So it's been a few months and we finally had a few local events to take the canam to, including the last one at a very typical rallycross venue, with a couple of past national champion mod class cars/drivers in attendance to compare to. Here's our conclusions thus far:
-Oh my god this thing is fun and just comically fast. Like fastest vehicle on site by a second or more per run on not super long courses. And we're still running on the stock tires which don't exactly prioritize lateral grip.
-The current lowering rules are not going to be sufficient long term. If people who are fast and/or dumb enough to drive these flat out at barely legal ride height start showing up there's going to be some rollovers. We're going to write a letter asking for more restriction at some point. I'm honestly not sure what the right answer is, but we're 4-5" lower than required on a wide track model and that feels like about the upper limit of acceptability.
-Really seems like there should be multiple classes or at least the allowances need some work. It seems a little ridiculous that ~100hp n/a models that really aren't much lighter have to compete directly with us at 170hp. It seems even more ridiculous that they're basically stuck at stock power but we could legally add another 30hp if we really wanted to.
-Overall durability has been...less than expected. But rallycross durability has been exactly as expected...it just doesn't care. Last event we didn't even check tire pressures beyond checking that they were still where we left them after the previous event.
-The stock super knobby tires somewhat surprisingly didn't really chew up soft surfaces any more than MR cars on rally tires did. Seems like a good sign for the "they're going to ruin our sites" concerns.
wae
UberDork
6/8/21 10:35 a.m.
In reply to dps214 :
I just want you to know that I absolutely hate watching you guys go out on course in that thing. You make me feel really stupid for not having one of those!
In all seriousness, though, watching your suspension work and the dirt flying through the air is just hypnotic. From the sidelines at least, it looks like that thing is just absolutely planted. I'm sure it's because of the lower ride height you've dialed in, but even the other one that was there last weekend didn't really look unstable. Maybe a split into two classes is key, like you say: lower power or non-turbo models at the regular ride height requirements but higher-output models needing more lowering.
In reply to dps214 :
Oh that was YOU out there!
it was impressive to watch. The suspension was working, the buggy was hauling.
The other one was scary. It was tipping up on two wheels at low speeds, on smooth surfaces, not even being tripped by a rut. Which were nonexistent, this was probably the smoothest, least degrading event I've been at in a very very long time.
Yeah the ride height issue is across the board. Some are faster than others but they're all capable of rollover speed. Which is really about how hard you chuck it into a corner, not the actual speed you're going. My instinct would be some kind of sliding scale track vs height thing but that brings a lot of complication to a system that's probably already complicated enough to be difficult to enforce.
I'm glad to hear some others are jumping into this new SCCA class. It doesn't really seem to be taking off around the country as far as I can tell. We've had up to 14 UTV entries at the Firm rallycross events (non-SCCA) , but I've really been the only guy to join the FL SCCA events so far.
In reply to dps214 :
ZB and I were talking and we both feel that when people see that lower is faster, it should be a self policing issue. Assuming that ride height changes are that easy (I'd heard while working course that yours was down 7"?)
Yeah that's why I added the "stupid" part to my comment. I'm sure people will figure it out eventually...but maybe not before the first time they find themselves on their side. Or think they can get away with it at maximum allowed height because they don't feel like replacing springs and then find out that they misjudged.
I forget exactly, I think 7-8" sounds right. Porsche for scale:
