Toyota Echo... racecar? Or something?

BlueInGreen - Jon said:

Pete Gossett (Forum Supporter) said:

In reply to BlueInGreen - Jon :

Is there anyone near you heading to the Challenge?

Probably. I know of at least a couple people who are usually there. Wanna make a deal?

Yes - at least tentatively. I need to pick up a hitch cargo rack so I'll have a way to bring them to the Challenge because there's not enough room inside the RV for them. But I need to pick up something to haul my bike on anyway, so it shouldn't be a problem. 

Something occured to me after seeing a tall skinny hatchback roll on a track this weekend.

Detroit region rallycross says: "Competitor vehicles must be at least as wide as they are tall. The vehicle’s width is determined by measuring the distance between the outermost portion of each tire."

It passes easily with the stance-tastic ricer wheels but it will be close with 14x6 rims.  Time to borrow the steelies off my brothers Tercel to measure next time I'm over at his place.

Also, was excited about maybe making the last rallycross in October until my wife reminded me we have a wedding that weekend. Boo.

In reply to BlueInGreen - Jon :

That's ok, HF was sold out of cargo racks & I couldn't find any cheap/close enough on Marketplace, so I just picked up a bike rack while I was at HF. 

If you decide you still want the Miata daises I can get them up to IL/IN at some point, though I'm not sure when. 

In reply to BlueInGreen - Jon :

Do you have to have 14" wheels? It's pretty easy to find cheap 15" ones...........I'm calling $100/set cheap......Marketplace - 4x100 mini cooper wheels | Facebook

Just a reminder that there are no 14" tires of any quality available anymore. Use 15s!

FWIW you can get 200tw Falkens, both RT615k+ and RT660 in 195/60r14. Plus for my purposes there are plenty of decent winter/snow options in skinny 14" sizes. I've also got a set of used 14" gravel rally tires that have been sitting in the garage if things ever get super serious.

In my mind 14"vs 15" means a little bit lighter, a little bit less diameter to help out the shallow gearing, and in this case more sidewall is better.

But yeah there's a point where I'd take what I can find. The last time I looked for cheap oem 4x100 wheels, 14" Mazda/Honda/Toyota were a dime a dozen. How times have changed :P

I like 14's too, but 195 60 14 is way too big for that car. You'll regret it with the horrible stock gearing. I have 185 55 14's on mine now and it's better, but I'd still go smaller if possible

In reply to BlueInGreen - Jon :

If you use Facebook Jon, you could ask on the MiMiata and Michigan Miata Owners pages for 14s. Most of the NA/NB owners I know are running 15x7 , or larger wheels and I'll bet there are 14s sitting in garages. At one point I had three sets myself, and gave away two. I have my snow tires on the remaining set until I need new ones, then I'll move to 15s.

It's on stands in the garage right now. First job is brakes and shocks. Looks like someone slapped new pads over old gouged up rotors. Also the slide pins were all stuck. Can't wait to try taking apart the rear drums :P

And that's all for now because spending time with the family is more important than spending time working on crappy Toyotas.

Integra GSR blades, 4x100, 6.5" wide, 15"

It's the easy button for 205/50R15s without them being too pinched

BlueInGreen - Jon said:

...spending time with the family is more important than spending time working on crappy Toyotas.

You've met some of my in-laws...you know that isn't totally true!

logdog (Forum Supporter) said:

BlueInGreen - Jon said:

...spending time with the family is more important than spending time working on crappy Toyotas.

You've met some of my in-laws...you know that isn't totally true!

I dunno, you've never seen my brother's Tercel.

In reply to BlueInGreen - Jon :

That thing got tags?  Maybe I need to borrow it for our annual Thanksgiving pilgrimage.  It would give me an excuse to listen to the Lions lose on the radio while I was working on a car in the driveway.

It's been hard to find garage time lately between my busy season at work, wife's new work schedule, and a 1 year old who's decided going to bed before 11pm is for squares. I've been using the advice I read on this forum once - do a 5 minute job when you have 5 minutes. Darn good advice because things have been getting done slowly but still getting done.

The goal is to have this 100% sorted for backup winter beater duties by the time snow is on the ground.

New brakes are on, rear shocks are on, some stuff in the engine bay has been cleaned up, exhaust things are measured so I can decide how to fix this properly.

And would you like to see a visual representation of "BlueInGreen not giving a E36 M3 about the temporary aesthetics of his crappy Toyota?"

Aka: slim pickings on the spray can shelf.
 

My current plan is something like this, but white/yellow/orange over the original red paint.

I'm just not sure if that look would be more "emergency vehicle" than "racecar tribute"

It's light enough once gutted to be a bike powered Proto 2 car, or put a FWD something in the back seat.

I agree that that livery probably looks better on a more angular car than an Echo, and I am totally in favour of this build.  But, honestly, it's hard to imagine anybody seeing an Echo and thinking "first-responder vehicle" unless they live in a preschooler cartoon town.  (Or dd a Little Tikes Cozy Coupe, I guess.)

I think it will look great in TRD livery

914Driver said:

It's light enough once gutted to be a bike powered Proto 2 car, or put a FWD something in the back seat.

I've got the Almost-Free Insight waiting in all its glory if I want to do something that crazy ;)

John Welsh said:

 

I think it will look great in TRD livery

That looks like a slightly squished Sierra Cosworth.  Needs a biplane wing.....

Echos do surprisingly well at rallycross.  They take the abuse well.

Found: winter tires. Borrowed from my brother since he sold his Tercel and so doesn't have anything to put them on right now. 15" Sparco wheels with half used Blizzaks. Taller than I'd like but now I don't have to buy a set of wheels and snow tires for a car I probably won't keep very long.

Now I can measure to see how close to rallyx legal it is on narrower 15" wheels and winter tires.

Ugh, I found the crusty aftermath of some sketchy accident repair hiding under the trunk lining. This one definitely won't be getting a cage and sure won't stick around long term. It will be a good backup driver this winter though, and that will help keep some miles off the Focus. Lessons learned in examining a car closely before handing over cash.

I guess I've been spoiled by buying good stuff from honest GRMers.

This little turd is turning out to be a good little winter beater. Hardly uses any gas. It's fun on a back road just because it's so light. The heat works, and it's comfortable at 45mph on a dirt road. I can take the shorter way to work without worrying about mud and gravel ruining the paint... because it's already ruined. Heh.

I think we're actually going to ditch the dual clutchy Focus and I'll just drive the Echo through the winter while shopping for a proper dad-wagon type vehicle.

A winter driver in its natural habitat. Might actually have snow for Christmas 

And with that, I think I'm going to let this thread die. The car has found it's purpose: to consume as little money and fuel as possible while slowly being beaten to death by salt and Michigan winter roads...

...maybe a rallycross in there somewhere to keep it happy.