i'm going to be participating in a rally cross even in my bone stock mr, any driving tips or advice on how to get around in the dirt?

also how bad is it to pull the e-brake on 05's?

 

I would assume practice is your best bet, or take a course so you don't screw up your car, instead you get to learn on someone elses.

 

Lessons are the best way to learn. Best way to improve your times too. I usually try to get someone better then me to come for a ride along for a couple of laps just to give me a couple of pointers. I do the same for other people aswell.

 

Where do you rally Danno? Only canadian rally I know of is out here near Priddis.

 

I would just make sure you get some mud flaps to protect that pretty MR!.. good luck! There seems to be more rallycross activity coming to the san fransico area and my buddy is building up a rally car right now.. hopefully ill get some seat time, i think thats the best thing for that sport.

 

be careful, I know at the local rally crosses in the NW that they get very muddy/ rutted and the awd cars usually go last. I almost rolled my friends rally car last year, and ther were 3 cars that rolled a previous year. I would also recommend way over inflating the tires (40psi +) to prevent breakng them off the bead. Have fun and keep is shiny side up.

 

Oh i dont rally although I would love to start. I have just been to shannonville a bunch of times. But lessons and pointers are a given for any race event and any sport.

Ex. When I snowboard and ride with guys better then me they push me harder and give me pointers. When I ride with people that arnt as good I push them harder and give them pointers. its just a general thought.


::Sidebar:: As soon as the guys from the club are done editing all the videos from the track days I will send it to you.

 

Cool beans Danno (I don't know why but that sounds funny).

 

Most Important Thing: don't run on the stock Advans.

 

i've done this in my last Evo, it is REALLY FUN! i would NOT use the Ebrake and i would learn how to left foot brake

 

what happens if you run on the stock advans because right now i dont' have much of a choice...

 

Aparently its like 4.6 gigs though, maybe we will have to make it a dvd and i will just mail it to you LOL

 

if it's dirt/grass you just won't have much grip.

if it's gravel they advans will cut up and chunk out very badly very quickly.

 

I ran on my stock advans on my first Rallycross and actually managed to win the race. My times were not the absolute fastest but were very consistant. The course was wet grass with some hard pack dirt. The tire pressure is very critical. The lower the better for traction but to low and you will bust a bead. I did on the rear toward the end of one lap but it just dumped pressure and stayed on. I ran at 30 psi (cold) rear and 33 front. It is very dificult and expenseve to find 17'tires with a rally tread and the Perelli 240 snow tires I have are a bit squishy in the sidewall but do provide good straight line accelleration (0-100 in under 18s on snow @50/50 dif). I am looking for a good mud/snow tread but have not found any yet.

The evo will difinatly push in the snot. I recommend a bigger rear sway bar and a bit of judicious e-brake. Keep you revs high on tight corners, bounce that rev limiter, be smooth with lower revs on a tight slolam and make sure you enter a big sweeper in a high enough gear that you won't have to shift mid corner. Lifting tucks in the nose nicely, you don't have to be at redline. Also you can increase brake pressure in a straight line once you get some good forward weight shift and if you still have enough speed, locking the wheels to unsettle the car and slinging the car around a tight corner, quickly coming onto power works amazingly well in an evo.

My 2 cents.

 

I've done 3 RallyCrosses in my 2003 Evo now, one of which was the National Challenge in Hastings NE, and it's a lot of fun. I think it's much more fun than lapping a circuit, it's just too bad that in roughly 60 seconds the run is over. Unfortunately I don't have Rally America stage rally kind of money.

Someone mentioned left-foot braking or throttle lift to get the car to rotate, and this works really well and is really the only way to steer the car in some circumstances. The other thing to mention is if the rear end starts coming around on you, stand on the throttle and it will hook up and keep you from spinning. So really, weight transfer is the name of the game.

I wouldn't worry about hurting anything using your E-Brake, but I don't use mine. I don't have the ACD is the reason I don't use mine, but our E-Brake seems pretty anemic to me. I guess you'll just have to experiment and see if handbrake turns work for you.

Here's a couple links for your perusal:

http://www.rallysport.on.ca/articles/Driving.html

http://www.rallyracingnews.com/lfb.html

Oh, here's a little taste of what you're in for: