Possible RallyCross Car?

So I was doing my normal thinking about things while I drive on large expanses of land that never seem to end and I was thinking about possible cars for RallyCross.

What about the 3rd Gen Eclipse?

Yeah they aren't the greatest looking, but my wife had one when we started dating and I spent a couple years in that car. They were pretty peppy in 4-Cyl form and I know the V6 version was stupid fast for what it was, just nose heavy.

I'd be looking at the 2.4L 4-Cyl. It's good for 150 hp and there was an aftermarket at one point, so there may still be some stuff lingering out there. They are also around 2800 lbs in 4-Cyl form. There are some decent examples out there for sub-Challenge money now that the newest ones are 12 years old.

I don't really know much more about them aside from driving them because my wife's car never gave her a single issue in the 3 years that she owned it.

Anything is a rallycross car if you rallycross it. Will it be competitive or reliable? That's a different set of questions.
Are you looking to run stock front? Prepared lets you muck around more and is arguably one of the softer classes nationally but lack of an LSD is hard. What is the wheelbase on those compared to something like a Civic? Short is good in RX. Instability is your friend.

In reply to mazdeuce:

Wheelbase is close to 101".

Hmmmmm. They always looked longer to me. That's good. Basic consumables like shocks and brake parts are still available and cheap? I approve of this idea. Go forth and rallycross.

I've always been told a 3g and 4g Eclipse are literally just rebodied Sebrings

In reply to Chadeux:

Kind of the other way around, but yes.

Three things really work in Rally-X - as noted before, a short wheelbase, LSD and torque. Normally a lot of slow speed turns and both the LSD and an engine with good torque will really help you get out of the corners

So get the v6 and softest "eclipse" springs you can find and learn to lean on the brakes for rotation.

You can have a great time rallycrossing anything. That said, a 3G Eclipse will not be very competitive nor very reliable in my opinion (assuming you don't go crazy on modifications). So decide if you just want to hoon around and have a good time, or if your goal is to run at the top of competitive classes. Both are equally good answers!

IMO you will have more fun, be more competitive, and spend less time fixing various other cars that are available at similar price-points (for RWD classes....e30, e36, rx7s, Miatas, and a handful of others, for FWD classes you have even more options - old civic hatches, etc).

All of that said, rallycross is mostly about the driver. We've had some people who are great drivers do very well in cars that should NOT do well, and people who have cars known to be fast do poorly. So, just find something that will hold up to being driven HARD, because nothing sucks more than constantly breaking stuff at rallycross (from what I've seen of others in our region who break a lot of stuff).

Do it. It's about all those travesties are good for.