In an effort to not clog up ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 's BRZ build thread and the behest of a few others, I'm starting a thread here to talk about my experience co-driving in an Rally2 (formerly R5) FIA - spec Ford Fiesta.
For the un-initiated, an R5 car is a 1.6L turbocharged, AWD car with crazy amounts of suspension travel and near 300bhp, with Sadev diffs and transmission- a Rally WEAPON. Established by the FIA, this class includes a number of models such as the Skoda Fabia (recently seen in the USA driven by Barry McKenna in the last few ARA rounds), the VW Polo, the Hyundai i20, among others.
I have had the immense and unending privilege to be co-driving one of these cars with John Coyne in this year's US rally championship, being run by Barry McKenna's team. I pinch myself about it still... and enjoy every moment. If you have any questions about these cars, I'm happy to tell you what I know about this experience!
The main difference between these cars and anything else running in the US is the FIA homologation, these can be used in just about every national Rally series around the world, as well as the World Rally Championship (WRC). The amount of suspension travel is MUCH higher than most cars, and the shells have had extensive modification to fit them. The braking (on gravel) is just nutty, the car pitches violently forward and plants the nose on turn in, and rears back on its haunches on acceleration. I'll see if I can post some onboard from Ojibwe, but here's some from Barry: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXi2hN77pOQ
Ask away! I hope I can bring a piece of my corner of the motorsports world to everyone here. Can follow the action more semi-live on Instagram: @RallySideways
Edit: Photo Credits to David Cossenboom over the jump, and Holden Harwood for the shadows in the trees, the rest are my own.