Street Rally Car

In reply to Knurled:

There's a guy in the pnw who basically makes similar setups using 46mm bilsteins for all sorts of applications and charges about 2k per a setup and people rave about what a bargain it is. Homemade mutant suspension setups are the answer. If you don't have a welder, get everything together, mark and cut the components as needed and take to a local welder. They'll charge less then 200 to finish the job and you'll end up with something better then anything that cost less than 7k. Cough cough, this should be the next GRM project car focus project.

captdownshift wrote: In reply to Knurled: There's a guy in the pnw who basically makes similar setups using 46mm bilsteins for all sorts of applications and charges about 2k per a setup and people rave about what a bargain it is. Homemade mutant suspension setups are the answer. If you don't have a welder, get everything together, mark and cut the components as needed and take to a local welder. They'll charge less then 200 to finish the job and you'll end up with something better then anything that cost less than 7k. Cough cough, this should be the next GRM project car focus project.

That would be John VanLandingham normally JVL, (in)famous on Special Stage and founder of Rally Anarchy. Many people love his stuff, many have also complained about delivery, quality, trustworthy etc. Really knows his stuff, but to put it politely a divisive character.

Another vote for a Crown Vic. I have a '99 LX civilian version with H.D. coils and shocks in the rear and it will soon have the same treatment in the front. Eventually (assuming I keep it) it will get 3.73 or 3.55 gears, an LSD and some decent all terrain tires to go with the 2" or so lift from the springs, since it will be the fishing/camping rig. It can go over lots of obstacles and through deep holes and maybe shunt a thing or two out of the way, all while giving exactly zero E36 M3s and getting decent mpg to boot.

My fuel log from EcoModder (mixed driving to and from work, this is the COMBINED, average fuel consumption, so I may be pretty close 30 mpg highway):

http://ecomodder.com/forum/em-fuel-log.php?vehicleid=8925

My only complaint is the play in the steering.

I have to vote down the Vic. I have a vested interest and love for the Panther program having been the Engineer for the new 2002 1/2 up front suspension, but a street fighter it's not. My parents in law have a one owner from new 03 Civilian Vic. My Volvo was in for some paint work a couple of weeks ago so I borrowed the Vic for a week. Nothing inspiring about it. I found I put down the arm rest on the front (bench) seat, adopted a 25° lean to the right and drove around every where 10 mph slower than normal. There is nothing about the platform that makes you want to hustle it. Awesome mile eater, but not an urban fighter.

I still vote for something actually rally related, especially David's suggestion of the GRM Rallycross scoobie. Didnt' that change hands a couple of times on here after it was done?

Inspiration

The GRM wagon

Sierra in drag

Box magic

Aero engineering for the rough road

Poor mans UR Quattro from the build threads here.

Forester XT, perfect from the factory?

Jerry wrote:

NGTD wrote: Raised WRX - Forester struts and springs will do it. Even better if you put the subframe spacers in from the Forester.

I'm replying just because I want to bookmark this exact moment for Subarust some day. Thanks, I'll show myself out. (Slightly on-topic, Subarust is my street rally car and definitely winter beater. Rust and all.)

Get your butt over to DI.com (used to be called Dirty Impreza but Subaru went after them over copyright issues).

There is a pretty basic formula:

1. Forester Struts from the appropriate era (GC - 99-02 Forester, GD - 03-08 Forester).
2. 97-99 Outback Trailing arm brackets (relocates the rear wheels into a more centered location in the rear wheel well). or
3. Install all of the subframe spacers used on a Forester (this a better fix but waayyyy more work).

Adrian_Thompson wrote: Really knows his stuff, but to put it politely a divisive character.

That is extremely polite!!!

captdownshift wrote: In reply to Knurled: There's a guy in the pnw who basically makes similar setups using 46mm bilsteins for all sorts of applications and charges about 2k per a setup and people rave about what a bargain it is.

You'll find my rantings and such on rallyanarchy too....

Adrian_Thompson wrote: I have a vested interest and love for the Panther program having been the Engineer for the new 2002 1/2 up front suspension

Thank you.

There is nothing about the platform that makes you want to hustle it. Awesome mile eater, but not an urban fighter.

I'm not SAYING that the police suspension package including the proper police tires make a huge difference compared to the civilian turds, but they do.

Or maybe it's the typical 600lb of gear in the trunk that makes them so, er, enthusiastic.

Isn't a dual sport bike really the answer here. Soak up bumps. Check. Good mileage. Check. Nimble. Check.

Ok, so it's not a car.

The_Jed wrote:

Do you think this car has suspension work or just wheels/tires and cut fenders?

Not-so-easy button: [URL=http://s265.photobucket.com/user/derekrichardson/media/Mobile%20Uploads/image_41.jpg.html][/URL]

But easy button is Ford Ranger with bigger tires and decent shocks.

In reply to Lof8:

I would assume the wheel openings were enlarged and the suspension left as is.

My wifes WRX with 245/45/17 (mustang take offs about 3/4" taller than stock), stock springs and shocks, a fat rear sway bar, 1 degree of negative camber all around, a tiny bit of toe in up front, and zero toe in the rear, was a hilarious street bomber. Bumpy corners at speed were smooth calm affairs and ground clearance was rarely a worry.

Lof8 wrote:

The_Jed wrote:

Do you think this car has suspension work or just wheels/tires and cut fenders?

Based on where the hubs are relative to the body, I'd guess they threw a set of ATs on it and cut until they fit.

You'd enjoy this Celica build from ExPo

http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/39512-New-adventure-Toy(ota)-in-AZ

There are some pretty neat ideas in here. More options than I orginally thought too.

Ill have to look into some of these.

Mighty Car Mods did up a Silvia with a Holden V8, was awesome!

Mod Max

There's more videos of the buildup.

NGTD wrote: 1. Forester Struts from the appropriate era (GC - 99-02 Forester, GD - 03-08 Forester). 2. 97-99 Outback Trailing arm brackets (relocates the rear wheels into a more centered location in the rear wheel well). or 3. Install all of the subframe spacers used on a Forester (this a better fix but waayyyy more work).

The subframe spacers are from the legacy outback. The forester had no spacers.

The setup I had on my 02 outback sport was Forester struts and 1" forester lowering springs with 27" General grabbers. THe result with the lowering springs was a 1/2 of lift, but the car was stiffer, cornered well, and could take a hit offroad without instant bottoming.

I also keep thinking of strut spacers to do a lift. Similar to the truck 1-3 inch lift kits that jsut add spacers to achieve the height. That plus tires might help

In reply to CarKid1989:

Strut/spring spacers won't make it take a bump any better, you need more travel and/or stiffer springs for that.

I'm considering selling my 99 2.5rs soonish. It does pretty well stock with snow tires.

Local Motors - Rally Fighter. Had one next to me at a light Tuesday. Not sure on the cost, may not be totally GRM friendly.

Everyone is mentioning newer Subarus, how about the venerable EA82 chassis. I've owned one of these (Would love another) and they are easy to work on and pretty cheap. Also extremely tough and have genuine 4WD, not AWD. Later cars had fuel injection, the '85-'88s had twin-range transfer cases, there are plenty of lift kits available and guys have made some DIY suspension setups. There are also kits to put in EJ enignes in place of the old EA series engines.

NickD wrote: Everyone is mentioning newer Subarus, how about the venerable EA82 chassis.

They were all rusted out here in the 90s.

When mine was 10 years old, it was so bad that I removed one of the seatbelts with a gentle tug.

Those simply don't exist, and GCs are pretty rare unless it's an enthusiast who imported a 2.5RS. GDs are getting thin on the ground too, now that I think of it...