes are fun wound out in top gear for like...a minute, but I could see it getting old for miles at a time.

Regional level rally entry is cheaper at STPR. Early entry usually nets a discount. Subaru contingency on Rally America entries nets another discount for the first 10 subarus to enter a given event on the regional end. That being said, the easier way to start is to find an scca rallycross in your area first. It allows you to see if its for you with minimal risk, and minimal cost. From there if you want to progress to stage rally, you'll have already met a bunch of people to enable you. With rallycross, pick a car you are going with beating the snot out of. I'm partial to Subaru, and 2wd options like VW and such are fine.

pushrod36 wrote: Go do a Team O'Neil school. I recommend this one because they give instruction on more than just driving skills (co-driving, event structure, etc.). If you enjoy the school you'll probably enjoy rally.

Or take the California Rally Series school if you're a left coaster. Very little emphasis is given to the actual driving aspect there, though.

Rallycross will give you a taste of rally the same way that an autocross will give you a taste of a wheel-to-wheel race. I've run rallycross once, and it was fun enough but it didn't leave me exhausted and exhilarated, soaked in adrenaline. Bouncing around on dirt is only a small part of the thrill of rally - the really addictive part is running fast down a road you don't know well and reacting to things that aren't in sight yet thanks to your navigator. Rally is a team sport, this is one thing that really sets it apart from most other motorsports.

As stated above, RallyX is a good way to get a taste of car control on various unimproved surfaces. However, don't discount doing a few local time-speed-distance (TSD) events before leaping head-first into performance rally. The skills and communication you learn in TSD as a driver (or navigator) are required, as large parts of a performance rally are transit and time controls. Having a handle on those aspects will certainly be to your benefit.

Jerry wrote: I wish I lived closer to rallies. I'd love to volunteer. (But I think the closest is about 5 hrs away)

In the US, that IS close.

Heck, I have to go further than that to drive on a full-size track.

And that's a lot of why stage rally is not so popular in the US. All the places to play are far and wide, so you don't get local rally communities except for a few isolated pockets of madness.

I mean, go to any dragstrip, go to any circle track on any given weekend, and imagine if just 5% of the people racing there were doing stage rally instead. It can't be expense, because people will spend tens of thousands of dollars for a couple of tenths on a car that they are just drag racing for grins, no money or even trophies...

cough cough..

RALLY MAP!!!!!!! https://mapsengine.google.com/map/viewer?mid=zbeF2dUUSjXw.ku2ssPytjEyU

I'd like to see Rally TN come back. That was a good one, but seems to have failed due to lack of organizers.

petegossett wrote: 1.) Go to an event. If you can get in touch with the organizers beforehand, offer to work. 2.) Once you have some exposure to the scene try to get a seat as a navigator. 3.) Look for nearby rallycross events and try to get involved. Much cheaper, you don't necessarily need to buy a car for it, and you get good seat time for the cost. 4.) When you're ready to buy a car, buy a well-known, complete, running/driving car. It might not be competitive, but it will let you get on stage the cheapest/easiest. 5.) It's definitely *not* a cheap sport. Ignoring the cost of the car, it would be difficult to do an event for under $2k, unless it's close enough to your house that you don't have to deal with travel/hotels.

This guy sums it up.

However, DO NOT GET BENT OUT OF SHAPE ABOUT A "competitive" car. Your driving skills play a vastly greater role in rallying (especially in North America) than what car you drive. Get into the sport as CHEAPLY as possible, and go race as much as you can. Sweat equity and preparation are what makes the difference between a good team and a bad team... not the kind of car they drive.

I think doing an event for under $2k is definitely possible regionally, Canada or the USA. It is tough, but do-able.