Sorry I don't post much but I lurk a lot...like enough to be the creepy guy from next door nobody talks to.
I have been offered an almost free 99 Mazda 626. It is the 6cyl but with the auto not the manual and it is currently not running (current owner is a non mechanical person, they said Mazda stopped running so they bought a new car). Plus I want to give rallycross a shot and I don't however want to use my DD.
So I figured I'd put the Mazda and rallycross together and hit the dirt. Thoughts?
If the 626 just randomly stopped running... put a new distributor on it. Alternatively google "HEI Mod" and fix it for $15.
But anyways, go for it!
Anything can be rallycrossed. 
EvanB wrote: Everything should be rallycrossed.
FTFY
EvanB wrote: Anything can be rallycrossed.
+1
Besides the less you care for it - the faster you will be!
Plus the 626 drivetrain was made into almost anything you can imagine, so parts ARE out there.
Hmm. There really is no downside to this plan. Except one, you might get hooked and rallyx is the gateway drug to stage rally. Don't say you weren't warned.
(So what's it like, having your DD break down and just buying a new car instead of fixing the problem? )
92CelicaHalfTrac wrote: If the 626 just randomly stopped running... put a new distributor on it. Alternatively google "HEI Mod" and fix it for $15. But anyways, go for it!
I don't think a '99 would have had a distributor, unfortunately...
NGTD wrote: Besides the less you care for it - the faster you will be!
That's not really right, but okay.
I wouldn't rallycross anything Mazda and front drive. They're just flippin' fragile all over the place. But if it's a free car, meh, why not.
Jay_W wrote: Hmm. There really is no downside to this plan. Except one, you might get hooked and rallyx is the gateway drug to stage rally.
Why would I want to do stage rally? The roads are all freakin' boring. Straight, straight, turn a little bit, straight, straight... blah!
MadScientistMatt wrote:92CelicaHalfTrac wrote: If the 626 just randomly stopped running... put a new distributor on it. Alternatively google "HEI Mod" and fix it for $15. But anyways, go for it!I don't think a '99 would have had a distributor, unfortunately...
Oh... i forgot about those later variants.
Waitaminute.... solid lifter KL? Can i have the motor? 
Knurled wrote: I wouldn't rallycross anything Mazda and front drive. They're just flippin' fragile all over the place. But if it's a free car, meh, why not.
They aren't that bad.
In reply to Knurled:
I disagree, given two identical cars, one I cared about and relied upon and one I didn't care as much about, I'd be faster in the second car.
As others have said, go for it.
Jay_W wrote: Hmm. There really is no downside to this plan. Except one, that you will need to find a manual transmission to swap into it.
fixed....
Stopped and checked out the car today. Even if they were paying me to take it I don't think I would. It was pretty trashed. And they might not have been mechanical but someone had tried. Half the motor pieces were taken off and missing, as I didn't see them lying around.
O well if it is to good to be true, it probably is.
In reply to Knurled: "Why would I want to do stage rally? The roads are all freakin' boring. Straight, straight, turn a little bit, straight, straight... blah!"
...Wait, what? can't tell if joking....
In reply to Jay_W: I think he is serious and I would agree with the sentiment to an extent.
In terms of turns per a given distance it seems like: RallyCross>WRC>North American Rallies
It's sort of like how autocross requires 'X' more 'inputs per second' than road racing.
In reply to cghstang:
Wow. I don't know how it is in y'all's neck of the woods but up here in the NW our typical stage roads are twisty as a snake chasin his tail. Every now and again we get a straight section where we can relax and take a breather but not very often...
The incar I see a lot doesn't have much in the way of corners.
You guys in the PNW have it awesome. If I live up there and had that kind of access to logging roads (such as you can get) then I could understand pooh-poohing rallycross.
But we don't have that here - all of the loggin' has been done decades ago, all we have are roads in areas too hilly to turn into vast swaths of flat fields. And most of THOSE are residential areas, because people like to live in areas like that, so getting road use permits is a PITA.
At any rate, there's something to be said for short, simple events with a low entry fee. I can swallow $200 weekends. $2000 weekends that require time taken off work to tow 12 hours each way, not so much. I have a short attention span, you know 
Saying "rallycross is a stepping stone to stage rally" is like saying autocross is a stepping stone to road racing. It's not, and claiming that it's nothing more is a great insult.
You'll need to log in to post.
