Amateur Racing?

[dnicholson]

Okay so there's actually a couple of different parts to this question. I've attempted searching for the answers, but have been unsuccessful. I want to get into amateur racing as the title suggests. Questions;

In relation to my road legal R34 GTT.

1) what modifications need to be done to the car to make it fit for racing and following modifications, will it still be road legal?

2) what sort of licence do I need for this style of racing?

3) where do I go to register for this type of thing?

In relation to possibly purchasing a track car, thinking of some sort of evo/sti and looking at rallies.

1) is there any sort of Australian amateur rally scene/club? Can anyone provide details or a link.

2) where would I best be looking to purchase a track car? What are the rulings on stat and repairable write offs being used?

3) what sort of modifications need to be done to the car?

4) what sort of licence do I need?

5) what sort of cash would I be looking at spending on a project like this?

Cheers

Darren

[zebra]

What sort of racing do you want to do?

Door to Door, Sprints, Hill climbs, Dirt rally, tarmac Rally?

All have differing needs/Regs

Also where are you located?

[dnicholson]

What sort of racing do you want to do?

Door to Door, Sprints, Hill climbs, Dirt rally, tarmac Rally?

All have differing needs/Regs

Also where are you located?

Anything with corners, dirt rally would be top of the shelf, then tarmac rally and then hill climbs.

[zebra]

Well dirt stuff im no real expert on but Ill help where I can

You will need a Full CAMS approved roll cage (99% of the time makes the car un roadworthy)

Cams/FIA approved fixed back seat x2 (for the navigator aswel)

Harnesses

and Intercom system (like a Terratrip) http://www.terratrip.com/home.htm

Then depending on what Series you run in, you will have to meet any rules/regs/restrictions that they require.

See here for licencing info - http://www.cams.com.au/

Also contains all the rules/regs for most motorsport events around Aus.

There are a few dirt guys that float around this Forum, Im sure they will be able to help you out more.

[hrd-hr30]

Anything with corners, dirt rally would be top of the shelf, then tarmac rally and then hill climbs.

my suggestion is get along to a few track days/sprints with your road car to start with.

where you are has alot to do with who's running events and whether its cams or aasa licenced. some track days at certain venues don't require any competition licence.

[gregor]

Anything with corners, dirt rally would be top of the shelf, then tarmac rally and then hill climbs.

As the other poster said its likely that many forms would require a full cams spec cage and fixed seats - especially anything door to door so would rule out your road legal 34.

If you are looking to rally especially its probably better to get a second dedicated track car, that way if you bend it you dont wreck/disable your road car. Theres a few more hazards there than on a racetrack so your odds of a stack go up.

Oh and its probably cheapest to buy a car already set up even if it needs a little work. my105.com is a good place to start looking

Edited April 29, 2011 by gregor

[zebra]

http://www.bmsc.com.au/

For all your rallying needs

[djr81]

Okay so there's actually a couple of different parts to this question. I've attempted searching for the answers, but have been unsuccessful. I want to get into amateur racing as the title suggests. Questions;

In relation to my road legal R34 GTT.

1) what modifications need to be done to the car to make it fit for racing and following modifications, will it still be road legal?

2) what sort of licence do I need for this style of racing?

3) where do I go to register for this type of thing?

In relation to possibly purchasing a track car, thinking of some sort of evo/sti and looking at rallies.

1) is there any sort of Australian amateur rally scene/club? Can anyone provide details or a link.

2) where would I best be looking to purchase a track car? What are the rulings on stat and repairable write offs being used?

3) what sort of modifications need to be done to the car?

4) what sort of licence do I need?

5) what sort of cash would I be looking at spending on a project like this?

Cheers

Darren

First thing is to find a car club & go have a look.

http://cams.com.au/en/Development/Club_Zone/Club_Finder.aspx

[warps]

Good choice on the gravel stuff. I'll answer what I can.

In relation to possibly purchasing a track car, thinking of some sort of evo/sti and looking at rallies.

1) is there any sort of Australian amateur rally scene/club? Can anyone provide details or a link.

Yes, plenty of rally clubs in each state. Get onto the CAMS website or AMSAG website (the 2 main bodies who organise rallies in Oz) and there will be links to clubs in your area. The BMSC link above will be a great start - it's the most active gravel rally forum in Australia by far.

2) where would I best be looking to purchase a track car? What are the rulings on stat and repairable write offs being used?

my105 is a good place to look for cars, but many can be way overpriced. Not sure about stat write offs being used, but bear in mind rally cars will need to have some form of rego, and this can be very difficult if there is any question about the car's authenticity. Not impossible, but can be a major payne.

3) what sort of modifications need to be done to the car?

Basic safety stuff is the minimum spec, but you can do autocrosses, dirt sprints etc with a stock standard road car as long as it's in reasonably safe condition. Proper rallies will need rollover protection, under body protection and upgraded suspension to cope with the rough roads (stock height springs and good quality dampers are a good start) How fast do you want to go?

4) what sort of licence do I need?

CAMS L2S for dirt sprints, autocrosses etc. Rally licence for higher events (rallysprints, rallies). Have a search through the CAMS website for details on this, how to get them and how much it costs

5) what sort of cash would I be looking at spending on a project like this?

You can get a rally ready car from $5k upwards, but anything reliable and a bit fast is likely to cost $10k. If you want a reliable, quick AWD rally car, then budget $20-30k to start. To build any of the above you should triple the figures I've quoted. Again, depends how fast you want to go. Personal safety gear will probably cost about a grand to get going, although you can pick up stuff second hand for a fraction of that cost (not recommended - don't skimp out on safety gear)

I haven't put a million links in this post because I can't be arsed searching for them for you. I've put enough info there so that you can find it with a bit of searching. If you have specific questions, I'm more than happy to help out. If you're in SE QLD, come along to a dirt sprint and I'm happy to show you around (as will most competitors be)

You can do tarmac hillclimbs, track days etc. with a rally car and still have fun. The suspension settings won't be ideal, so you won't get the most performance out of the car but that shouldn't stop you from having a go. I've tracked my gravel rally Civic (stock B16a) and while it's 10 sec a lap alower than the fast guys at Lakeside, I still had an absolute ball. If I lowered it and tweaked the geometry, as well as learnt the track I'm sure there is a good 2-3 sec a lap in the car without having to change any components over. Still won't scare the big boys, but it punches well above its weight for a shopping trolley.

[dnicholson]

and whats the verdict on previously written off cars being used for rally events? is there rules against it?

[evil_weevil]

If you wanted tarmac - door to door stuff - MRA is a good starting series.

however Id do the "join a club" with what events appeal to you then go from there

plenty of rally, tarmac, hillclimb, supersprint clubs out there

[hrd-hr30]

and whats the verdict on previously written off cars being used for rally events? is there rules against it?

there's nothing in any rally regs about damaged/written off cars, but they have to be road registered, so the normal rules apply there...

Edited April 29, 2011 by hrd-hr30

[dnicholson]

thanks for the wealth of info, gives me a few more specifics to google now. i don't wanna spend 30k on something, just wanna get something that has a little bit of kick and i can have a good time in, i've never rallied before in my life so i wanna be able to learn the ropes. found some basic WRX's, early 90's with no modifications for around 5 - 6k all under 200k on the clock, so i might look at playing with something like that.

cheers

darren

[warps]

The early Rexes are OK out of the box but will need a lot of $$ to make them competitive. I guess it all depends on what you want out of it. Might be better to consider a built FWD like a Civic / Corolla / Swift in PRC spec. These will most likely be quicker than a standard Rex, and be ready to do full rallies, whereas building a Rex might be a 10 year project by the time you get it finished.

Even a Hyundai Excel is a great starting point, as there is a series where you pit yourself against identical cars, and they can be very competitive. They're cheap to buy, and parts are available at your locak newsagent. you won't have any less fun in the Excel, will be as quick as some of the AWD's, and will learn a bucket load about car control. What it won't have is street cred, so if you can live with that, then the Excel is a perfect choice for a beginner.

If you show promise in the Excel, then you can move up to an AWD, and you will be competitive in that as well.

Some of the older AWD's come up for $10k or less for fully prepped cars (VR4, early Rex / Liberty, Familia etc). Some of these can be a very good thing, but like any older car you might be chasing a lot of reliability issues.

Remember the old saying - you can have cheap, fast or reliable. Pick any two.