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ojannen
ojannen GRM+ Memberand New Reader
7/5/17 4:11 p.m.

The air conditioner died on the 5 series on the way back from Daytona. After about a year replacing everything but the blower fan, the blower fan froze up. That causes the fuse for the hvac system to blow meaning I lose outside vent air as well. I have decided to move on from rallycrossing the 5 series for now. It has been a wonderful journey and I haven't decided what is next for the car.

If anyone is thinking about rallycrossing an E28 in the future, here is why I am getting out of it.

Steering is too slow. I have to turn the wheel 360 degrees for every cone in a slalom. See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjVUBY6prOg. It is frustrating to miss an apex because I could not turn the wheel fast enough. A steering quickener or a steering rack could fix this but both bump you up to Modified.

Limited suspension options at stock height. I could not find an off the shelf set of coilovers that let me run at stock height. Stock shocks or Bilstein HDs are fine but the car needs a higher spring rate to work in rallycross. I don't have enough skill to put together a custom suspension myself so it would be pretty expensive.

I can't heel-toe downshift in the car because my feet are too big (size 15). Downshifts to first gear are pretty tough.

Second gear is too long. Ideally, it should top out around 55mph. This is solvable with a 3.64 or 3.73 diff but that bumps you up to Modified.

Adding up the costs of the the air conditioning repair and a custom suspension setup, I started looking for a new rallycross car. I took a serious look at second and third gen MR2s and E36 BMWs. I decide to avoid the standard Volvo 240/early RX7/E30/944 mostly for air conditioning reasons. I am not even close to fitting in a miata with a hardtop. There isn't much out there with RWD, independent rear suspension, and fits 15" wheels.

I haven't decided what to do with the car next. I am interested in trying drifting and the car fits nicely into Chumpcar. Both of these destroy the car. I am not sure if I am willing to do that yet. Apart from some cosmetic rallycross damage, it is a fairly nice 535is with a manual, LSD, and sport interior. I made the mistake of adding up how much the car cost me per month (insurance, storage unit for tire trailer, etc) so I will probably list it for sale soon.

ojannen
ojannen GRM+ Memberand New Reader
7/5/17 4:20 p.m.

Here are the last two autocrosses. I am getting more consistent

I still haven't figured out how much grip I have on the concrete at Brookesville. I took the win against a small class but my PAX time was not up to par.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lW3kj1LEsIU

The Orange County Convention Center is located in the Orlando metro area so it always draws a big crowd. STX ended up with 11 competitors. I took the class by a tenth after the fastest guy there coned away his best run. Working course in Florida afternoon sun was not fun.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dv1NTDR5cU4

ojannen
ojannen GRM+ Memberand New Reader
8/17/17 8:33 p.m.

Catching up on this blog. I have a new rallycross car. A 1996 BMW 318ti.

After about 6 months of searching, I found one with no sunroof, no traction control, a reasonable interior, and working AC. The only thing it is missing is an LSD. This is not normally an issue for BMWs but this car has an E30-ish rear suspension that doesn't fit standard E30 diffs or E36 diffs. It does have a hatch and fits eight tires in the rear

I was planning on running the car in stock class. It is one of the few cars with fully independent suspension, an OEM LSD, gearing that works for rallycross (55mph 2nd gear), and enough head room for me. The only problem was this car came with sport seats which take up some headroom. They are attached to trim packages in a way that I can't swap them out and stay in stock class. I emailed the rallycross board and couldn't get an answer about how much foam I could cut out of the seats.

While reading up on the rules, I learned you don't need to run headlights in stock class. You just need a strand of Christmas lights that can be seen from the front of the car. I don't even think they need to be attached to power. I don't think I will take advantage of that while I am driving to events.

On to plan B. This car isn't as ideal for prepared class but it should work ok. The class allows tunes that change boost so turbo cars or very light cars are the ones to have. 2700lbs and 145hp aren't quite right. Here is what I have done to the car so far.

  • water pump, thermostat, radiator hoses, coolant
  • engine and transmission mounts
  • lower control arms with offset bushings for more caster
  • lightweight single mass flywheel and M3 clutch
  • x-brace with a skid plate attached
  • Corbeau A4 from the 5 series

The guy that runs bimmerbum.com lives in Central Florida and he was a massive help finding parts for the car. He specializes in the semi-trailing arm E36s. If anyone has a ti or a Z3 that needs work, I recommend talking to him.

I got one of the older symmetrical X-braces and it works pretty well for a skid plate. At some point, I need to add a bit more metal to the front because dirt is getting stuck between the skid plate and oil pan.

The first event in the new car was at The FIRM. They ran their standard course that used the skid pad and part of the kart track. I did about 25 runs which helped a great deal in getting used to the car. The course degraded a lot by the time I got a video so I slowed way down for the rutted sections

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2W8UVQnvTqc

They also had a <a href="">water splash. I put together a quick video of pendulum turns while I was figuring out the car.

I managed to catch half of the SCCA rallycross in June. I work as a musician on the weekends and had to leave early for a gig. I wasn't very happy with my driving. I am having trouble adjusting from the E28 where I had to stand the car on it's nose to make it turn. The 318 is much more balanced and the fast way around a corner seems to be a small four wheel drift.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRMxPGZO3L0

A few weeks later, my wife and I left for the Rallycross East National Challenge. We stopped for a day and a half in Asheville, NC. We drove through the mountains including NC 226A and the Blue Ridge Parkway. My favorite bit was a small gravel road around Lake Tahoma. In Asheville, we enjoyed the Biscuithead cafe, Hole Donuts, the Chocolate Lounge, and Burial Brewery. We have a bit of a sweet tooth. The next day we drove across Virginia to the Rally Farm.

The competition didn't go well for me. I started off slow with cone problems and ended up reasonably fast with cone problems. There were glimpses of speed though. I think the car will be competitive once I figure it out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlxiE_o5z0E

I somehow got 5 cones on this run. Even with the near spin it was my fastest run on the third course

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnPHW1FdKmY

During the event, I found that my rally tires rubbed on the top of the fender liner under full compression. For now, that is fixed with some rubber spring spacers. I am riding on the bump stops on some of the faster turns.

At some point, I am going to replace at least springs with something a little more stiff. That way, I can get off the bumpstops and maybe disconnect swaybars. The other weakness of the car is the open diff. I haven't figured a reasonable cost way to get a diff and stay in prepared. Otherwise, the car feels great.

Maniac0301
Maniac0301 Reader
8/18/17 12:47 a.m.

Heya I have the #17 white MR2. Hope to see you guys out there at Port St Lucie this weekend.

ojannen
ojannen GRM+ Memberand New Reader
8/18/17 9:34 a.m.

We will be there tomorrow.

ojannen
ojannen GRM+ Memberand Reader
9/1/17 7:46 a.m.

Another Orange County Convention Center autocross. This course was one of the better ones. There are a large number of light poles and curbs here so it is tough to design a safe and fun course.

The big left handed sweeper really favored the mini. I gained a bunch of time there compared to the BRZs I usually run against. My best run included a screwed up hairpin just afterwards. If I had been able to combine the good sweeper with a good hairpin, I may have won the class.

My fast run https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rf6TdPjinpM

Danielle's fast run https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPlvMek3iIc

One of the STX guys put together a video of the full two day event. There is a comparison of the top three runs in class at around 9:45

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Puxz7mNZW74

ojannen
ojannen GRM+ Memberand Reader
9/1/17 8:07 a.m.

After getting soundly beaten at the East Rallycross Championship, I had some work to do. The car has a bunch more time in it but I am still working on unlearning some bad habits from the 5 series. My next big event is the Sediv Rallycross Championship in Alabama on Labor Day weekend. I was able to run two events to continue learning the car.

The first event was a standard central florida rallycross. 8 runs on 90 second courses was pretty awesome. Grip was pretty high. There were only a few areas that were sandy enough that I complained about my open diff.

Here are my fastest morning and afternoon runs:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Puxz7mNZW74

I ended up taking fastest rwd and fastest 2wd cumulative time of the day. I was right on the heels of the fast guys on the first course and the second one opened up on my heat.

The next weekend, we took the 318 to an autocross at Brookesville Airport. We run on one of the old runways there. It is narrow but the surface is grippy concrete. The serious autocross guys were using the event for final tuning before nationals next week.

The 318 is in the unfortunate situation of RE-11As on the front wheels and all season tires on the rear wheels. We got a puncture that couldn't be repaired on the trip earlier this summer. I got the stickiest tire I could in the middle of nowhere. It isn't very sticky. This bit me on my first run.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRe-kv9PgJ0

I eventually figured things out and put together a reasonable run

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQnjDI1jH-U

Danielle drove the car too

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGOg3hZbiS8

We are on the way to Alabama now. See everyone tomorrow.

ojannen
ojannen GRM+ Memberand Reader
2/4/18 6:29 p.m.

It has been a long time since I have updated this.  Here is what has happened in autocross in the last few months of 2017.                                                                                                
I had my best PAX finish ever in October.  I was sitting in 2nd after the morning session was done.  Rain started just before my heat in the afternoon so I wasn't able to improve my time but I only dropped a few places in the overall PAX standings.                                                      
                                                                                                        
My fast run: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIR0W-kcMbo                                                
Standing water + 200 run tires doesn't really work.  Here are the wettest runs from my wife and I:   
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qk64usKZBY                                                             
My wife did a sweet drift on one of her dry runs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgD8OeC3sxk           
My buddy spun his Fiat 500 ABarth on nearly every run so I stole some top gear narration for his highlight video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_wC7ogTAgs                                            
                                                                                                        
The season end event was combined with the Jacksonville Solo group at The FIRM.  They put a few cones out on the race track.  I don't have a lot of practice with high speed sweepers and it showed in my driving.                                                                                          
                                                                                                        
My fast run: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJxI7MKCQX4                                                
                                                                                                        
Danielle managed to spin in the exact spot where I spun here this spring:                               
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxrwgd5n4nE                                                             
                                                                                                        
I won the STX class championship for the local region.  I got 8 class wins and several 2nd place finishes.  Danielle finished 4th in points.

2018 should be a good year with 245 section front tires, an evo school, a match tour and a champ tour in the first few months.      

ojannen
ojannen GRM+ Memberand Reader
2/4/18 7:22 p.m.

There were just a couple more rallycrosses before the end of 2017.  The big one was the Sediv Regional Championship.  It was held in northern Alabama as part of the Tennessee Valley Region.  The area got a bunch of rain leading up to the rallycross so the course was muddy and carefully routed around the bigger puddles.  The primary competition in prepared rear were Bee and Theresa Thao.  The last time I ran against them, Bee picked up about 37 cones in 4 runs before breaking his car at the east coast championship.

In Alabama, I lost a bunch of time to Bee due to my open diff at the start and gravel tires instead of mud tires.  I was losing 3-4 seconds per run in the morning and mostly keeping up in the afternoon.

Here are my fast runs on each of the four courses: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MaqYc0al51g&list=PLf0SepbCe06pLI1dKvywwggGqz0u9mADP&index=7

Here are Danielle's fast runs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U69EPtKrS34&list=PLf0SepbCe06pLI1dKvywwggGqz0u9mADP&index=8

There were a couple more local rallycrosses before the end of the year.  A friend came to this one and setup this cool split screen view. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_uYJQAyvjk&list=PLf0SepbCe06pLI1dKvywwggGqz0u9mADP&index=3

I ended up winning Prepared Rear for the year for my local region.  Mostly by showing up.  I think I was the only person in the class to run the whole year on rally tires.

For 2018, I am going to keep my car prepared legal and run it in modified rear locally.  I am taking a serious look at going to rallycross nationals.  I have some family in Des Moines which is pushing me in that direction.  If I go, I need to make a couple changes to the car:

- A limited slip diff.  The 318ti has a unique diff housing that I have to keep if I am going to stay in prepared.  An oem diff is in the $600-700 range.
- Mud tires.  I know Indy Sport has two different tread patterns on rally.build.  Are there any other reasonable options?
- Increased spring rates.  The car corners on it's bumps stops and mid corner ruts get a little weird.  I think I am going to do a ground control coilover conversion so I can play with spring rates.  Any opinions on Bilstein HDs vs Koni sports running at stock height?

FooBag
FooBag GRM+ Memberand Reader
2/5/18 10:12 a.m.
ojannen said:

For 2018, I am going to keep my car prepared legal and run it in modified rear locally.  I am taking a serious look at going to rallycross nationals.  I have some family in Des Moines which is pushing me in that direction.  If I go, I need to make a couple changes to the car:

- A limited slip diff.  The 318ti has a unique diff housing that I have to keep if I am going to stay in prepared.  An oem diff is in the $600-700 range.
- Mud tires.  I know Indy Sport has two different tread patterns on rally.build.  Are there any other reasonable options?
- Increased spring rates.  The car corners on it's bumps stops and mid corner ruts get a little weird.  I think I am going to do a ground control coilover conversion so I can play with spring rates.  Any opinions on Bilstein HDs vs Koni sports running at stock height?

It would be pretty awesome if you make it out to Iowa for Nationals!  I don't think I got a chance to talk to you at the East Challenge last year, but I was the tall guy stuck being event chair. wink

As for tires in the mud, there's a few options.  It depends if you want a full blown, mud only tire or an intermediate mud that will give up a bit in super bad mud, but still be useful in grassy conditions.  For intermediates, there's the Indysport SG tire and the MaxSport RB1.  I've raced both in my nose-heavy SRT4 and liked the SG far better.  However, I've witnessed very fast times on the RB1, by Andy Thomas and Josh Hickey (DC Region peeps).  For full blown mud, the clear winner is the Indysport BR.  There is some other mud retread that I've seen out there, but the tread pattern needs some cutting to be truly effective and the price was not much less than the BR.

ojannen
ojannen GRM+ Memberand Reader
6/18/18 9:17 p.m.

Here is the 318 at full compression.  I am sort of impressed I still have a muffler.

https://www.rallygirlracing.com/CFR-Rallycross-2018-Season/Event-5-June-16-2018-St-Lucie-Fairgrounds/Event-5-Album-3/i-wSD3t6b/A
 

artur1808
artur1808 GRM+ Memberand Reader
6/19/18 5:51 a.m.

I could be wrong here as I'm still in the research phase of buying a BMW, but I thought 318Ti's could accept normal e30 diffs. The way I understood was that 4cyl e30 diffs swap right in, 6cyl e30 diffs used a different case and required some sort of frankenstein axles but they could fit if you really wanted it to.  Someone please correct me if I'm wrong. 

 

Either way, glad to see you're having fun with the car, keep it up!

DocV
DocV Reader
6/19/18 8:54 a.m.

This thread is great - I love the narrative and the YouTube bits.  Keep up the good work.  I just started running with the Middle GA group - holler if you ever get up this way.  Also did you sell the 535i?

ojannen
ojannen GRM+ Memberand Reader
6/20/18 12:30 p.m.

The 318 will take the small case diffs from an e36 and small/medium case diffs from an e30.  On some of them you need to swap a few pieces.  The guy that runs bimmerbum.com lives in Orlando and specializes in 318tis and Z3s.  He has managed to get a medium case Z3 automatic diff (with a torsen) into his car using E30 axles and some mild hammering.  It is one of the few diffs that is close to the 3.45 ratio on the TI diff.

I would prefer to keep my car legal for the prepared class in rallycross.  In that class, you can't change the ratio or the casing.  That means a ti only diff ($$) that will need a rebuild as soon as I buy it or an aftermarket diff that fits in the stock casing ($$$).

I sold the 535 this spring.  The air conditioning died again and a car without air conditioning is nearly useless in Florida.  I figured out I could get the ti for roughly the cost of an air conditioning system rebuild.  Now I am considerably less stylish but significantly cooler.

I haven't run with Middle GA in a while but I really like the site there.  It is predictable and easy on cars.  Hopefully the SeDiv regional event rotates back there in the next few years.

Here is my fast run from the event from the picture: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThxdNN2Hs2g

 

ojannen
ojannen GRM+ Memberand Reader
4/15/19 6:11 p.m.

I haven't updated this in about nine months.  Here is some catching up.

My wife and I spent most of 2018 focused on autocross.

We attended the Dixie Champ tour where my wife spun:

 

The Fort Myers Match tour where we both spun on the same corner:

Continued running local events where I tried driving on the grass:

And my wife did too:

And tried spinning at our first Solo Nationals:

We drove our STX Mini to nationals towing a tire trailer.  I don't recommend it.  Most of the roads
were smooth but the little bumps going on and off overpass bridges got old two hours into a 20 hour
drive.  We got to park next to big trucks at rest stops and randomly met with some Georgia
autocrossers on the way.

 

 

https://imgur.com/Qx0KLcW

Even though it was wet most of the time, Solo Nationals was an amazing experience.  Watching water
spray vortices coming off of A Modified wings was pretty cool.  The F Prepared bottom two thirds of
a Porsche Boxster gridded next to me at the practice course and I got to see my personal favorite
autocross car, the C Prepared Malibu, in the metal.

My dad lives in Des Moines so he drove down to Lincoln to watch my run.  It was the first or second
autocross he has ever been too.  STX was gridded with SSP and he was blown away that someone would
buy a Mclaren 720 or an Audi R8 and drive it around an airport for fun.  We also got to watch D
Modified run in the dark and avoid an errant Corvette.

As a weird side note, my trailer showed up for a second on the episode of Roadkill filmed at the
event.  I think they were just trying to find the saddest, wettest trailer.  Here is my 0.15 seconds
of fame

ojannen
ojannen GRM+ Memberand Reader
4/16/19 9:15 p.m.

My wife and I ran the Lemons Rally in February in our rallycross car.  Our original plan was to run
the old 5 series but it got sold about a month before the event.  The event was a great time even
though we didn't have a chance to win in our modern BMW.  By the end, I was an expert at finding
sealed beams on the side of the road after dark.

Highlights of the trip included the ferry trip to the outer banks in North Carolina.  We were
literally the last car on the boat after an SUV with a bike rack had to back off of it because it
didn't fit.  I gave our mascot, one of our cake toppers at our wedding, a cape made out of a party
balloon we found on the side of the road for the distance competition at Kitty Hawk.

On one late night, we were stopped at the side of the road, pointing flashlights at a rock face to
look for one of the check points.  After a few minutes, a cop stopped next to us to try to figure
out what was going on.  We knew we were ok when he asked if we were going to a dinosaur convention.
We put together a short video for each day of the event mostly to help us remember it.

2018 was a light rallycross year for us.  As usual, we started the year at a practice event.  This
time, I hit my wife in the head with the car door.

The program got invited to Sebring for the first time.  We ran on the grassy area behind the back
straight.  In grid, we could watch cars sliding through turn 17.  The course was long and smooth but
it did not hold up through the day.  Once we broke through the top soil and into sand, the ruts got
serious.  I was at a major disadvantage with an open diff.

We went back to Daytona in the spring and found our site was paved into another infield parking lot.
The event got turned into an exhibition event to take spectators around for rides.  I made the
mistake of skipping the dry day and going on the wet day.  When I was working course, I was
wondering why everyone was driving so terribly.  Then I went to pick up a cone and almost got stuck
in the mud myself.  I took two runs at an average speed of about 5 mph and called it a day.

The last event of the year for us was the Sediv Regional event at Sebring.  The RWD classes got
lucky and ran second so the course was not as torn up as it was early in the year.  I did ok on the
first course.  The second course had a drag race at the start and I didn't have enough power to
compete.  If I was smart, I would have run the event in PR instead of MR so I could have gotten
another one of Leon's cool trophies.  Peter Dozeman's highly prepped miata ran away with the class.

 

ojannen
ojannen GRM+ Memberand Reader
1/21/21 6:33 a.m.

Hello zombie thread.  Many things have happened and this thread title is getting worse and worse over time.

I have continued rallycrossing the 318ti through 2019 and 2020.

I learned to not even show up at nationals unless you have mud tires.  They run in conditions that would get events canceled everywhere else.  I got one reasonable run on less wet dirt.  I was somewhere in the neighborhood of the trophying drivers until I hit a cone: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlimxUZOyNc

Rallycross in the dry is much more fun.  I went back to Huntsville, Alabama for the Dixie Challenge in late 2019.  I raw timed modified rear but averaged about 3 cones a run.  I need to work on my accuracy.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQxeg7STj2o.  The venue has high grip once the marbles are cleared off.  

2020 was an abbreviated rallycross season but I competed in a rallycross+ event at The FIRM late in the year.  It was close to a rally sprint with no safety equipment.  I dialed back my driving and slowed over the jump.  About half way through the lap, I took off my side mirror on a barrel.  I could have sworn that barrel was somewhere else on the previous run.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQxbVE3gIOw

I am not sure what is next for this car.  It is great fun on course but it is slow as a dog on the street.  It is about time for another set of tires and suspension so I am trying to decide if the car is worth another $4000.  Maybe, I can add some power, go to modified for rallycross, and stop traveling with it.  On the other hand, rallycross nationals is only a 30 hour tow this year.  It is probably the closest it will ever be to me.

ojannen
ojannen GRM+ Memberand Reader
1/21/21 6:35 a.m.

In 2020, I put together a basic entry for the $2K Challenge.  I found a manual, 6 cylinder Z3 for $2000, sold off the interior, and used the extra money to upgrade the suspension.  I found some low offset wheels from a local Chumpcar team and the car looked hilarious.

I got some footage of the challenge and an autocross at Sebring.  Note the body roll and the completely useless side bolsters on the seats.

Sebring: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyNLnT_3jL8
Challenge: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vP8vb106ffQ

There are also some cool tripoding pictures from the official Challenge photographers.

It was fun but I decided to sell it.  I wanted to make it into a track car but in order to get a roll cage tall enough, I would have to permanently remove the convertible top.  I don't have a good place to store an open car.

ojannen
ojannen GRM+ Memberand Reader
1/21/21 6:42 a.m.

Last year, I bought an old Dodge van and painted it purple.  Here is it's version of a tripod 

I calculated it out at one point and on an average trip, it breaks down.  Including three times while towing.  On the other hand, it looks really good in the light and it made a pretty good home office during the early days of the pandemic.

ojannen
ojannen GRM+ Memberand Reader
1/21/21 6:49 a.m.

After a year of taking the toddler in and out of our R53 Mini, we finally sold it this summer.  It was just too much work to get him in and out.  We ended up picking cars based on whether he would fall asleep during the trip. 

We took the car up to Minis on the Dragon in spring of 2019 and decided that we still liked the car but we had done everything we wanted to do with it.  It was still tough to let it go.

 

Here are some of our last autocrosses in the car.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FM7rlpVTIU0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksB0mj9OErU

ojannen
ojannen GRM+ Memberand Reader
1/21/21 7:05 a.m.

I wanted a Mini replacement with four doors, rear side curtain airbags, reasonable luggage space, and autocross potential.  I started looking at the hot hatches and quickly narrowed them down.  The Honda Civic Type R does not have enough head room, Ford Focus RS has really uncomfortable seats due to my height, the Golf R is boring, and the Hyundai Veloster N needs another rear door for potential kid #2. 

I ended up in a Mini Clubman JCW.  It doesn't really feel like a small car but it is the same size as a Golf or Civic.  Power is good and a front mechanical lsd is nice too.  The biggest difference between this car and my normal old crappy cars is how isolating it is.  You can't hear the exhaust, there isn't much feel through the steering, you can't tell how fast you are driving.  It is really fast though.  Once the turbo spools up, you are instantly going 70.

We have done one autocross in the Clubman so far.  I am looking forward to getting it on a bigger lot.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BKK2XX96ZE

The runner up car was the E90 M3 sedan.  I came close to buying two of them.  Deferred maintenance really soured me on the cars.  One rang up a $7,000 PPI bill not including rod bearings or throttle body preventative maintenance.  I only fit in the non-sunroof cars and it was deflating to find the right sedan that needed so much work.

ojannen
ojannen GRM+ Memberand Reader
1/21/21 9:04 a.m.

My current big project involves putting a Yamaha R1 engine into a classic mini.  I lucked into a rust free Mark 1 shell a while back and it has been sitting in my garage for a while.  The project went off the rails for a bit when my son was born but I am back to it.  He loves sticking tools into every hole on the bike.  I am parting out a carburetted R1 and bought a Pro-motive front subframe.

I am not sure what the plans are for this car when it is done.  The car has a similar paintjob to the Paddy Hopkirk Monte Carlo Rally car but I am not really a concours or car show type of person.  Maybe rallycross?  I don't really want to cut the fenders for the fat tires you would use for tarmac driving.

Lof8 - Andy
Lof8 - Andy GRM+ Memberand SuperDork
1/21/21 9:30 a.m.

that will be super bad ass!

ojannen
ojannen GRM+ Memberand Reader
2/16/21 6:43 a.m.

The first two rallycrosses of the year are done.  At the first, one we drove on our flashed ECU for the first time.  10hp isn't a lot but it is the difference between full throttle everywhere and modulating the throttle in a straight line.  The biggest change was in sweepers.  Too much gas kicked the car too far sideways and killed all of our forward movement.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WVxgvNqE0E

The first points event of the year was on the skidpad at The FIRM.  There was heavy rain the two preceding days with thunderstorms predicted on the day of the rallycross.  Thankfully, the thunderstorms missed us so we didn't have any lightning delays.  It was still cold and wet.  The skidpad had big pools of water that were not completely avoidable through course design.  The cars dragged water up onto a short asphalt section of the course and made it extremely slippery.  A good chunk of the slow speeds in the video come from the grip change due to the transitions on and off the asphalt.

I ran MIchelin PSS summer tires as I usually do at the FIRM.  If I was smarter, I would have swapped the fronts to the Maxsports I had with me.  I didn't want to get caught in a flooded paddock at the end of the day, swapping back to street legal tires.  The PSS's did not work on the wet skidpad.  They understeered all day.  I hit four cones on my first run and decided it was going to be a fun day.  I overdrove everything and threw the car around.  I ended up in 1st place raw in MR by 3/10ths of a second.  I also hit 10 cones.  I was not in first place after penalties.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGni2jm36_w

ojannen
ojannen GRM+ Memberand Reader
5/5/22 5:24 p.m.

Time for my yearly update on this out of date and increasingly badly named thread.

We went to a rallycross last weekend and drove badly.  It was fun.  Two drivers were pretty experienced, one was coming back from a long hiatus, and one was at their first competition event.  Lets see if you can spot the difference.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gQK4OLHSLg

Is anyone from the east coast regions going to the Sediv regional event in Huntsville in June?

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