Hi, i finally decided that i wanted to go off road with my car... enter SCCA rally races, and basically finally enjoy it the way it was meant to be. I've searched all over for some tips or clues to help me convert my Evo 8 into a rally car, but havent find anything.

Anyone know any companies, or sites that might sell products (particularly shocks, transmissions, and drivetrain related) so i can upgrade it? I want to make it as close as it can to the WRC car (OF COURSE i know that its a Lancer not an Evo in the WRC, and that those cars cost upwards of 500K...but as good as i can)...

Thanks,
Jason B

 

Start off with purchasing a good underbody skidplate + mudflaps (for protection against rocks and debris) and a adjustable suspension (you are going to want a suspension that is a little higher off the ground with low dampening/spring rates for better shock absorbsion.

 

don't forget the Cage. Or the racing will be very very short lived.

 

2,000 cage
5,000 coilovers

5,000 in extra parts and tires

Don't forget no one runs evo in any class but open so add 5,000 for motor work.

You can not run an evo in GT or production due to there is no tires for 17" wheels
cant change brakes from stock

Also SCCA doesnt do rally anymore. ist rally america and some other i forget.

it is also about 1,000 entry fee per race, let alone race gas for the weekend, travel, lodgeing

I race spend about 5,000 per race it can be done cheaper but its fun too

 

It depends on what you truly want..... making your car a full race ready competetion level car will pretty much destroy the daily driving aspect of it.

You will need a new EMS of some kind to enable true ALS which in turn will destroy turbos if you use it. You will obviously need a hell of a roll cage. Seam weld the car together. Gut everything in the car from the plastic, to carpet, to glass, to shaving un-needed steel parts, sound deadending, etc...

Buy one or two race seats (Depending if you will have a co pilot or not), 5-6 point harnesses, remove all the ac, heater, stereo, power windows, locks, etc...

Plate under neath the car, mudflaps, various aerodynamics (Adjust wing, front clip, skirts, etc..), build the motor / head, suspension (dont know much about it but I know it will cost over 5k for something decent), build the tranny, swap the front and rear diffs, etc, etc....

Swap all the steel body panels you can with dry carbon pieces or aluminum, I mean.... it all depends what you want to do. Why not race it stock??

 

Don't forget a good helmet!

 

Try contacting either http://www.cascadeautosport.com/ or http://www.vtcar.com/. They both specialize in building rally cars.

 

Wow. i thought of the basics (gutting, cage, weight reduction) but i also want it to be a daily driver of some sort, so i guess welding the doors would be out of the question.. im going to start out with the basics and invest in a good suspension, thanks a lot for the responses, they really helped..

Anyone know of a company which would do a sequential trasmission conversion?

 

The tranny alone will cost $12k (dog box by ralliart) you can find the sequential shifter here: http://www.ikeya-f.co.jp/en/index.html

tranny is located at the bottom of this page: http://www.poweraxel.com/ralliart/ca...e/evo8/c1.html
the cost of the tranny is 1.3 million yen and the seqen shifter is 98k yen so total cost without clutch kit is 1.4 million yen and then add $3k for a new clutch flywell combo and your looking at $15k just for your drivetrain...

 

sorry there is no such thing as a daily driver rally car. vermont sports car will build you a rally car but it's not cheap.

 

Why not just get into road racing or auto-x?....its cheaper, easier on the car, and wont break your piggy bank. Rally racing you will be constantly fixing broken parts and your body will eventually become a sea of dents, scraps, and scratches..I cant imagine how much you would have to spend, let alone with no sponsors or experience...I hope your rich! ....If you want to keep it a street car + weekend race car then I would say road racing is better suited for you and can be a lot of fun.....Other than that I would invest in a truck and trailer because no way will you always be able to drive to a rally event and expect to drive home, thats just crazy!

 

The SCCA suspended their ClubRally program in May 2003 due to safety issues highlighted that season. At the time, the club announced that they wanted to re-evaluate the program, procedures, and safety issues. And there has been no SCCA Club Rally since. But it's been 3 years now, and signs are not good that Club Rally will ever return.

However, in its place, the SCCA has emphasized and expanded its Rally Cross program. The SCCA rallycross rule book is here: http://scca.com/_FileLibrary/File/20...CrossRules.pdf
You should carefully read the car prep rules before doing anything to your car. You want to probably decide which rallycross class you want to run in, and then use the rules of that class to prep your car.

Also, the SCCA does have two new series planned ostenibly to replace Club Rally. The new programs are "Circuit Rally" and "Rally Sprints." Neither of these programs are running yet. There are no rules published yet, and both are still in the planning phases. But you can read a little about each on the SCCA web site:
http://scca.com/Rally/Rally.asp?IdS=04E5D9-14FC520&x=040|010&~=

 

As a former rally driver I can tell you that you do not want to "get into" rally with your brand new EVO. It is WAY too much car for a beginner.

If you don't know what sort of parts you need to build a rally car then you need to go spend some time around real rally cars and go out and watch some actual races. it is VERY expensive, much more than road racing, and for that matter much more dangerous.

Your street EVO will NEVER be able to be a real rally car - the two don't go together. Any suspension you buy as a street set-up will never work for rally. The same goes the other way - no rally suspension will work on the street. Also, you need to put gravel spec front brakes on the car and run 15 inch gravel wheels.

You should start rally in a used 2 wheel drive car that has already been built to rally specs. www.rallyclassified.com

Spend some time researching here.
www.specialstage.com

And if you really need to have an EVO rally car than as already mentioned.
www.cascadeautosport.com
Cascade has built tons of EVO into rally cars. They had a Euro Spec EVO VII RS back in 2001. Be prepared for paying as much in mods as you did for the EVO. Building a rally car out of an EVO can be a $60,000 + adventure.

 

Yeah, you guys are right... i wanted my car to be a daily driver, and weekend rally car which would definetly not work out, let alone the insane amount of money i'd have to spend... i'm going to be searching for a used ford escort or some other mid 90's car which could be more easily maintained and cheaper to run....

Thanks for all the help guys...

 

If you are serious about rally don't by a street car and build it into a rally car. BUY A USED RALLY CAR. It is SO much cheaper. Until you get started you have no idea how expensive it is to build a successful rally car. Just buy a used one that someone has already sorted out.

And don't buy an american car - they are crap. Look for a VW Golf GTI, or a Honda Civic or CRX. Those are the best cars to start with. They are cheap and have tons of parts available. If you are serious you need to spend some time out in the rally scene in your area. There are always cars for sale once you start to know people.

I bought my rally car for $3500. It was a used 1985 VW Golf GTI, fully prepped for rally with a couple races in it's life. I still spent a fair amount of money keeping it running to race for a whole summer. I then turned and sold it at the end of race season for $3500. that's the way to go. Building a car is Hard work and very costly - I've done that too.