Side by Sides and Rally?

So I see that NASA Rallysport has a SxS class now and the California Rally series does as well. When I registered for the local Tarheel Sports Car Club Rallycross school in June they also had a ATV 2/4wd class.

Is this getting traction? I rented a 4seater when I lived in California and it was an amazing experience if I still lived in the southwest it would be on my really want toy list. However moving out to North Carolina I would hate to buy one and not really have places to use it or things I could compete with it

I am sure buying a cheap 2wd rallycar off special stage still ends up cheaper but it has some appeal since some of these are now pushing 100+ hp stock and weigh like 1500lbs

They ran them at the Idaho rally last year and they're crazy fast for the money. In terms of running then at stage rally's the biggest issue seems to be the logistics hurdle (can't really transit on public roads), as the used market really comes full swing I bet we'll see more and more events allowing them. Until the first major injury anyhow.

In some states they can be made road legal, Arizona is one for example. My uncle lives on the Mojave and we rented a 4 seat side by side and drove it down the highway then off on some trails

My other question is what else could I do with it? Locally RallyX allows them also, but could you swap wheels and run one in a mod class for autocross even with the soft suspension I bet they would do ok

Plus side (obviously not race prepped) but my 3yr old and 6yr old loved it as well

They have a couple at the rally school in Austin. They're basically as fast as prepped AWD cars on the stage roads. They're slower into corners (if you like staying upright) but they come out better and they're more stable in rough stuff and under braking because of the travel. The most important thing is that they don't beat themselves to death. Cars continually​ degrade when you drive them hard on dirt. Side by sides just work.
This is a continuous debate, because we love cars, and people want to pay to learn to drive cars, but side by sides make so much sense.

The SCCA specifically doesn't allow them in rallycross. They also don't allow a bunch of other really cool stuff I'd love to see.

The following types of vehicles are currently not eligible to compete: ATVs, UTVs, side-by-sides, Trophy Trucks, Cross karts, Formula Cross, Legend cars and tube‐frame vehicles.

I have no idea about stage rally.

Technically the local club isnt SCCA and has a class for it NASA Rallysport has rules for it on their site California Rally Series and the NASA Series seem to be allowing it but they do say that just because you are allowed in the rally doesnt mean you are street legal

Looks like there is the GNCC which is a big off road overland series and also this one I found

http://www.mideastracing.com/

I gotta be honest this looks sort of amazing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9dzHnKllv0

NASA has taken over sanctioning the Coupe de Quebec and Simon Dube, an accomplished 2wd Rally Champion is running a Can-Am Maverick.

He has finished 2nd overall twice and won one rally outright. He's damn fast though. He DNF'd the last one with a broken LF suspension.

Toyman01 wrote: The following types of vehicles are currently not eligible to compete: ATVs, UTVs, side-by-sides, Trophy Trucks, Cross karts, Formula Cross, Legend cars and tube‐frame vehicles.

I'd like to drive all of those things on a rallycross course. SCCA is no fun at all apparently.

Here in East TN we have a 72000 acre off road park: http://www.windrockpark.com/

Chadeux wrote:

Toyman01 wrote: The following types of vehicles are currently not eligible to compete: ATVs, UTVs, side-by-sides, Trophy Trucks, Cross karts, Formula Cross, Legend cars and tube‐frame vehicles.

I'd like to drive all of those things on a rallycross course. SCCA is no fun at all apparently.

Agreed.

TIGMOTORSPORTS wrote: Here in East TN we have a 72000 acre off road park: http://www.windrockpark.com/

Their rental rates are not bad, it was close to 400 a day for some in Havasu. I think there are a couple in the carolina's also

NGTD wrote: NASA has taken over sanctioning the Coupe de Quebec and Simon Dube, an accomplished 2wd Rally Champion is running a Can-Am Maverick. He has finished 2nd overall twice and won one rally outright. He's damn fast though. He DNF'd the last one with a broken LF suspension.

I recognize his name found him on facebook thats a pretty sweet looking SxS

i have a buddy with a RZR who has made some pretty fast pace trails on his property and i can attest the fact that they can be a handful in the corners, slow tight corners they are easy to slide through but faster corners they dont like to slide, they have a tendency to try and dig in and roll which can lead to a lot of 2 wheel action and clenching

There is (or at least used to be) an offroad race series that was held at Badlands offroad park in Indiana. Think King of the Hammers but not as extreme. They had classes for serious offroad race buggies, stock beaters, and sxs's. The sxs's were the fastest of all of them, at least back when i used to go.

Most of the guys in the jeep club have sold their purpose built trail jeeps and bought sxs's for what its worth. Polaris rzr seems to be the answer on these.

The new Yamaha one with the sport shift 6speed sequential gearbox seems kind of sweet coming from a car guy perspective. Never been a fan of CVT but they seem to be quite prevalent in the SxS

Toyman01 wrote: The SCCA specifically doesn't allow them in rallycross. They also don't allow a bunch of other really cool stuff I'd love to see.

The SCCA is working on adding a class for them. It's supposed to be trialed this year in a certain region and then introduced for 2018.

How about a turbo side by side? https://rzr.polaris.com/en-us/rzr-xp-turbo-eps/

Most of the current racing classes have stock 1000cc or 1000cc turbo classes now I think. The 3cylinder yamaha motor is the same one from their snowmobiles which can be turbo'd over 400hp

http://viper.mountainperformance.com/YXZ-155HP-or-200HP-TurboCharger-Kit-Complete_p_78.html

The guy I bought my Box truck/RV from raced this. It looked like a hoot. Raced in the desert series (with best in the desert I believe) though. those pics are from the Mint 400.

That would be my dream if I still lived out in the Southwest. The Mint400/BITD series is probably one of the most accessible rally raid style events any of us regular joes could hope to be involved in.

They used to have a class called "Jeepspeed" which was modified cherokees etc

The thing about those side by sides is they will rock crawl with the best of them as well as go fast, they compete in King of the Hammers also.

Here is Simon Dube's rally maverick

Check this out, one of the tracks in New Orleans is opening up their kart track course to SxS once a month

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xrxLOhSRyk

I absolutely would've replaced my smashed Samurai with one of these if I had the money. One guy runs a Honda Pioneer 1000 in the offroad rally and mud arena events, and it's so fast and nimble it's kind of unfair to all the regular 4x4s. It has more power than a Samurai and weighs about 3/4 as much, with fully independent suspension that has a very healthy amount of travel.

FooBag wrote:

Toyman01 wrote: The SCCA specifically doesn't allow them in rallycross. They also don't allow a bunch of other really cool stuff I'd love to see.

The SCCA is working on adding a class for them. It's supposed to be trialed this year in a certain region and then introduced for 2018.

So, I asked some questions of some rallycross guys. What I'm hearing is they (the old farts) don't want it to happen. In typical SCCA fashion, anything to attract the younger crowd is bad.

GameboyRMH wrote: I absolutely would've replaced my smashed Samurai with one of these if I had the money. One guy runs a Honda Pioneer 1000 in the offroad rally and mud arena events, and it's so fast and nimble it's kind of unfair to all the regular 4x4s. It has more power than a Samurai and weighs about 3/4 as much, with fully independent suspension that has a very healthy amount of travel.

For a dual purpose rig that Honda Pioneer 1000-5 is pretty trick too with the bench seat for 3 grownups in the front and the bed turning into 2 flipup seats for 2 more

Toyman01 wrote:

FooBag wrote:

Toyman01 wrote: The SCCA specifically doesn't allow them in rallycross. They also don't allow a bunch of other really cool stuff I'd love to see.

The SCCA is working on adding a class for them. It's supposed to be trialed this year in a certain region and then introduced for 2018.

So, I asked some questions of some rallycross guys. What I'm hearing is they (the old farts) don't want it to happen. In typical SCCA fashion, anything to attract the younger crowd is bad.

I would not say its popular yet but at least the local Tarheel sports car club is allowing them but they are not SCCA even though they use SCCA classing for the most part

But then I watch this and see theres a bunch of these races within 3hrs of me or so also

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RR91nYOTho8