What car: Prepared FWD Rallycross Edition

After competing at Rallycross Nationals in MF this year, my teammates and I decided that we should change platforms to be more competitive in the future. Given that we have few local rallycross events and typically have been trailering our MF car 150+ miles one way to race, we decided that we should pick a car for Prepared FWD so that we can drive the car to events, race, and drive home, greatly simplifying things.

We've come up with the attached list of vehicles while trying to determine the best option. We're only considering FWD vehicles that have independent rear suspensions and have been trying to compare the options mainly on weight to HP ratio, but have also been trying to consider the availability of aftermarket parts. The mod'ed HP is based on the dynos that I can find of cars with the allowed Prepared bolt ons. Sunroofs are listed as a negative as I am ridiculously tall and the 1"+ lost on a sunroof is problematic, even with race seats. All vehicles listed have aftermarket LSD's available, another requirement for our final selection.

The Mazadaspeed 3 and Fiesta ST are mainly on the list for comparison purposes as we do not plan to spend $10K+ on a vehicle that is only going to be used for rallycross.

Right now, the Volvo S40 T5 (2004.5-2006) is a front runner as the inline 5 makes good HP and great torque, parts are readily available, and a clean car can be had for $5-6K.

Does the hive have any other suggestions for us to consider? Since prepared rules allow you to turn up boost electronically, anything with a factory turbo earns bonus points. We are not considering SRT4's since finding one that hasn't been beat to hell is difficult and the low ground clearance of the front bumper is sure to cause issues. We're only "casual" mechanics, so we do not want to have to do much more than bolt parts on (no engine rebuilds or things of this level).

Thanks in advance for your input!

Didn't the B15 Sentra prove to be a very good RallyX car? I thought a stock one won Prepared FWD @ nats a few years back or something.

How much does having extra power help you? I don't see a Mazdaspeed3 being any faster than a normal 3 on a rallyx course, as its carrying a large weight penalty but most likely unable to put down much more power, if any.

My S40 (which is PF-legal) works pretty well when I take it out. It'd be nice if a diff was available for the transmission. But it's an older one, not the '04.5-up tank.

Why can't you drive an MF car on the road?

My codriver won in 2014 in a Civic Si (8th gen) on snow tires. It's a fantastic car. We drove it to and from the event in complete comfort. He also tracks it and is fast and reliable as gravity. The LSD is magic in the dirt. I kind of love these cars.
Edit: I just checked and these seem to be 7-8k on the low end so too much $$$. If you can justify one as a daily/RX car, I still think they're spiffy.

Knurled wrote: Why can't you drive an MF car on the road?

Our MF Escort has no windows besides the windshield, no interior at all, besides a race seat for the driver and the steering wheel, essentially open exhaust, no headlights, inoperable tail lights, etc.

However, I did street drive it 3 miles in Indianola at Nationals as tech wouldn't pass our harness bar without modifications. My girlfriend's dad lives in Indianola so I drove it to his house to make the modifications required. My chase car said that people mowing their lawn were looking up to see what the ruckus was.

Mk3 vr6 gti.

How cheap are Volvo c30 t5s these days? I want to see someone rallycross one.

NX200 with an SR20DET swap or a KLZE swapped Mazda 323 or MX3

I was going to say focus svt, but I think the celica gts would be a nice one too (though very cramped interior, esp if you are tall).

Maybe a Saturn?

Others, like Lancer? Protege? Mazda 3? Hyundai? Kia?

B-15 Nissan Sentra SE-R - Torquey 2.5L, LSD, get an early one to avoid the brembo's. And they are CHEAP!!!

In reply to NGTD:

I really want one.. but they all seem to have blown motors.

Ok, y'all are gonna laugh at me for this...but someone needs to give a 5th-gen Hyundai Accent a shot. Mine is an absolute riot on gravel & snow with Michelin X-ice tires, and there's an LSD available for the trans. Seriously, it's very balanced: it rotates well, responds to LFB well, but still remains very controllable..it also handles jumps well - even on the (worn out) stock suspension. Oh, and a $40 eBay intake really wakes it up. I've done rally/rally-x in the past, owned a Colt rally car for a few years, had a Quattro, etc. The Accent is worth consideration.

FooBag wrote:

Knurled wrote: Why can't you drive an MF car on the road?

Our MF Escort has no windows besides the windshield, no interior at all, besides a race seat for the driver and the steering wheel, essentially open exhaust, no headlights, inoperable tail lights, etc.

That's why that car isn't really streetable. That doesn't mean all MF cars aren't streetable. The kind of weight reduction that takes away streetability doesn't actually result in better times. Heck, MOST of the things people do in Mod don't result in better times. Warren's been trying to tell us that for years :)

Heck, the guy who won MR drove his car from Florida. Without a tire trailer.

chief8one wrote: In reply to NGTD: I really want one.. but they all seem to have blown motors.

I bet the Junkyards are full of Altima's with replacements. They suck back parts of the pre-cat. It's a well-documented problem.

NGTD wrote: B-15 Nissan Sentra SE-R - Torquey 2.5L, LSD, get an early one to avoid the brembo's. And they are CHEAP!!!

I don't think OP wants a beam axle car.

I will say my protege 5 is quite the vehicle out in the dirt even without an lsd, they can be had for cheap and even when the engine does go you can do a full klze swap from a mx6 and even use the same engine and transmission mounts.

If I had more time and $$$ as well as another DD the protégé would definitely be out there.

In reply to petegossett:

I've actually thought about that car. It's not a bad plan. What is the LSD?

Knurled wrote:

FooBag wrote:

Knurled wrote: Why can't you drive an MF car on the road?

Our MF Escort has no windows besides the windshield, no interior at all, besides a race seat for the driver and the steering wheel, essentially open exhaust, no headlights, inoperable tail lights, etc.

That's why *that* car isn't really streetable. That doesn't mean all MF cars aren't streetable. The kind of weight reduction that takes away streetability doesn't actually result in better times. Heck, MOST of the things people do in Mod don't result in better times. Warren's been trying to tell us that for years :) Heck, the guy who won MR drove his car from Florida. Without a tire trailer.

There's also the exponential dollar factor. Things like the dirtfish having custom carbon ductwork throughout the hood. The move away from MF is a reasonably smart one, especially considering their time availability for tuning.

MCarp22 wrote:

NGTD wrote: B-15 Nissan Sentra SE-R - Torquey 2.5L, LSD, get an early one to avoid the brembo's. And they are CHEAP!!!

I don't think OP wants a beam axle car.

I saw that however he did ask for suggestions of other vehicles to consider and although these did not meet his exact criteria, I think they are worth considering.

If I hadn't picked up my project Subaru's as cheap as I did, it is what I would be after. I have seen running examples up here for $500 or less.

I pick the Celica ONLY because you could paint it like this and add the snorkel:

In reply to pinchvalve:

I think he's talking about this celica... (at least, this is the one I'd recommend)

I also think the Mazda Protege should be on the list.

Remember this? https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/open-classifieds/1994-protege-rally-cross-for-sale-3750/90091/page1/

I really would love to see someone go all out on an SVT contour as well. I'd take a lot of weightloss to get one where it'd need to be, but the drive train and suspension should be perfect for rallycross.

contour SVT with a 3.0L swap for just above challenge money

That's an interesting swap and that motor takes kindly to boost or hot cams, for rallycross a moderately hot cam would probably be the answer, or mild boost with electronic boost control that differs by gear.

To Pete Gossett... which Accent is this? Wikipedia only talks about four generations.