I'm just testing the waters here on the general interest of a spec (FWD) rallycar class, which would likely differ greatly from region to region; so the specfic car wouldn't matter. But all vehicles would be the same chassis, engine and trans. 3 prepped cars would allow for 6 drivers at most events within the class.

Action item list for each car would be as follows:

Brake pads and rotors (frt) shoes (rear, inspect calipers and clean and adjust drums) SS brake lines and brake flush with super blue shifter bushings Coolant flush and system inspection; Replace plugs and inspect all ignition components (likely replace cap and rotor on all when applicable) KYB suspension on all 4 corners with springs Inspect all suspension arms and bushings; if any car is in need price prothane or Super Pro kit and install versus Pierce Motorsports arm upgrades Matching snow tires HomeBrew poly motormounts

The idea of coming up with said class is 2 fold:

1 is to attract drivers who are interested in rallycross and who would like to, but are worried about tearing up their own car.

2 to appeal to competitive drivers whom are in different classes or even in the same class currently but have cars at different level of prep or condition.

Am I crazy or onto something?

Why FWD? Availabliltiy and lower buy in?

ironic that you chime in haha

Because BG chassis 323's are cheap, easy to work on and share enough components across the platform with proteges/escorts and miatas that parts availability shouldn't be an issue. and there are upgrade bits available for after seasons 2-3

For the lower end guy, affordability is a huge issue. They don't have the disposable income for their own car.

This could certainly be beneficial to some and profitable for another. Just keep a good balance.

captdownshift wrote: ironic that you chime in haha Because BG chassis 323's are cheap, easy to work on and share enough components across the platform with proteges/escorts and miatas that parts availability shouldn't be an issue. and there are upgrade bits available for after seasons 2-3

And hard to find...at least around here.

In reply to EvanB:

I stumble across them rather often. The shape is questionable, but in rallycross, minor damage shouldn't be a big negative.

Wouldn't koni yellows make more sense? They're more or less un-killable and last forever. GR-2s dont seem to last very long when not treated well, and even when treated well they dont last all that long.

In reply to EvanB:

I can find 3-6 within a 250 mile radius most of the time, trailer time. I'd also consider duratec powered zx3 focuses, but the starting point becomes more expensive. I thought about e30's but finding them the exact same, and same condition becomes a bank breaker, esp when refreshing all of the parts to replace to ensure that they'd be as equal as possible.

Also rental cost would not exceed $50 a day (would likely be set at $40). Having 3 cars (as a starting point) would hopefully provide a sponsorship opportunity on a small scale, parts or small cash amounts from some vendors. Any revenue would go towards future car maintaince or upgrades (BP swap?, proper gravel suspension, Pierce arms etc)

I'm not (yet) a rallycross competitor so my opinion is invalid, but this is the internet where there are more opinions than arse holes, so here I go.

This seems to be an answer looking for a question. One of the big draws of rallycross seems to be it's more driver than car dependent than tarmac cone squishing or track events. If the car is of less importance than other disciplines why create a spec class, surely that's what the stock class is for?

In reply to Adrian_Thompson:

Maybe we just suggest the good captain just include a stock class as well in his plans. People don't want to berkeley up their own stock car.... usually. Keep in mind the people who couldn't afford it.

Koni yellows are getting ultra rare to find for the BG chassis, down the road if $$$ were available i'd love to fit them with JVAB setups; him yelling at me about them being overkill for conecross would alone make it worthwhile

I think Adrian is asking why is any sort of spec class warranted when stock class is already offered. As noted some people are not wanting to run their own cars even if stock (there are very few cars that i wouldn't personally run though).

True that rallycross is more driver then car, but there may be situations where 2 drivers have vastly different cars and want to see where they stand. I'm hoping to talk with the rallycross chairman locally about having the top 2 drivers from each class get one final run in the spec cars (making 12 additional runs total) as a measure of the "top driver of the day" in addition to the class standings and FTD

Who is bringing them to the event? Who is housing and maintaining them when not at an event?

Rather than build up a fleet of cars to maintain and store, why not just specify a class for cars fresh from the "Economy" section of the local Thrifty/Dollar/Hertz/Avis lot?

wae wrote: Rather than build up a fleet of cars to maintain and store, why not just specify a class for cars fresh from the "Economy" section of the local Thrifty/Dollar/Hertz/Avis lot?

Fastest cars in the world

Are we talking Rallycross as in actual w2w racing? Or (yawn) SCCA style race against a stopwatch?

In reply to LuxInterior:

SCCA style

and I'd be making arrangements for the cars to be stored at the rallycross location; or nearby and then they'd be trailered in the morning of the event.

For maintence and repair they'd be trailered out to a local facility.

Most of the people that are worried about tearing up their car seem to end up renting one of my cars.

I agree with the others just run them in whatever class they would fit in and run your own points for them if you want to for some reason.

I have sort of thought about this just for rental cars not as a separate spec series. but never followed up on it myself. My thought was to run them with the profit (If any) going back to the region. My thought was see if you can convince somebody with more time than money to maintain them and give them a free rental at each event for doing this. Just set them up for stock class (Snows, shocks) and first 2 drivers that register for them get them in stock class and another 2 drivers would be able to run them in a higher class that runs at a different time.

N Sperlo wrote: In reply to EvanB: I stumble across them rather often. The shape is questionable, but in rallycross, minor damage shouldn't be a big negative.

Suspension crumbling the on the first corner because the car has no structural strength is a big negative. Fortunately around here most of those 323s rotted off the road 20 years ago.

I thought the spec rallycross class was SA, where you have a field of 2.5RSs.

I guess i wan't clear in calling deeming it a spec series, as it'd really be identical cars as rentals, but all would have the same equipment and be in the same condition. Much more of a super beater opposed to super car. So they'd double as both a rental and measuring stick of drivers in a standard car.

Any additional funds would come from sponsors as the driver rental would not be covering cost, prep and operation.

Sounds like interest would be little to none. I greatly appreicate everyone's input

Spec class for rallycross sounds expensive.

Cool idea. $40-$50/day rental seems insanely cheap.

WOR has/had a rental car. $20 to rent it plus entry fee. There have been so many people in the thing per event that literally every other run was the rental. Typically people take their runs 2 or 3 in a row to minimize downtime from number changes.

A lot of people have "graduated" to their own cars, other people are content with driving the Probe and having fun/gauging their driving ability with other renters, and still other people just hop into it when their personal car is unavailable.

$20 is a real bargain. I think I burn that much in fuel at the event...

Adrian_Thompson wrote: I'm not (yet) a rallycross competitor so my opinion is invalid, but this is the internet where there are more opinions than arse holes, so here I go. This seems to be an answer looking for a question. One of the big draws of rallycross seems to be it's more driver than car dependent than tarmac cone squishing or track events. If the car is of less importance than other disciplines why create a spec class, surely that's what the stock class is for?

^^this.

plus the fact that someone with a $2k craigslist e30 or RX7 on snow tires can come to a rallycross and be competitive. Unlike autocross where you really need "the right car" with "the right setup" to even have a chance.

LuxInterior wrote: Are we talking Rallycross as in actual w2w racing?

the insurance alone for wheel-to-wheel rallycross would basically either make it super-expensive for competitors, or make it impossible to find a venue willing to take on the liability risk.

Plus actually finding a venue large enough to handle a bunch of cars on course at once might be do-able out in the boonies, but not near most big metro areas. It's hard enough to find decent rallycross venues these days.