Wow, so I wanted to try out rallycross, so I signed up for this past weekend's SCCA rally-x event at PMI in Pueblo. This place is a freakin HAVEN for motorsports. All in one place, you can drag race, road race, rallycross, motorcross, or just dirt bike all over the place (bikes, quads, whatever). I initially just planned on trying out the rallycross, but since PMI also has a drag strip and was open on Sunday, I decided to register for both early in the morning. I got registered, paid, and tech'd for both prior to 9am with the hopes of getting 4-5 drag runs in addition to all my rally-x runs (3+3) without missing any of my required work time for the rally-x.

Before the rally-x driver's meeting, I was able to get 3 quick drag runs before all the hotrods got prepared and slowed things down. Somehow, someway, I was able to trap 112mph on my first try. Up until this point, I had never trapped higher than 109.2mph at this altitude, but at another track (Bandimere in Denver). Bandimere is 5800', but PMI is only 4600' or so, which may have helped my mph. 109.2 to 112+ is a pretty big jump. Unfortunately, I was at 30psi on the tires, which worked at Bandimere, but it did nothing but burn all 4 tires through 1st, so I got a 1.85 60' en route to a 12.41. 12.41 wasn't as good as my 12.30 at Bandi, but it was my 2nd best run at altitude ever, and it was with a terrible 60'. On a lower 1.7 or god forbid a 1.6x, then I would have my best ET up here ever in the 12.2s somewhere. Oh well, I knew I'd get more chances, so I went back. Somehow, though, I never even trapped over 110 again. I did 3 109.5s and one low 109, but all the ETs were in the mid 12s (12.44-12.46) with spinning 1.8 60s. On the last try, I finally got a 1.71, but the massive headwind must have slowed me down, because it didn't improve my ET. STrange stuff in Colorado! Anyway, the drag racing wasn't very interesting, but the rally-x was crazy!!!

This was my first time doing or even seeing a rallycross, so I had no idea how to drive properly. It is basically just like an autocross but in dirt. This course was actually as much rock if not more rock than dirt, so I was a bit concerned for the paint job! I got to walk the course then drive the course slowly, which was cool. I could tell even at low speed that I was going to have trouble. The layout is you get 3 runs in the morning forwards, then 3 runs in the afternoon backwards. I lined up and tried to launch like I normally do, but in dirt/rock, I spun all 4 of course. I still shot forward pretty well relative to the other cars, but after getting out of my spin and trying to make the first turn, I encountered some nasty, never-before-experienced tailwhipping that made this type of racing quite a chore. I tried to drive like an auto-x where you don't throw the car around, but rather try to stay in control. Seeing my time compared to others, I realized this wasn't working, so I started to throw the car a little and had to start using 1st with lots of full boost spinning instead of low throttle, low boost 2nd gear driving. This improved my times greatly, but it was really hard on the car and difficult to control.

I found myself constantly fighting with counterlock steering and overcorrecting with some semi-controlled drifting. My times were somewhat competitive, but this was probably the least competitive I've ever been in any event, whether it be drag, auto-x, or circuit. I was the only one on street tires while the others had rally tires, but I am fairly confident that the majority of the people in my class (and in other classes) could have driven MY OWN CAR to a much better time than I did even on street tires. They kept warning me about how tough it would be on my Azenis, but I thought I'd be ok. Nope, it was the most difficult form of racing/driving I've ever attempted. In the end, my times weren't terrible, and I only had one run where I really was out of control (tried to see if I could handle the car while overdriving, but I couldn't), and I even had one really good run where I hit no cones until AFTER the finish line. I went through in a counter-locked full boost 2nd gear 45-degree drift, which caused me to hit BOTH cones through the final gate - yes, that's one on each side, haha. It hurt my time by 4 seconds, but it was arguably the most fun I've ever had in my car with any type of racing.

I recommend it to all! Here's one good photo that was taken by the guy who usually wins my class (Modified 4wd) and who finished 3rd at Nationals last year. This shot was taken with the hopes of getting on the cover of SportsCar mag:

 

Sound like you were still giggling when you wrote it up
was it really bumpy? did you scratch the car up at all? If the answer is no I'll come down and play next time you do it

 

It was pretty bumpy, but they were good about adjusting the course along the way to avoid ruts and to avoid potholes/mounds. They are careful to make sure they make changes at times when each car in the respective class has done the same number of runs so as to be fair, but also to be safe.

I have not yet done a full cleaning of the car, so I can't tell you if there are no scratches or dents. I would not be surprised if there are considering how my car was half-smothered in dirt. It was funny, because I'd drive back over to the drag area covered in dirt, I'd go to the free hoses, wash everything off, drive around to dry off, then get in the staging lines for some drag runs. AFter 1-2, I'd go back over to the rally-x course. It was pretty funny - got some strange looks from the "locals." The looks were even stranger after clicking off mid-12s next to the muscle cars, haha.

Although I hosed off enough to get on the drag strip, it's still quite dirty with residue and dust everywhere. I'll do a thorough cleaning then report back.

 

looks like fun, do you think the increased mph was due to spinning off the line, I know my car last weekend was trapping 114s when I would pull 1.7s but when I pulled 1.8s it was trapping in high 115s. I mean its not 3mph difference like urs but it could be adding to it slightly...

 

Rally driving is the BEST! That is what got me into cars, but it's too hard on parts and stage rallies are few and far between. But nothing beats throwing your car sideways into a corner at a billion mph. Yeah you can't "drive" the car in the dirt, you have to let it slide. Rally-X is ok, but once you get a taste of the good stuff, stage rallies, then you are really having fun.

 

Jid, well yeah, it's like going from auto-x to the road course - no comparison, and it makes auto-x seem boring. I'm sure going from rally-x to any real rally racing would have the same effect. I wasn't able to pick up much top speed at all during the rally-x, which is kinda frustrating.

CC, spinning often has the effect of increasing mph while hurting ET, but not by this much. I also spun on several other runs but only saw 109.5 mph, so I don't know what the deal was. I know I was actually going faster than normal, because that was my best ET of the day despite everything up through the 1/8th being slower...

 

looks like you need some rally armor mudflaps as well, find any nice rock chips yet? off roading in an evo is a blast, used to do it all the time in the suby...

 

It's cool you took your car out and got a taste. Rally tires make a world of difference. Running the gravel on street tires is like going to the road course on snow tires, about the same difference. I once went out to the gravel to practice with 2 complete sets of worn street tires. I planned to stay out until I had blown all 8 tires... I lasted about 3 hrs!

I started with a $100 rear wheel drive celica on a dirt "trail", it was so tight you had to be careful. Then I graduated to trailering the car up to forest service roads learning to really flick into corners. We destroyed the oil pan and retired that car. Then we started driving front wheel drive beaters, went through a golf, jetta, saab, and a civic. But learned to left-foot brake and clutchless down-shift. That's when things got fun.

During that time we hit up a rally-x in our rally car "in construction", a 323GTX. It was all in first gear and kinda frustrating. At least in auto-x you can see 3rd gear. I've heard of some rally-x where you can hit 3rd but they seem to favor 1st.

Anyway, I think it is hard for a circuit or pavement guru to jump into rally, because the driving is sooo different. But once you get a feel it is tons of fun. It's just expensive and hard to do once you get to a certain level. That's why I got into road racing, more access to the track.