Rally from a plain-jane '99 Impreza 4D?

Hi, folks.

I'm a Subaru guy. I own a 2005 WRX (which my wife won't give back) and a 1999 Impreza four door.

My plan all along has been to re-acquire (and hop-up) the WRX when I buy the wife a new car. However, between the last few years of flimsy economy coupled with our desire to buy a new house, it looks like we'll be keeping the cars we have for the foreseeable future. Which means no WRX for me.

I live in Chattanooga, which in the last few weeks saw some really rare winter weather. In navigating our icy streets for 48 hours, I was impressed by how capable my little '99 was. Not going to win many races, but just by virtue of its AWD and tiny size, a respectably fun little car.

So I started thinking: what could I do to make a beater-class rally car out of my '99 Impreza?

I'm not a serious racer, and the car will remain my commuter, but I'd like to at least take it to a few local events through the year. I'm a marketing dude for a Subaru dealer, so I should be able to swing deals on parts and repairs, maybe some artwork.

But the goal would not be any particular competitive or occupational achievement, but rather to have a unique, rally-capable car built from a bone-stock 100k-mile Subaru owned by one little old lady before me.

I just have no clue where to start.

Idears?

Might want to scale-down your profile pic a tad...

Rally-capable... I'd start with front & rear aftermarket skidplates (Primitive makes a good plate), then work on suspension/struts that won't blow-out every event, and durable 15" rims with rally tires.

What's your aprox. budget?

By "local events" do you mean rally-x or actual stage rallies? The two are world apart when it comes to car prep.

For rally-x, popular upgrades include stock Forester or Outback struts and springs and 15" alloys from just about any Scooby with beefy snow tires. Should be a good setup for general hoonage and rally-x fun.

Stage rally would mean a cage and wicked suspension upgrades and all that comes with a full-on race car.

For rally cross, through some snow tires on it and go. Nearly anything you do to it will bump you out of stock class. With good driving you can win in Stock.

Holy crap that's a big avatar pic. good luck with it.

I am not sure that "rally" and "daily drivable" can be applied to the same car.

Driven on the street, in a pinch? Yes.

Driven on a regular basis, having to deal with no hood release (hello theft?), monkey-bars roll cage that makes it difficult to get in and out and requires massive hackery of interior panels and removal of the air bags and a quick release steering wheel, and somewhere I remember that the steering wheel lock needs to be disabled, though I may be thinking of road racing.

I am not convinced that even a moderately prepared rally car is a significant part of the expenses to do rally.

Sorry about my gargantuan profile pic. Will adjust.

I'd be doing rally-x, specifically here (out of date, but series still alive): http://www.rivergate5speed.com/scca/rallycross/index.html

In my admittedly rudimentary approach, I imagined skidplates, suspension, steel wheels, snow tires, maybe one of those crazy light arrays and possibly a rollcage.

I'm willing to put up with tire noise and a harsh ride, but I don't want to get into any involved engine upgrades. It was ~140hp from factory (I think) which should put the onus of any race wins on my driving and not my power output. I only hope to end up with a fun car I can tell stories about.

My budget is probably about a grand in retail dollars.

Also, just FYI: plenty of Subie folks in the west/northwest (park ranger, outdoor sports-types) have slightly modified rides to help them find hideaways, trails, etc. on bad roads and in bad weather. I guess I'm looking for something similar to that, with slightly more emphasis on hoonage.

What's anyone think about ride height for a rally beater?

before installing a roll cage, you may want to read the rule book.

(also, if you think you can get a fabbed cage, wheels, tires, suspension, and a light bar for under a grand, you are sadly mistaken unless you will be buying used and doing ALL of the fab work yourself.)

You can easily get away with a stock class rallycrosser for the cost of a set of snow tires. Usually around 200 bucks. Even a good prepared car should not even be 700.

The skid plates are a good idea, but not completely necessary, and the cage is complete overkill....

I assumed the cage (or at least a rollbar) was mandatory. Honestly never looked. Like the idea of skid plates. Don't need the lights in any real sense but a) they look badass, and b) I think a night rally would be a hoot.

As for $$$: I've got favors I can call in from a few expert welders (a few from our body shop and one motorcycle frame builder). Also, through similar connections via my job, I can buy lots of stuff used, and can get particularly good deals on used stock stuff, so the Forester/Outback suspension swaps are right up my alley.

Looks like I can start with snow tires and see what happens. I'm a little concerned about the ride height, though, because my car looks like it sits pretty low...not low for a normal car, but low for anything meant to haul ass on a fire road.

If you want to do rallycross, just show up and try one (in the stock class) before you do any prep. The stock Impreza will chuckle at most rallycross venues...they're MUCH less abusive than actual stage rally venues. I wouldn't even bother changing tires for your very first event...for that matter, I've got real rally tires for our rallycrosser and sometimes I still leave the all-seasons on, just depends on course conditions.

Bryce

Rallycross and TSD rallies, yes. Go for it. You don't need much in prep for either.

True rallying is a dizzyingly expensive motorsport. You'll spend double your entire budget on the cage alone. You'll need a gullible co-driver, support team, lots of safety gear, in-car communication, etc etc. You'll spend a small fortune to compete in maybe 2 events a year unless you travel.

A base Impreza is perfectly fine for the minor events. Less power means you'll need to learn to drive vs using HP to compensate. I found our '96 quite tossable and a lot of fun on gravel roads.

Rallycross, as other have said, just show up with what you have. I bought my 2000 impreza 2 years ago, and took it to it's first rallycross after two days of ownership. Perfectly suited for stock class in rallycross. If you like your first event, put money into skid plates and a tire appropriate for your class. It can be competitive in just about any AWD class dependent upon your level of prep. It will be competitive in stock class with no other modifications other than snow tires.

I run my wife's 00 Impreza Wagon in local events. She also autocrosses it so we haven't done anything suspension wise. The only thing I have done to prepare for it is bolt on a Primitive Racing skid plate. Aside from that it has some WRX rims, front seats and Hella 500s that I put in by bending some aluminum and cutting up the lower grill. The lights are too bright for the street but make the car look mean. The seats are the nicest mod I have done. Soo much more comfy and supportive than stock and they are 100% bolt in.

The skid pan is robust, you can jack the car up by it and it makes me much more confident to tackle the deep ruts and rougher sections of ORV trails. I dont bother changing tires. With AWD traction is alot easier to come by in rally than 2WD.

I understand that Outback Sport springs, KYB's, snows, and skid plates are a popular rallycross setup.

I would suggest throwing in WRX seats, rims and lights of your choice and a skid plate. OBS or Forrester suspension setup will make it tall.

Check out dirtyimpreza.com to get some more ideas.

2002maniac: that's an awesome website!

Greg Voth: great info, love to see a pic of the wagon w/the lights

sachilles: sweet; you have a 2d or 4d?

ddavidv: thanks for clarification; I was talking about rallycross all along, I just didn't know it.

I'm going to attend (but probably not enter) the next local rallycross and see how it goes; I've only been to a RallyAmerica stage race and several parking lot autocrosses before, so I imagine seeing the stock-class rallycrossers in real life will help me...navigate (rally pun! rally pun!).

After I row all my ducks, I'm going to pitch it as a marketing event and see if I can get my boss to throw some weight behind supporting the grassroots crowd, maybe make my little Impreza the official Kelly Cars theme car, maybe let customers drive it...I don't know yet. At some level it has to generate sales at the dealership, but that's another story.

FINALLY: I got some quick, helpful responses from Paul @Primitive Racing about compatibility between years/chassis/etc. Seems like he offers the most convenient spot to acquire basic rally stuff. Mad props to him.

http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/reader-rides/475/

Here are a couple pictures. One with the lights and one without. Paul is great to work with. I got the thinner skid plate with no holes. You do have to drop it for oil changes but it only adds about ten minutes.

Check out the subaru boards for upgrades to you car as well. I'd suggest an upgrade to a LSD, but that will bump you out of a stock class as well. Do you have the 2.2 or 2.5 motor?

http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/index.php

http://forums.nasioc.com/

Andrew

You can have plenty of fun with a stock Impreza.

One nice thing about competing on a more slippery surface is that the lack of grip tends to equalize the horsepower advantage. I showed up to my first gravel rallycross in my stock Civic wagon RT4WD automatic. It had way less power than an Impreza (105hp), and the automatic was... well, an automatic. Still placed 6th out of 15 or so in SA. Would've been 4th and "best of the rest" (top 3 were waaaay out in front) if I'd stayed away from the cones. There were many WRXs below me in the standings looking at me like, "WTF?" (Of course, many of them may have been wondering why there was a Civic in the AWD class....!)

So yeah, I'd vote for skidplates, snow tires, and have a blast.

White_and_Nerdy wrote: I showed up to my first gravel rallycross in my stock Civic wagon RT4WD automatic. It had way less power than an Impreza (105hp), and the automatic was... well, an automatic.

FWIW, the EJ18 (Subaru 1.8 liter that came in the Impreza) has about the same horsepower. Our LeMons/rallycross/Chump Car Impreza has a very tired EJ18 and I'm pretty sure it's putting something like 70 hp to the ground at this point, maybe less. Not very fast on the road course straights, but reliable and easy enough for rookies to drive that it makes up for it with time spent on track (instead of in the pits). At the rallycrosses, it's much easier to control with less power and less weight than more modern/powerful cars like the WRX and such.

Bryce

ddavidv said: You'll need a gullible co-driver

That would be me. Pleased to meet you.

Filmjr, the one I rallycrossed just after buying was a 2000 4dr 2.5rs. I do also have a 99 2.5rs, and 02 wrx. I've rallycrossed my previous daily drivers as well with no real complications(Audi a4 and vw gti). Really, the key is to drive the car like you don't really care about it. If you care too much about it, don't run it.