We are currently going through all the logistics on getting us and the car to Pikes. Getting it from sydney to LA is easier to organiser than trying to
A: rent a truck and trailer
B: rent a motorhome and Trailer
C: just damn go buy something to use and then flog it off when we get back to LA.

A: is a $98 per day expense ($980 for 10 days) with a $1100 - $1400 excess mileage fee on top.
B: is an option we are considering, but we still have to pay $39 per day on top of the motorhome rental for parking in the Lone Duck campground, ontop of mielage, so hotel seems cheaper than Motorhome + campground fees.
C: We own it, dont care about mileage, buy something around $3G, tow car to Pikes, go back to LA, throw car at dealer/auction house or site, walk ways the loss over rental will be 50% less.

Everything else is pretty much in line. The ducks are all lined up except for the transport from LA-CO-LA.

Option D; would be to drop ship the car from La to CO, fly into CO.

Also worth considering if anyone knows any trucking companies..

 

Jeff - I'd consider checking with the folks on SpecialStage.com to see if anyone from out west might be making the trek.

If you go with option D, I'd be happy to ask around and see if anyone local would rent or loan out a truck and trailer for the week. There's lots of ralliests in the Denver area, but not many of them fancy dropping $1550 on an entry fee.

There's always option E: Yeah, I'd like to take it on a test drive...and I'm going to see how it tows. Be right back with it...then mutter under your breath "next week."

Dave

 

I like 'E:'

 

Dave, do you think the road will get faster or slower when it's paved?

I dont think it will save much time, if any. Although I can understand people's initial thoughts that the road will get faster, but Im not so sure.

When driving fast on gravel you can have very specific tyres and you can throw the car around sliding at highspeed to keep the speed up rather than braking and slowing down.

With tarmac, you need smoorthness to stop the tyres from over heating and giving up the grip before youget to the top.

Downforce is good, drag is bad.

Jeff

 

Faster than it is now...for sure, mainly because tire choice now is such a compromise.

Faster than it was in 1994...that's a tough call:

In the early 90s with Penzoil as a major sponsor, they were using something called Penzsuppress to keep the dust down. It was some sort of mag-chloride or so I've heard. This chemical helped the road get tacky very quickly, and from what I've been told, the road would 'blue groove' from startline to the summit. The road was also much wider back when it was dirt, so cars could use the whole width of the road where needed. Now, with the pavement, the road is 4-8' narrower than it used to be in some spots, so a tighter line means lower cornering speeds.

I think once its fully paved we'll see a F1 or Lemans team come out and break the record, but I wouldn't be surprised if they could've taken a record 15 years ago either. I was actually looking at making a turbo radical, but decided building a car for one race didn't make sense, so I'm building the M3 Compact instead.

Dave

 

All good points with strong merit.

An M3 compact would be fun, we built a couple of those in the late 90's but dropped the Euro M3 3.0 M3 engine in them, now there's a whole rally series based around the same concept in Europe and the UK.

That said, I think this year will be a strong learning curve, then if we come back, we come back with something like this: an evo coupe, 2420 pound weight, 420hp, and it was built with street reliability in mind, for Pikes Open, Whole hog Grp A parts, and keep weight to under (just) 2000 lbs, and an easy 500hp. AWD.

Giddy up.








A couple of these shots were from when we were testing it, and then on an event right after. Id build another in a heart beat, but didnt know where to race it if I did, now I know...

 

Dave don't forget these this year man.



ps: i told you

 

Dave don't forget these this year man.



ps: we tried to tell you

GL bro

 

I'd take the ex Hawkeswood Evo...but with my powerplant. IIRC it was ~2200 lbs. On a good weather day, I think that would have 10:30-10:45 potential with a PPIHC seasoned pilot. When Marty brought it out in 2008, I think he was on pace for a 11:30ish before the crash at Bottomless Pit....which is about what my practice day split times worked out to in 2009. I really wanted to try and nip Eklunds record, but hey, that's racing.

Dave

 

The one that slipped on race day was a T-bolt.

I haven't quite decided what I'm going to do with the car. I'm liking the idea of the WRC side-by-side radiator & IC, and if I do that, I may be able to use Wiggins clamps, since I'd only need a few of them. If I go the cheaper route, I'll be looking to add boost straps.

Dave

 

That's what im talking about man......i wana see full boost

 

There's always...... This year! That would be terrific if you got to that!

 

There's going to be some aussies there spectating, some as guests of the organsiers. Some just random enthusiasts.

 

There are special trucking companies in the U.S. that specialize in transporting rare and valuable cars in the U.S.. Some that come to mind are Reliable-carriers.com and Waggonerstrucking.com. I know that the private Ferrari/Lambo sales and service shop just down the road from my work uses reliable-carriers all the time (at least one truck a week). If your're REALLY broke, you might want to hop on www.fsae.com and post up a question on there about what the oversea FSAE teams that compete in Detroit every year do to get their cars there. College students are rich so I'm sure they have some ingenious ideas to get their cars from the east or west coasts to the middle of the U.S. cheaply and safely.

Best of luck on your rally on Pike Peak!!

 

There's also rail. Going from Seattle to LA (1,500 mi +/-) cost about $500 to ship. I don't know all the rules or delivery times etc, but it might be another possibility to get the car from CA to CO.