walsh128

My pal and me are thinking of having a go at rallying. Any advice on the best way to get started?
Dont really fancy the classic stuff as wouldnt fancy having a fight with a tree in an old escort etc.
Dont really fancy front wheel drive either as its all understeer and wheelspin.
We could probably stretch to about a budget of £20k a year between us.
thanks

Steve001

iTrader: (7)

thats quite a big budget

first enquire at your local motor club, load of people will help you out

also look/ask questions here http://www.britishrally.co.uk/forum/index.php

steve

Dave Y

iTrader: (52)

what about a Bmw e30? I think there is a rally series for them.170 bhp rear wheel drive .

walsh128

Thanks
Had a go at bike racing, Motocross and Kart racing but getting on a bit so thought I'd give this a go. If rossi would rather do rallying than F1 then it must be good. I was thinking along the lines of a 5 - 10 year old STI.
I think that kind of budget is realistic for any kind of motorspot. I know blokes who spend that much in the kart racing.

GroupNGC8

iTrader: (1)

first of all good luck with your venture.

If you look for an STI or even an EVO you'll need to spend around £15,000 - £25,000 on a car that age, with good history and proper spec. I assume you want to go down the group N avenue for the budget you have in mind?? but please buy a proper car with a welded in cage - you may just need it one day.

Assuming you intend to do stage rallying....

You need to firstly get a go rallying starter pack from the MSA and then obtain your national B rally licence (for driver only) You need to decide what events you want to compete in, single venue or multi venue rallies.

if you join a local motor club check first if they are into rallying, I joined a club that were into rallying but they offered limited knowledge and i gained no real help, so didn't renew my membership.

If you have some basic mechanical knowledge then you can do plenty of work on the car yourselves and learn as you go, rather than give it to a garage to look after who will undoubtedly charge accordingly.

You will need to buy, helmets, race suits and other stuff which all adds up to the costs, assuming you don't have them already.

The hardest thing I found when I formed a team was to find people and organisations who you could trust and wouldn't rip you off, that was a real steep learning curve, BE WARNED some people will be happy to take your cash.

feel free to PM, as i've been there and spent a shed load of cash doing it, not all of it wisely either!

Cheers
Rob

Westwood2006

iTrader: (1)

Following this thread now.... you'll have to post updates as you go! Good luck!

walsh128

Thanks Rob
taking notes.
John

scud8

iTrader: (1)

Are you thinking about proper gravel rallys, or just single venues? You may struggle to do a full season in an Impreza on a £20K budget if you're going into the forest. Entry fees, tyres, fuel and accomodation will eat up a big chunk of your budget and you _will_ break bits on the car even if you don't hit anything.

The last full season I did was BTRDA in 2003 in a Pug 205 which is pretty reliable and cheap to keep running (and I managed not to hit anything hard), but I was still spending £800-£1000 per round.

Single venue events are generally a lot cheaper because the entry fees are lower, you can usually get away without an overnight stay and the road surfaces are generally less hard on the car than forest tracks.

I understand the attraction of 4wd, but there's a lot to be said for starting out in a lower powered car as you will be forced to learn how to drive the corners well in order to be quick. When I was competing there were a lot of guys who had just jumped into Evo's and Scoobies and they had no idea how to carry speed through corners.

allsop83

iTrader: (9)

Keep us informaed on how you get on I've also been interested in getting into this aswell... (although was thikning the 205 route...) be interesting to see how you get on.

And good luck with it all

walsh128

2 top replies. Thanks very much.
I don’t really follow the sport other than whats on eurosport so going into this really blind. I’m pretty sure its easy to spend a load of cash on something completely out of ones league.
If you were starting out in karting I’d recommend you buy a brand new kart and do your first season in TKM. You‘ll soon find out if you’re any good, and you can be competitive on £200 a meeting running costs.
I wouldn’t recommend you start off in 250 gearbox.
£800 - £1000 a meeting for a pug 205 certainly puts things into perspective!!!

MOTORS S GT

iTrader: (2)

As already mentioned, its better to start with a lower powered car, for cost & learning car control, maintaining corner speed & smoothness.
I run for a customer a group n Impreza & a historic front running MK1 Escort, cost for a gravel rally are very similar, the cost is higher for the Escort when its damaged body wise, engine builds are similar, running gear for the Subaru is higher as there is twice the amount.

I would suggest before spending huge amounts of wedge is to hire a car on a arrive & drive deal, a lot of preparation company's do it, & you can drive diffrent cars, see which suits you.
If you don't like it, you can walk away without the cost of buying a car, spares, trailer etc.